Zenia Chrysostomidis

Thematic expertise: Human rights, track II processes

Geographic expertise: Great lakes region, Middle East, South-East Asia, especially Sri Lanka

Languages: English, Greek, French

Zenia Chrysostomidis is currently Head of the International Department at the Norwegian Centre for human rights. Trained as a career diplomat, she has held several positions in the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, including working on human rights issues at country level and providing policy advise on the Great Lakes region in connection to the Norwegian seat at the UN Security Council. As the Deputy Head of Mission at the Norwegian Embassy in Kampala, Uganda, peace and security issues in the region were part of her work for the Embassy. She has previously been a Senior Adviser in Section for Peace and Reconciliation in the Norwegian MFA, working on peace processes in Syria/Libya and the Middle East, facilitation for Track II-projects supported by Norway, and research projects on peace and reconciliation issues. She has also been involved in the facilitation of the peace process in Sri Lanka. In 2017, she coordinated the Oslo Forum, an annual global gathering widely regarded as the leading international mediation forum for conflict mediators, high-level decision makers and key peace process actors. She has also been posted to the Norwegian Consulate General in New York and the Norwegian Embassy in Hanoi. She has a MSc in Nationalism and Ethnicity from London School of Economics and Political Science, where she focused on conflict resolution issues and wrote her dissertation on the Sri Lankan civil war.