Chris Coulter

Acting Executive Director
Executive Office

Berlin, Germany

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Chris Coulter is the Acting Executive Director of the Berghof Foundation. With over two decades of experience in conflict resolution across Africa, the Middle East, Europe, Asia, and South America, she has extensive expertise in inclusive leadership, mediation, peace processes, and security policy.

Prior to joining Berghof, Chris served as Chief Operating Officer and Director of Programs at the Negotiation Strategies Institute (NSI) in Jerusalem. She previously led the Peace Process Support Unit at the Folke Bernadotte Academy (FBA), Sweden’s government agency for peace, security, and development. As a Swedish diplomat, she was a Special Advisor on peace and security to the Swedish Ministry for Foreign Affairs, where she played a key role in supporting multiple Track 1 and Track 2 peace negotiations.

Chris holds a PhD in Cultural Anthropology from Uppsala University (2006) and has an extensive academic background as a university lecturer, senior researcher, and lead consultant on gender, peace, and security. She is the author of Bush Wives and Girl Soldiers (Cornell University Press, 2009) and previously directed the International Training Program on UN Security Council Resolution 1325: Women, Peace, and Security, funded by the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida). Chris is also a member of the Swedish Women’s Mediation Network.

Deutsch

Chris Coulter ist Acting Executive Director der Berghof Foundation. Mit über zwei Jahrzehnten Erfahrung im Bereich der Konfliktlösung in Afrika, dem Nahen Osten, Europa, Asien und Südamerika verfügt sie über umfassende Expertise in inklusiver Führung, Mediation, Friedensprozessen und Sicherheitspolitik.

Bevor sie zur Berghof Foundation kam, war Chris Chief Operating Officer und Director of Programs am Negotiation Strategies Institute (NSI) in Jerusalem. Zuvor leitete sie die Peace Process Support Unit der Folke Bernadotte Academy (FBA), der schwedischen Regierungsbehörde für Frieden, Sicherheit und Entwicklung. Als schwedische Diplomatin war sie Sonderberaterin für Frieden und Sicherheit im schwedischen Außenministerium und spielte eine zentrale Rolle bei der Unterstützung mehrerer Track-1- und Track-2-Friedensverhandlungen.

Chris promovierte 2006 in Kulturanthropologie an der Universität Uppsala und verfügt über eine umfangreiche akademische Laufbahn als Universitätsdozentin, leitende Forscherin und Lead Consultant für Geschlechterfragen, Frieden und Sicherheit. Sie ist Autorin des Buches Bush Wives and Girl Soldiers (Cornell University Press, 2009) und leitete zuvor das Internationale Trainingsprogramm zu UN-Sicherheitsratsresolution 1325: Frauen, Frieden und Sicherheit, das von der Schwedischen Agentur für Internationale Entwicklungszusammenarbeit (Sida) finanziert wurde. Chris ist zudem Mitglied des Swedish Women’s Mediation Network.

Publications and expertise

Expertise

Topics: Mediation and Negotiation Support, Process Design, Gender, Women Peace and Security, Women Training and Capacity Development, Leadership

Countries and regions:
Middle East: Jerusalem (Israel/Palestine), Egypt, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco
Africa: Sierra Leone, DRC, Ethiopia, Guinea, Côte d’Ivoire, Kenya, Sudan, South Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia
Asia: Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam
Europe: Georgia, Switzerland, EU/Brussels
Latin America: Colombia, Cuba

Publications

Bush wives and girls soldiers: Women’s lives through war and peace in Sierra Leone, Cornell University Press (2009)
Negotiating conflicts over sacred space: engaging religious actors in peace mediation (forthcoming)
Implementation of UNSCR 2250 in Sweden, lead author on government policy (2017)
UNSCR 1325: Challenging issues with progress and obstacles, in New Routes: A Journal of Peace Research and Action, Vol. 18, No. 2. (2013)
Domesticating the Bush, in Bård Mæland (ed.), Culture, religion, and the reintegration of female child soldiers in Northern Uganda, Peter Lang (2010)
Young female fighters in African wars: Conflict and its consequences, with Mariam Persson and Mats Utas, in Policy Dialogue, No. 3, The Nordic Africa Institute (2008)

Key notes and panel discussions

EU Community of Practice on Peace Mediation, 2024: Panel discussions "Mediation process design in a turbulent world" and "Teaching and training peace mediation in times of change: blind spots and new avenues"
Geneva Peace Week 2024: Panel discussion "A Dangerous Intersection: Climate Change, Environmental Degradation, & Inadequate Governance as Drivers of Armed Conflict" and closing ceremony
Imagine Forum: Bridging Divides and Fostering a Dialogue for Peace, 2024: Panel discussion