Dr. Fatuma Ahmed Ali is an Associate Professor of International Relations at the School of Humanities and Social Sciences (SHSS) of the United States International University – Africa (USIU-Africa), Nairobi, Kenya. She is a visiting faculty and an external researcher of the Interuniversity Institute for Social Development & Peace (IUDESP) of the Universitat Jaume I, Castellón, Spain. She is also an Associate Fellow at the Horn Institute, Kenya, gender advisor for the Somali Women’s Study Centre (SWSC), Somalia, Board Chair of the NGOs Coalition of Violence Against Women (COVAW), Conscious Kenya, and the Advisory Board member at the Austrian Centre for Peace (ACP).

Dr. Ali holds a European Doctorate (PhD) with distinction in “Peace, Conflict and Democracy Studies and an International MA in Peace, Conflict and Development Studies from Universitat Jaume I, Castellón, Spain. She has a Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree in International Relations (Hons) with minors in Sociology and Management from the United States International University - Africa.

Dr. Ali is a Gender expert, mentor and academic activist with almost 20 years of experience. She has facilitated workshops and trainings for civil society organizations, young politicians, regional diplomats in East Africa, EUCAP and security officers in both Kenya and Spain. She has extensive experience in research, publication, curriculum development/review, project evaluation and rapid assessment. She has also worked as a consultant with International NGOs, UN agencies (UNDP, UNHCR, UNODC, IOM and WFP), regional organizations such as Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), the Austrian Study Centre for Peace and Conflict Resolution (ASPR), Kenyan Government, and the Commission for University Education (CUE).

She has been involved in organizing several roundtables, seminar series, colloquium and international conferences. She has published numerous peer-reviewed articles, book chapters, briefs, opinion pieces, one edited and self-authored book in both English and Spanish languages. Dr Ali has won several research grants and awards. She is also a recipient of the prestigious Peace Prize 2020 award of the City of Castellon (Premio Por la Paz Ciudad de Castellon), Spain.