Fareeda Khalifa

Biography

Fareeda is a final year PhD Candidate, whose work focuses on violence against peacekeepers, rebel strategies, and local dynamics in African conflicts, as well as peacekeeping and development trajectories more broadly. She has been selected as an Emerging Scholar by the Conflict Research Society in 2026. She is a Research Assistant within the Peacekeeping Dividends and Post-conflict Development (Dividends) ERC project led by Professor Ismene Gizelis. Fareeda holds an MSc in Conflict Resolution (with Distinction) from Essex and a BSc in Political Science and a statistics minor (with High Honours) from Cairo University. Her overall research interests include gender and armed conflict, public policy, and analysis of conflict management using quantitative methods. Fareeda's doctoral research is funded by a Faculty of Social Sciences Partnership Research PhD Scholarship, in partnership with Action on Armed Violence (AOAV), for whom she conducts research on the impact of arms trade on explosive violence, particularly against women, across different geographic contexts, as well as the patterns of civilian harm due to explosive violence. Prior to starting her PhD studies in October 2023, Fareeda had been working at the Cairo International Center for Conflict Resolution, Peacekeeping, and Peacebuilding (CCCPA) for over two years, where she led the peacemaking and peacebuilding program. In this capacity, she was responsible for planning yearly activities, drafting funding proposals, conducting and publishing research on relevant thematic areas, and designing content for tailored capacity building trainings and convening workshops, often in partnership with relevant stakeholders, including the United Nations and African Union. Fareeda was also seconded to the International Organization for Migration (IOM) Mission in Juba, South Sudan for 3 months. [Most updated bio and information are on my website: fareedakhalifa.com]

Qualifications

• MSc Conflict Resolution (with Distinction) University of Essex (2021)

• BSc Political Science (minor in Statistics, with honours) Cairo University (2020)

Thesis