Thanks to the generous support of the Stichting Giustra International Foundation, International Crisis Group launched The Giustra Fellowship for Conflict Prevention in September 2016. The fellowship affords early to mid-career professionals from conflict-affected countries or regions the chance to gain invaluable experience learning Crisis Group’s method of research and analysis through training and mentorship, and provides fellows with access to conflicts they would not otherwise have. 

Since its inception, Crisis Group has hired more than 10 fellows across our regional programs including Africa, Asia, Middle East and North Africa, Europe and Central Asia and Latin America & Caribbean. 

“I hope my gift to Crisis Group inspires others to invest in conflict prevention”, said Frank Giustra, founder of the Stichting Giustra International Foundation and Acceso and President & CEO of the Fiore Group. “It is absolutely critical that concerned individuals and philanthropists like myself join together to address deadly conflicts, which is the principal driver behind the global refugee and migration crisis. These promising analysts, who also grew up in countries in crisis, represent the best hope to stem the tide of war that has forced an unprecedented 65 million people worldwide to flee their homes”.

We are immensely grateful to the Stichting Giustra International Foundation for its sponsorship of these early career experts.

The Giustra Fellows have supported Crisis Group’s Programs – through research, analysis and advocacy – in various countries and regions where the threat of conflict is present. 

Crisis Group recruits fellows from countries in crisis to contribute to our conflict prevention work, while building greater capacity and expertise in the conflicts they study.

Amory Lumumba – Central Africa

Amory joined as the Giustra Fellow for Crisis Group’s Central Africa Project in August 2022. Amory is a DRC national who holds a B.A. in Political Science from Université Libre de Bruxelles and an MSc in Politics of Conflict, Rights & Justice from SOAS. Amory comes to us with experience from the private sector (Rebranding Africa Forum) and international organisations (IOM-Abidjan). He is also the founder and podcast host of intelcongo.com.

As a Fellow, Amory supports Crisis Group’s research, advocacy and policy recommendations for three Central African countries: Chad, Cameroon and the Central African Republic. The fellowship has enriched his understanding of these countries and provided for wider regional perspectives.

Ai Wei Kwek (Ivy) – China

Ivy joined us in March 2022 as the Giustra Fellow for the Asia Program, supporting our China work. During her fellowship, she has supported our senior analyst with our workstream on Chinese foreign policy, which has enabled us to widen the scope of topics we cover. Having worked in government previously, her learning objective in joining Crisis Group has been to hone her skills as a researcher and gain in-depth understanding about China and its regional and global role.

Ivy is based in Taipei and thus has been able to speak to many stakeholders in Taiwan about the issues across the South China Sea, including the Taiwan Strait and the recent military activities.

Glaeldys González Calanche – Latin America & Caribbean

Glaeldys joined us in early March 2022 as the Giustra Fellow for the Latin America & Caribbean Program. Her main assignments include supporting analysts in their research, fact-checking reports, developing our policy recommendations and engaging in public media and advocacy activities related to the Andean region. She currently leads the Program’s research on the Central Andean region (Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia).

As a fellow, Glaedys has contributed to a number of publications on Ecuador, Colombia, Brazil and Peru. For her assignments, she has interviewed key actors and carried out extensive, in-depth research, as well as participated in communications and advocacy activities.

Since the Giustra Fellowship began in 2016, Crisis Group has hosted more than ten fellows, who have gone on to work in various organisations and in new capacities.