Anne-Marie Codur

Anne-Marie Codur "obtained her Ph.D. in Economics and Sustainable Development from Institut d'Etudes Politiques de Paris and was a post-doctoral fellow at Harvard University and a research fellow at the Tufts University Global Development and Environment Institute. She has expertise in citizen diplomacy, people-to-people peace initiatives, and civil resistance -- notably in the Middle East and Mediterranean region -- as well as in sustainable development policies and environmental economics.

"While at Harvard, along with young scholars and leaders from the Middle East and North Africa, she co-founded the University of the Middle East Project (UME). UME is a nonprofit organization that has offered high-level academic trainings to more than 500 civil society leaders and educators from the Middle East and North Africa in the past ten years (from Algeria, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Palestine, Qatar, Syria, the Sudan, and Tunisia). Anne Marie was the Academic Director of UME from 1999 to 2005 and Executive Director from 2005 to 2008.

"Anne Marie is also the co-founder of Newscoop, an online initiative connecting high school students and offering a forum for young people to produce and share news at the local, national and international level, giving them the opportunity to report on important issues for their communities that are rarely covered by mainstream media. In its pilot phase, Newscoop currently includes a network of about 25 high schools around the world.

"Anne Marie is also a classical singer who has performed in various recitals and opera productions in France and in the United States, and she has also acted in several short films. Bridging her experience as a performing artist and as a scholar and activist, Anne Marie's recent research and interest is focusing on developing a better understanding of how the arts (and in particular performing arts, theatre, film, and music) have been used as an effective means of nonviolent resistance, and how they can be efficiently mobilized in the struggles of our time for freedom and justice.

"She is a native of Paris, France, and speaks French, English, and Spanish."

• Senior Advisor, ICNC