Katherine Reyes

Bio

Katherine has worked in conflict resolution for seven years during which she has lived in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Burundi, and Sudan. Currently working as civil affairs officer in Sudan with the United Nations-African Union Mission to Darfur (UNAMID), she has reported extensively on the situation of internally displaced persons, security, tribal conflict, and the on-going peace process.

Prior to that, Katherine worked with the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) in Bosnia and Herzegovina from 2001 to 2004 on the de-segregation of schools and the rights of returnee and minority children. She has also worked on peacebuilding activities in central Burundi with the United Nations Mission. Her journalistic experience includes work for the Globe and Mail as well as the CBC, where she produced a report on the status of the Syrian Christian minority community.

Born and raised in Montreal, Katherine is fluent in English and French, and speaks limited Arabic. She has a B.A. in Journalism and Political Science from Carleton University (1999) and an MSc in Comparative Politics from the London School of Economics and Political Science (2000).

Issue of Investigation

As a 2008 Gordon Global Fellow, Katherine will explore the concept of regionalism in peacebuilding. She will investigate Canada’s support to regional organizations focusing on the case study of Canada’s support to the African Union. Katherine will explore the advantages and disadvantages of supporting regional organizations’ efforts in conflict resolution and prevention.