“Placing prevention at the heart of the sustaining peace agenda is a bold move, and requires continuous efforts at different levels. I believe that the change should start at the community level, and I hope to complement such process with my knowledge and political instinct.”

Ms. Otunbayeva is former President of Kyrgyzstan. In 1991 she became both Foreign Minister and Deputy Prime Minister of the newly independent country. She served as foreign minister three times (1991, 1994-1997, 2005). She worked for the United Nations as Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary-General in Georgia (2002-2004). Ms. Otunbayeva was elected to parliament in 2007, and served as President between 2010 and 2011 – Central Asia’s first woman leader. She is currently a Member of the Club de Madrid, the Board of Trustees of the International Crisis Group, and the Board of the UN University for Peace, among other affiliations.