Andrea (Laidman) Ó Súilleabháin joined IPI in January 2013. She currently works on inclusive peacebuilding at the country and international policy level, South-South cooperation among fragile states, and the role of women in conflict mediation and peace processes. Andrea also conducts research and writes about the diplomacy of small states at the UN.
Andrea holds a J.D. from New York University School of Law, where she specialized in international human rights and refugee law. Andrea conducted research on the gender-based impacts of US counterterrorism policy for the Center for Human Rights and Global Justice. She completed legal and policy advocacy on behalf of migrants for the Iraqi Refugee Assistance Program in New York and Doras Luimní in Limerick, Ireland.
Prior to law school, Andrea was a George J. Mitchell Scholar in Ireland and Northern Ireland, where she completed graduate coursework in anthropology and international development, and conducted extensive fieldwork among Ireland’s new refugee communities.
Andrea received her B.A. in Political Science and International Peace Studies from the University of Notre Dame and the Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies. She was awarded a fellowship for her research on gender violence in South Africa, the Program for American Democracy Prize for her thesis on civil liberties and habeas corpus in wartime America, and the Howard Swearer Student Humanitarian Award for her leadership on capital punishment and restorative justice issues.
Andrea tweets at @Andrea_O_S.
Selected Publications
See all of Andrea’s posts in The Global Observatory here>>
With the adoption of the General Assembly and Security Council resolutions on sustaining peace and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, a multilateral policy consensus is emerging around a common vision for peaceful societies. These global frameworks treat prevention as an integral part of effective and participatory governance and view peace as both an enabler […]
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Urbanization has become a central issue in global security, development, and governance. While rapid urbanization can offer higher standards of living and opportunities for millions of people, it can also come at a cost: cities that are unable to respond to the needs of their growing populations face rising violence, crime, and poverty. As a […]
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In 2015, on the occasion of its seventieth year of existence, the UN undertook a comprehensive assessment of its peace and security work through three reviews on peace operations, peacebuilding, and the implementation of the women, peace, and security agenda. These reviews aimed to strengthen the effectiveness, coherence, and relevance of the UN’s peace and […]
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Peace and political transition processes provide key opportunities to transform institutions, structures, and relationships in societies affected by conflict or crises. Despite these wide-ranging implications, women’s participation in formal peacemaking remains low. And empirical evidence regarding the impact of women’s participation on peace has been lacking.
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The call for national and local ownership of peacebuilding and statebuilding design and practice has grown louder in recent years. The principles of leveraging local knowledge and attending to local context have gained increasing prominence and visibility in international policy. Yet translating these principles into practice—in terms of peacebuilding and statebuilding mechanisms, processes, and programs […]
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Small states make up the majority of United Nations member states, and they are among the strongest advocates for the rules-based multilateral system. Yet many small states face challenges in advancing their interests at the UN.
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This issue brief examines the current state of women’s involvement in formal peace processes, focusing on the role of lead mediators. While traditional approaches to international conflict mediation are falling short in the face of 21st-century violence, one possible source of fresh perspectives and alternative approaches remains largely untapped: women.
Read moreThe A4P process doesn’t introduce fresh proposals, but Security Council members can make good use of it to review their…
At the start of every month, the Global Observatory posts a list of key upcoming meetings and events that have implications for global affairs.AUGUST 1-3: United Nations Committee of Experts on Global Geospatial Information Management (UN-GGIM), Eighth session, New YorkThe UN Committee of Experts on Global Geospatial Information Management—the…
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The International Peace Institute is an independent, international not-for-profit think tank with a staff representing more than 20 nationalities, located in New York across from United Nations headquarters. IPI is dedicated to promoting the prevention and resolution of conflicts between and within states by strengthening international peace and security institutions. To achieve its purpose, IPI employs a mix of policy research, convening, publishing and outreach.
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