Mossarat Qadeem, Lensche Ristoska and Juanita Estrada
Mossarat Qadeem
Mossarat is the co-founder of PAIMAN Alumni Trust, a non-profit organisation promoting socio-political and economic empowerment of marginalised Pakistanis. PAIMAN Mothers and Youth Peace Groups have received international recognition for offering an alternative narrative to extremism to thousands of young people. Mossarat advocates in the realm of women, peace and security at a national and international level, and is a globally recognised expert on countering violent extremism and de-radicalisation. She participated in Wilton Park’s ‘Women in Mediation’ conference where she spoke compellingly about her experience of negotiating for the release of hostages in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan.
Lensche Ristoska
Lensche was appointed As Public Prosecutor for the Republic of Macedonia in 2015 working within the Special Prosecutors Office investigating cases of corruption, money laundering, criminal association, abuse of official powers and the illegal interception of communication wiretapping. These cases often involve politicians and their patronage networks. She attended the ‘Security, the Western Balkans and the UK’ Conference run by Wilton Park and was asked what she does when she receives death threats as a result of her work. Lensche’s response was that she relies on public opinion and that the increased public transparency and openness that comes from her work would protect her.
Juanita Estrada
Juanita is a Senior Associate at the Institute for Integrated Transitions (IFIT) and directs the Brain Trust for the Colombian Transition and the Venezuela Expert Group. Before joining IFIT, she was the Head of the Transitional Justice Group at the Office of the High Commissioner for the Peace of Colombia for four years. During this time, she was intensively involved in the peace talks between the Colombian Government and the FARC-EP (the People’s Army) guerrilla in Havana, Cuba. Juanita participated in the Wilton Park event ‘Turbulence in Peace Processes’ in 2017, and in March this year she was elected as an MP for the Alianza Verde Party in Bogota.