Dr Sarah Njeri

I have a doctorate in Peace Studies, and a Masters in Conflict Resolution from the University of Bradford’s Department of Peace and International Development.

Prior to joining SOAS, I was a Research Fellow with the Humanitarian Policy Group at ODI, having previously, completed as a post-doctoral research associate at the African Leadership Centre at King’s College London.  

I am the co-editor of Global Activism and Humanitarian Disarmament published by Palgrave, Macmillan; a book that analyses the politics of the humanitarian disarmament community - who have successfully achieved international treaties banning landmines, cluster munitions and nuclear weapons, as well as restricting the global arms trade. I have published in key journals including Peacebuilding and the Journal of Peacebuilding & Development Journal among others.  

My published work is listed on Google Scholar. 

I am an interdisciplinary researcher whose research sits at the intersection between academia, policy and practice. My PhD project reflected this, and challenged the dominant critique on liberal peacebuilding which generalizes the failure of interventions without looking into the nuances of these on implementation modalities in difficult/challenging/non-conforming post conflict contexts. 

I examined the implementation of mine action programs within the Somaliland context which exemplifies such challenges. Both Mine Action research as a topic and Somaliland as a context for academic research have been at the peripheral especially from within peace research. Academic engagement on issues of Explosive Remnants of War (in which Landmines are a part of)  extensively focuses on the technological advances towards clearance methods. This usually converges in the fields of engineering and military related research. My research and teaching therefore aims at bringing Mine Action back into the academic discourse especially within humanitarian and development studies.

I maintain an active engagement with the humanitarian disarmament arena, the mine action sector and policy actors by continually engaging in advocacy. I am a trustee of 2 charities REVIVE and the Conflict and Environment Observatory (CEOBS) – these reflect my academic and advocacy interests.

My current research project is a consultancy funded by the Geneva International Centre for Humanitarian Demining (GICHD) on Mine Action and Climate Resilience. The study is in partnership with REMEODY a consultancy organisation. The project seeks to understand how current levels of Explosive Remnants of War contamination impacts on the capacity of communities to adapt to climate change.

I am the convenor of the MSc Humanitarian Action Online programme, including the core module - Humanitarian Principles and Practice. I teach on campus on a number of Development Studies and Humanitarianism modules at postgraduate level.