Vandy Kanyako, PhD

Secretary

Founder and director of West Africa Oil Watch, a civil society-led initiative designed to foster transparency and accountability in the emerging petro-region of West Africa. He has extensive work experience with international organizations in Africa, Europe and the United States. Between 2004 and 2005 he served as the Coordinator of the Global Partnership for the Prevention of Armed Conflict (GPPAC) in New York which brought together 1000 participants representing governments, the United Nations and civil society at the United Nations Headquarters in July 2005 to explore the role of civil society in the prevention of armed conflict. In 2001 he was awarded the Hague Appeal for Peace Prize in Athens, Greece, for his conflict mitigation work in the rehabilitation of child combatants during Sierra Leone’s civil war.