Katja Ahlfors

Thematic expertise: Diplomacy, Strategic Communication, Security and development nexus, Conflict analysis

Regional/country-specific expertise: Sub-Saharan Africa, Europe, the Nordics

Languages: Swedish, Finnish, English, Dutch, French

Ms Katja Ahlfors is the Director for the Centre for Peace Mediation at the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland since September 2021. Prior to her current position she served as Senior Advisor (Horn of Africa)  to the Minister for Foreign Affairs of Finland.

During her career Katja has engaged in particular with issues related to European Union, Africa-relations and peace mediation. At the Ministry for Foreign Affairs in Helsinki she has i.a. worked as the Director for the Unit for Development Policy, Team Leader for EU Development Policy and Regional Manager for Southern Africa.

Katja’s foreign postings include serving as Deputy Head of Mission at the Embassy of Finland in Addis Ababa 2005-2008 and Political Counselor at the Embassy of Finland in Stockholm 2013-2017. In 2008-2010 she served as the focal point for conflict prevention and mediation at the European Commission in Brussels. In 2017-2018 she served as Senior Advisor at the CMI Martti Ahtisaari Peace Foundation.   

Katja holds a Master’s Degree in Political Science from Helsinki University. She also studied at Uppsala University.