STAFF

Bruno Stagno, Executive Director
Joanna Weschler, Deputy Executive Director and Director of Research
Amanda Roberts, Coordinating Editor & Research Analyst
Shamala Kandiah Thompson, What's in Blue Editor and Senior Research Analyst
Astrid Forberg Ryan, Development Officer and Senior Research Analyst
Lansana Gberie, Research Analyst
Zeeshan Hashmi, Research Analyst
Paul Romita, Research Analyst
Eran Sthoeger, Research Analyst 
Nicholas Walbridge, Research Analyst
Robbin VanNewkirk, Publications Coordinator
Dahlia Morched, Research Assistant 
Laura Coquard-Patry, Junior Research Assistant 
Maritza Tenerelli, Administrative Assistant 
Tim Caughley, Research Consultant
Stevenson Swanson, Copy Editor (Consultant)

Contact Information

Ambassador Bruno Stagno Ugarte joined Security Council Report in the summer of 2011. He recently concluded a sixteen year career in the Costa Rican Foreign Service including a four-year term as Foreign Minister (2006-2010). Previously, he served as Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the United Nations (2002-2006), Chief of Staff of the Foreign Ministry (1998-2000), Adviser to the Foreign Minister (1998) and Minister Counselor and Consul General in the Embassy in Paris (1994-1998). Ambassador Stagno has also served as President of the Assembly of States Parties of the International Criminal Court (2005-2008), Co-President of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty Conferences (2007-2009), Co-President of the UN 2005 Summit Outcome Document (2005) and Vice-President of the UN Commission of Sustainable Development (2002-2004). He is a graduate of Georgetown University (BSFS in 1991), Université de la Sorbonne (UPIII-IHEAL, DEA in 1994) and Princeton University (MPP in 2001).

Joanna Weschler joined Security Council Report in 2005. As Deputy Executive Director and Director of Research she is responsible for supervising the production of high-quality and timely material published by the organisation.  From 1994 until 2005 Ms. Weschler was the UN Representative for Human Rights Watch. She also regularly represented Human Rights Watch at the UN Human Rights Commission. She has conducted human rights investigations in countries on five continents and written numerous reports and articles on human rights. A native of Poland, she was previously a reporter for the Solidarity Union press agency, in charge of covering most meetings between Union President Lech Walesa and the communist government, and meetings of the executive leadership of the union. Ms. Weschler holds a master's degree in Spanish and Latin American Studies from the University of Warsaw and a master's in journalism from Columbia University. She speaks English, Polish and Spanish. top

Amanda Roberts joined Security Council Report in August 2005.  As Coordinating Editor & Research Analyst she has a particular responsibility for quality control of all of the organisation's publications. She is responsible for covering Middle Eastern issues, including Lebanon, Israel/Palestine, UNDOF and Syria, as well as women, peace and security. Additionally, she works closely with the Executive Director managing the organization and is the main point of contact for the Board of Directors. Before joining Security Council Report, Ms. Roberts gained nine years of non-profit management experience from positions at Columbia University and the World Policy Institute.  Previously, she worked in the Occupied Palestinian Territories as an educator and a human rights advocate. Ms. Roberts holds a BA from Hampshire College and a Master of International Affairs from Columbia University's School of International and Public Affairs with a concentration in human rights and Middle Eastern history.  She also received an Advanced Certificate from the Middle East Institute at Columbia University. She speaks English and has a strong working knowledge of Arabic.  top

Shamala Kandiah Thompson joined Security Council Report in May 2007 after a year of consulting for the organisation. As a Senior Research Analyst she is responsible for writing reports on Children and Armed Conflict, peacekeeping, peacebuilding and conflict prevention. Ms. Kandiah has fifteen years of experience in media and public policy making. In 2001 Ms. Kandiah set up a communications consulting company based in Singapore marketing, developing and executing communications training programmes. Prior to this she worked with the Singapore Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the ASEAN Secretariat in Jakarta covering ASEAN and UN issues. She began her career as television reporter in Singapore and has worked as a foreign correspondent in New York. Ms. Kandiah holds a Bachelor of Social Sciences (Honours) and a Bachelor of Arts degree from the National University of Singapore and a Master in International Affairs from Columbia University's School of International and Public Affairs. She speaks English, Malay and Indonesian. top

Astrid Forberg Ryan joined Security Council Report as a Research Analyst in October of 2008. She is responsible for thematic issues such as protection of cilvilians as well as country-specific issues including Somalia, Ethiopia/Eritrea Djibouti/Eritrea. Before joining Security Council Report she worked for eleven years in the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs as Vice Consul for the Norwegian Consulate in San Francisco and more recently as First Secretary for the Mission of Norway to the United Nations in New York. Ms. Ryan holds a Master of Science Degree in Business from the Norwegian School of Economics and Business Administration and a Diplôme International d'Administration Publique from Ecole Nationale d'Administration in Paris and Strasbourg, France. She speaks Norwegian, English and French and has working knowledge of Spanish. top

Lansana Gberie joined Security Council Report as a Research Analyst in August 2011. He is responsible for covering Central African Republic, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Côte d'Ivoire, Guinea-Bissau and Guinea, as well as the PBC and "emering threats". He previously worked as Senior Researcher with the Africa Conflict Prevention Programme of Institute for Security Studies (ISS) in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Before that, he was Senior Research Fellow at the Kofi Annan International peacekeeping Training Centre in Accra, Ghana. An academic and journalist, Mr. Gberie is author of A Dirty War in West Africa: The RUF and the Destruction of Sierra Leone (Indiana University Press, 2005). He was awarded the 'Outstanding Research Award' by the Canadian government body IDRC in 2002 for his work with Partnership Africa Canada on the Human Security and International Diamond Trade project. Mr. Gberie holds a PhD in history from VU University in the Netherlands.

Zeeshan Hashmi joined Security Council Report as a Research Analyst in August 2011. He is responsible for covering Western Sahara, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Iraq, Libya and Yemen, as well as the thematic issue of small arms. Previously he served in the British Army and he has worked in the field in several countries, including Afghanistan and Iraq. He holds a BA in Oriental Studies (Arabic) from the University of Cambridge and he completed a year abroad in Syria. Mr. Hashmi is fluent in Arabic, English, Hindi, Hindko and Urdu; proficient in Pashto and Punjabi; beginner in Farsi.

Paul Romita joined Security Council Report as a Research Analyst in September 2011.  He is responsible for covering the country-specific issues Sudan, South Sudan, Afghanistan and Haiti, as well as Security Council Elections and issues related to the Peacemaking-spectrum. He previously worked as a policy analyst in the State Fragility and Peacebuilding program at the International Peace Institute in New York.  Before that, he worked for a year at Security Council Report, first as an intern and then as a programme consultant, focusing primarily on the production and quality control aspects of the organisation’s publications.   Mr. Romita also has several years of experience in the communications and fundraising field.   He holds a master degree from Columbia University’s School of Public and International Affairs, and is currently a doctoral candidate at CUNY’s Graduate Center. 

Eran Sthoeger joined Security Council Report in September 2010, first as a Research Consultant and then Research Analyst. He is responsible for covering the Great Lakes region, the DRC and LRA-affected areas, as well as other issues such as ICTY/ICTR, Justice and the Rule of Law and Terrorism. Previously, he was a legal clerk at the Supreme Court of Israel and a policy consultant for the Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He has also been a member of legal teams in several inter-state disputes. Mr. Sthoeger holds a Bachelor of Law and a Bachelor of Arts in history and Jewish history from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem (summa cum laude) and a Master of Law in International Legal Studies from New York University. Mr. Sthoeger is fluent in English and Hebrew. top 

Nicholas Walbridge joined Security Council Report as a Research Analyst in September 2011.  He is responsible for covering DPRK, Timor-Leste, Kosovo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Cyprus and Iran, as well as Working Methods of the Council. Prior to this he worked for the New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, most recently in the political section at the NZ Embassy in Washington D.C.  From 2005-2009, he worked at the T.M.C. Asser Institute in The Hague, where he was Managing Editor of the Hague Justice Portal – a research-based website, focusing on developments in international law, particularly at the ICC, ICJ and ICTY.  Mr. Walbridge holds a Master’s in Political Science from Leiden University, and a Bachelor of Laws and a Bachelor of Arts (History) from the Victoria University of Wellington.  In terms of foreign languages: “French would be the best of a bad bunch”.

Dahlia Morched joined Security Council Report in May 2010 as a Research Assistant after working with the organisation as a Research Intern. She is responsible for compiling and editing stories for the What's in Blue daily news feed, as well as fact checking and assiting with quality control and website maintenance. She holds a Master of International Affairs from Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs, where she concentrated on human rights and humanitarian affairs with a focus on sub-Saharan Africa. She speaks English and Arabic and has working knowledge of Spanish and French.

Laura Coquard-Patry joined Security Council Report in August 2011 as a Research Intern and became a Junior Research Assistant in early January 2012. She is responsible for fact checking drafts of the Monthly Forecast, Special Research Reports and Cross-Cutting Reports. She drafts historical chronologies of events relating to the Security Council and uploads new material onto the website. She assists the research team in analysing Security Council documents and collects statistics. Ms. Coquard-Patry holds a Master of Laws degree from Indiana University, where she worked as a research assistant for a professor of International Criminal Law, and a Master's Degree in Human Rights and International Law from Panthéon-Assas University. She is a native speaker of French and is fluent in English, and has a working knowledge of Portuguese and Spanish.