Dr. David Connolly is the Head of the Conflict Prevention Program at The Hague Institute. He is formerly a research fellow and lecturer at the Post-war Reconstruction and Development Unit, University of York, 2005 – 2013. At York, he was the Director and co-founder of the MSc program at International Humanitarian Affairs, and Deputy Director of the Education in Conflict and Emergencies research program.
Dr. Connolly trained as a Political Scientist and specializes in the institutions and processes of local governance during and after conflict. His interest spans the various roles that communities play in social, political and economic recovery, conflict resolution and early warning. Since 2000, he has conducted research in Afghanistan, Egypt, Indonesia, Kenya, Nepal, Northern Ireland, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Sudan, Sri Lanka and Yemen.
Connolly also brings broad expertise in conflict analysis, third-party intervention, peace building and the reconstruction of war-torn states and societies. Taking an interdisciplinary approach, he has worked closely with anthropologists, economists and sociologists, with specialists in development, diplomacy, humanitarian intervention and international law and across the sectors of education, health, and planning and the built environment.
Connolly has conducted and managed a range of applied research projects that have assessed and helped design strategic international programs and interventions. He has been commissioned by the World Bank, the government of Afghanistan, UNDP, Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue, CARE International, Oxfam, Save the Children and Mercy Corps, among others. Since 2009 he has completed a series of projects for UNICEF on the ‘role of education in peace building’ and he is currently a senior advisor on monitoring and evaluation.
Teaching and training are an important part of Connolly’s work. He has designed and led more than 30 capacity building workshops and professional development courses for UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office, UK Ministry of Defence, UNICEF, Rotary Foundation, Institute for International Political Studies, and the University of York.
Since 2008 he has been a visiting lecturer at the Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, and a guest lecturer at universities in Amsterdam, Belfast, Birmingham, Bradford, Budapest, London and Milan.
After three years of civil war in Syria, there is clear evidence that both the government and rebel groups have deliberately starved civilian populations
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