Pooja Chawda's Page

What motivated you to become involved in peace and conflict resolution?

I have lived amidst gunshots and vehicles being burned down amongst other crises for over 10 years; this experience in a volatile zone has only strengthened my desire to work for the cause of humanity and has spurred me to further explore peace building and humanitarian assistance.

Please feel free to provide a short bio about yourself (no more than 3 paragraphs)

My name is Pooja Chawda and I was born in Uganda and lived there until 1992. Between 1992 and 2000, I lived in Pune, India. Following that, my family migrated to Milwaukee, United States of America where I completed my Bachelor’s degree in Intercultural Communication and German. I spent 2 years in Germany between in 2001-2002 (Lüdinghausen) and 2004-2005 (Bonn) respectively, studying Law at the Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-University and interning at the Plettenberg Law Association.

I pursued my Master's of Arts degree at the European University Centre for Peace Studies (EPU) in Stadtschlaining, Austria and completed my degree in November 2007. Following that, I worked at the International Institute of Wisconsin, one of only four social service agencies that resettle refugees in the state of Wisconsin, which operates in collaboration with the US Committee for Refugees and Immigrants (USCRI).

In August 2008, I got offered a position as Board of Inquiry Assistant at the United Nations Mission in Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUC) and have been living in Kinshasa until present. MONUC consists of a budget exceeding one billion dollars and more than 19,000 military and police present, it is one of the largest and most expensive missions in the Department of Peace Keeping Operations (DPKO).

Please list the countries and/or regions in which you have direct and significant expertise

India
United States of America
Germany
Uganda
Democratic Republic of Congo

What is your current country of residence?

Democratic Republic of Congo

What is your current job (and organization) and/or where and what field are you studying?

United Nations Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUC)

Which are your primary sectoral areas of expertise?

Alternative Dispute Resolution, Conflict Resolution, Culture, Development, DDR, Humanitarian Relief, Peacekeeping

Which are your primary skills areas?

Capacity Building, Evaluation, Monitoring, Program Administration