Kirsi Henriksson

Thematic experiences: Security sector reform, good governance, Women, Peace and Security, monitoring and evaluation

Regional/country-specific expertise: Sahel, North Africa, Iraq

Languages: French, English, Swedish, German

Kirsi Henriksson is Deputy Managing Director and Deputy Civilian Operations Commander at the Civilian Operations Headquarters at the European External Action Service. Prior to her current post she was Director of Crisis Management Centre (CMC) Finland, which is a governmental institution and a centre of expertise in civilian crisis management. The main tasks of CMC Finland are to train and recruit experts for international peace operations as well as to conduct research in the field. In 2020-2024 she also presided  the Foundation Council of DCAF (Geneva Centre for Security Sector Governance). Kirsi Henriksson has been Head of the European Union EUCAP Sahel Niger civilian crisis management mission (2016-2018) and Deputy Head of the European Union EUCAP Sahel Mali civilian crisis management mission (2014-2016). Preceding that, Ms Henriksson worked in EU civilian missions in Libya and Iraq. Before her national and international posts, she worked as a researcher and lecturer at the University of Tampere, namely at Tampere Peace Research Institute.