Ammar Zakri has spent over two decades working in and on fragile contexts — not from a distance, but from within. His career has been built on a conviction that durable peace and functional governance are not abstract goals: they are the product of patient, evidence-based, politically literate work done with and through local institutions and communities.

He works at the intersection of policy analysis, stakeholder engagement, and programme design — translating field realities into recommendations that donors, governments, and civil society can act on. He has managed high-complexity portfolios involving community outreach, multi-stakeholder events, and senior-level engagement with government officials, tribal leaders, and international donors — often under significant time pressure and with minimal oversight.

Fluent in Arabic, English, and Kurdish, he brings both the technical rigour of international development practice and the contextual depth of someone who has lived and worked through Iraq's most consequential transitions. When discussions become politically charged — as they inevitably do in conflict-affected settings — he is known for maintaining neutrality, managing group dynamics under pressure, and synthesising competing perspectives into workable outcomes.

Session(s):

The integration dividend: CEPS programming in practice

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