Expert Team: Staff
Francisco is currently a thesis student in History at the Facultad de Filosofía y Letras of the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM). His lines of research focus on migration studies and organised crime. To date, he has published two papers: one on the historical construction of narco-documentaries (International Congress on Violence 2022) and another on digital tools in history teaching (Meeting of the REDDIEH 2021). He is a member of the collective
“Clionautas” and has previously volunteered for projects relating to the Coronavirus pandemic,
socially relevant problems, and the history of migration in Mexico.
Working languages: Spanish and English
Sofía is an Intern of the Transitional Justice Group at the Institute for Integrated Transitions (IFIT). She is a Political Science and Law student at Universidad de Los Andes in Bogotá and has particular interests in transitional justice, peace building, and criminal and penitentiary law. Prior to joining IFIT, Sofía was a legal researcher at the legal clinic of the Universidad de los Andes, where she worked with vulnerable prison populations.
Working languages: Spanish and English
Rana Elfeky is an intern at the Institute for Integrated Transitions (IFIT), where she focuses on supporting the Institute’s Middle East and North Africa (MENA) projects. She has six years of experience in the arenas of political affairs, governance, and peace, security and stability.
Previously, Rana worked as a capacity building officer at the Mediation and Dialogue Division of the African Union. Prior to that, she was a Programme Officer in African Union’s Humanitarian Division. She has also worked with other international organisations, such as Care International, Deutsche Gesellschaft fur Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), in various programming implementation roles.
Working languages: English and Arabic
Misbah Omar is a Local Coordinator at the Institute for Integrated Transitions (IFIT). For the
past seven years, he has worked on promoting peacebuilding and reconciliation as well as
youth empowerment in Libya through dialogue, mediation and diverse policy research.
Misbah previously worked as a junior analyst at the European University Institute (EUI), Italy, as well as a reporting officer at Peace Makers Team, Libya, where he focused on policy research,
mediation and peacebuilding projects. His other past projects and contributions include supporting the Libyan Social Contract, an initiative working to help Libya to bring about equitable prosperity; and supporting the Libyan Constitution Drafting Authority, a political platform aiming to bring the views of national forces closer together and to achieve a real partnership between all parties and active forces, in order to facilitate the success of the political process in Libya. He has also worked as a consultant at Dialogue Advisory Group, Amsterdam, to help enable political dialogue as a means of reducing violence in Libya.
Misbah is one of the authors of Violence and Social Transformation in Libya (Hurst Publishing) , which will be published in June 2023. He is also the author of many policy papers.
Misbah holds an MSc in Electronic Engineering (Telecommunication Systems) from the Technical
University of Malaysia. Earlier in his career, he worked at the Higher Institute of Science and Technology in Sirte, and as an assistant lecturer at the Faculty of Computer Science, Bani Walid University, Libya.
Working languages: English and Arabic.
Víctor Almela Menjón serves as intern at the Institute for Integrated Transitions (IFIT), based in its headquarters in Barcelona.
Born and raised in Barcelona, Víctor holds a Bachelor’s degree in Translation and Interpreting from German and Russian to Spanish. After taking (post)Soviet and gender studies at St. Petersburg’s Presidential Academy, he moved to Scotland to undertake a research-focused Master’s degree in Human Rights and International Politics. There, Víctor specialised in international human rights law and EU foreign policy.
Previously a trainee at the EU Delegation to Russia, Víctor engaged in political research and analysis, with a focus on human rights violations. While interning for the OSCE’s High Commissioner on National Minorities, he gained expertise in conflict-prevention monitoring in eastern Europe, the Caucasus and Central Asia, and participated in different projects ranging from multilingual education programmes to identity and gender case studies. Víctor also holds experience in communication and e-learning in the humanitarian field, having worked for an NGO consortium specialised in Cash and Voucher Assistance in Latin America.
Working languages: Spanish, Catalan, English, French, German and Russian.
Cristina González Torelló is the Financial Assistant at the Institute for Integrated Transitions (IFIT). She holds a BA in Humanities (Modern and Contemporary Studies) from Universitat Pompeu Fabra in Barcelona, and a MSc in Development and International Relations (Global Refugee Studies) from Aalborg University in Copenhagen. Her master’s thesis focused on women’s participation in indigenous politics in Ecuador.
Cristina was an intern at the United Nations Association of Spain and DanChurchAid, where her tasks focused on research and advocacy. During her studies in Copenhagen, she also co-founded a start-up aimed at sharing first-hand stories from people living in current situations of crisis that do not get enough media coverage.
Working languages: English, Spanish, and Catalan
Ana Lucía is a Research Assistant at the Institute for Integrated Transitions (IFIT). She holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Law and now is a Master’s student in Constitutional Law.
Prior to joining IFIT, Ana Lucía served as a Legal Advisor to Congresswoman Juanita Goebertus. She also worked as a Consultant on the follow-up of the implementation of the Peace Accord between the Colombian government and the former FARC-EP, focusing on transitional justice and rural reform issues. She has worked on research projects in international criminal law, constitutional law and strategic litigation.
Working languages: Spanish and English
Sumaya Tambal is the Local Coordinator of IFIT’s brain trust in Sudan. She has extensive prior experience in humanitarian and development work and has worked across different parts of Sudan and traveled to various countries in the Horn of Africa. Previously, she worked with Oxfam UK as a program officer and team leader for its Pastoralist Program in the Red Sea. She has also worked for Practical Action as program manager for the Women’s Development Program.
Sumaya has significant experience with civil society organisations in Sudan. Among other things, she served with Partners in Development Services as senior project officer for the DfID-funded project, Assisting Sudan’s Transition.
Sumaya has a BSc in social anthropology from the University of Khartoum, Sudan. She is co-author of the book “Annotated Bibliography of Social Research in Darfur” (2006).
Working Languages: English and Arabic.
Sebastián Guerra Sánchez is a Research Associate at the Institute for Integrated Transitions (IFIT) where he works primarily on projects in Latin America. Sebastián is a sociologist and historian with more than eight years of experience working in the Colombian public sector. He has been a professor of history and social science in Bogotá. His academic work focuses on state capacity building, conflict resolution and citizen participation.
Prior to joining IFIT, Sebastián worked for the Office of the High Commissioner for Peace of Colombia, during that period he was involved in the peace talks between the Colombian Government and the ELN. He also worked as an advisor to the Minister of Mines and Energy and to the Civil Service Department of Colombia. Currently, he is an advisor to the Institute for Public Leadership at the National University of Colombia.
Working languages: English and Spanish
Alejandra is a Research Associate at the Institute for Integrated Transitions (IFIT) where she primarily coordinates the National Brain Trust in Colombia (FCH). Prior to joining IFIT, Alejandra worked for five years at Fundación Ideas para la Paz (FIP), a think tank on peace and security in Colombia, where she held different positions including Coordinator of Thematic and Strategic Affairs, assistant to the Executive Director and research assistant. She has also worked at a peacebuilding organisation in Northern Ireland where she conducted research on narrative and reconciliation.
Alejandra has worked on research projects on micro trafficking, coca crop substitution and peacebuilding in conflict and post-conflict contexts. Likewise, she has experience in strategic planning and knowledge management. She holds a BA in Political Science with a focus on conflict resolution and peace research from Universidad Javeriana, and a master’s degree in Post-War Recovery Studies from the University of York.
Working languages: Spanish and English
