Advisory Board

Andrea Zellhuber is the President of the KOFF Advisory Board. She is thematic advisor for violence prevention at terre des hommes schweiz (Basel), a development NGO that focuses on youth-led initiatives for culture of peace in Africa, Latin America, and Switzerland. Furthermore, she conducted research on participatory urban planning and worked on land use conflicts in Brazil. As an advisory board member, she aims at strengthening collective learning processes and strategies for collaboration among the members of the KOFF platform as community of practice.

Christophe works as a legal advisor and an independent researcher. He has been the coordinator of APRED since its foundation in 2001. APRED gathers people who empower themselves to live in peace, building long-term peace policies and infrastructures. As an advisory board member, he aims at strengthening the core functions of the KOFF platform (roundtables, KOFF magazine, public relations, etc.)

Corsin Blumenthal is a member of the PBI Switzerland National Committee. He previously served as an international human rights observer with Peace Brigades International (PBI) in Guatemala, where he was responsible for observing and accompanying Guatemalan civil society organizations and human rights defenders, as well as liaising with both Guatemalan and international authorities and institutions. Currently, Corsin works as a Senior Program Officer in the Dealing with the Past program at swisspeace. In this role, he advises civil society and governmental actors on issues related to transitional justice, conflict transformation, and memorialization in diverse contexts.

As the Head of International Programs at Fastenopfer, Daniel Hostettler coordinates the organization's political endeavors. He has been working with Fastenopfer for 19 years. He holds a Master in Philology and a postgraduate degree on Human Rights both from the University of Geneva. He also used to work as a part-time lecturer in development policy at the Lucerne School of Business.

Deborah Schibler has headed the international office of PeaceWomen Across the Globe since 1 May 2023. Since her youth, she has been committed to a non-violent, just world living in solidarity. After studying law in Fribourg and Dublin and qualifying as a lawyer in Lucerne, she worked as a delegate and coordinator for the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in armed conflicts and other situations of violence. Her work took her to Jordan, Iraq, Madagascar, Panama and Costa Rica. Starting in 2019, she worked as a seconded member of the Expert Pool for Civilian Peacebuilding of the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA). She is also one of the first members of the Swiss Women in Peace Processes network, which was founded in 2021.

Diana Schenkel has been a board member of the Swiss Peace Council, located in Zurich, since 2021. She has an academic background in International Relations.

Dorina has been working on peacebuilding and development cooperation for the last 8 years. Dorina holds a master in South-East Asian studies, where she laid a focus on human rights and conflict transformation in the West-Papua Conflict. Dorina moved to Kenya in her Function as Country Coordinator for South Sudan in 2015. In 2018 she moved back to Basel to fill in the role as Programme officer for South Sudan. Dorina is responsible for peacebuilding within M21 and has a focus on Religion & Conflict & Women, Security and Peace.

Jana Zemp has extensive experience in international cooperation, both in Switzerland and abroad. She has held postings in Afghanistan, Haiti, Indonesia and Lebanon working both in development cooperation and humanitarian aid. Since joining SDC in 2012 she has taken on various roles and is currently based at headquarters in Bern, focusing on Conflict Prevention and Peace. Jana Zemp represents SDC in the KOFF advisory board since 2024.

Lisa Joanne Bissegger has an academic background in International Relations. She joined Frieda – the Feminist Peace Organisation in October 2019 and is a programme officer for feminist peace policy. Based on a broad understanding of security and peace, she is very interested in the conditions that prevent not only direct, but also cultural and structural forms of violence, such as the interaction of gender oppression, colonialism and capitalism. She shares her seat with PWAG’s representative.

Owen Frazer joined Helvetas as a Senior Advisor Conflict Transformation in 2021. He began his career in development cooperation in 2002. He subsequently worked for several years as a delegate of the International Committee of the Red Cross before moving into the field of international mediation support, assisting Swiss government efforts to transform social and political conflicts. A certified mediator, with an MA in conflict resolution and a PhD in political science, he is an experienced trainer and facilitator, and author of several publications on conflict transformation.

Sarah Noble is Head of Global Engagement at Caux - Initiatives of Changes. She has held leadership positions at several international organisations focused on peacebuilding, humanitarian issues, and independent media. She brings with her more than 20 years of experience in strategic communications, fundraising, and partnerships in the field of international peace and security.

Sacha currently works at the Fondation Hirondelle as a research coordinator and legal advisor. He is specialized in issues related to the role of media and UN missions in peace processes. As an advisory board member, he is promoting the dialog between civil society (both Swiss German and French Swiss) and state institutions. He also aims at favoring a better understanding of the role that media can play in conflict contexts and in shaping the general public on peace policy.

In his capacity as head of swisspeace's Peacebuilding Analysis and Impact Program, Roland Dittli directs swisspeace’s innovation and development in the area of peacebuilding methodologies. Furthermore, as the swisspeace focal point for the occupied Palestinian territory (oPt), he develops the regional project portfolio and key partnerships. The program focuses on Palestinian reconciliation, strengthening the excellence of higher education institutions in conflict transformation, and advisory services for international actors.

As a senior human rights and conflict transformation advisor at HEKS, Una has been in charge of drafting various policies and strategies for the organization. Una is accompanying Human Rights and Peace Projects in 18 countries around the globe and has carried out various evaluations and experience capitalizations. She has studied Cultural Anthropology, Geography and Psychology in Freiburg and worked at the University of Heidelberg as a researcher. She established a global Network on “overcoming gender-based violence” for Bread for the World and has been engaged in consultancies towards measuring impacts of advocacy and conflict transformation processes. Una has lived and worked in Sri Lanka and Ethiopia while doing research on “identities in conflict – and the role of women in peace building” and designing and implementing a credit and saving scheme for rural female heads of household.