Applications are now closed for the WPS Fellowship. 

The Pacific Forum has a Women, Peace, and Security (WPS) Fellowship opportunity for young academics and professionals to conduct research and support WPS programming in fields such as inclusive health security, cybersecurity, climate security, humanitarian assistance and disaster relief, preventing and countering violent extremism, and maritime security, with a focus on the promotion of women’s participation in peace and security policy at international levels in dialogues, policies, and peace processes.

The Pacific Forum typically seeks applications for two Resident WPS Fellows. Fellows have the opportunity to meet and learn from globally recognized academic, business, government, and military leaders and leading policy experts to help shape their thinking about the critical challenges and opportunities in WPS; and support U.S. Indo-Pacific Command WPS initiatives in the Indo-Pacific. Fellows will also connect with and build peer networks with counterparts from across the region. The full-time fellowship opportunity (6 months) will begin in September and Fellows will receive a monthly stipend to defray living expenses.

Eligibility and How to Apply:

Applicants:

• May be of any nationality.
• Must meet the following professional criteria:
  • Have completed their undergraduate education AND
  • Have several years of experience in Indo-Pacific security issues and WPS, OR have completed or are completing their graduate education (master’s or doctoral) in these subjects
  • Regional knowledge of Pacific Island countries (specifically Fiji, PNG, and/or Vanuatu) or Southeast Asia
  • Proficient in English (verbal and written skills).

Desired attributes:

• Professional connections in the Pacific Islands or Southeast Asia.
• Familiarity with the subjects of Health, Humanitarian Assistance/Disaster Relief, Preventing/Countering Violent Extremism, and/or Maritime Environmental Crimes.

Hybrid remote fellowship based on Hawaii hours (9 am-5pm HST Mon-Fri) may be considered.

To apply for the WPS Fellowship, please complete the WPS Fellowship online application form and include all materials listed below. All materials must be written in English. Any statement in your application that is found to be false will be grounds for disqualification.

• A cover letter detailing interests, why the WPS Fellowship will contribute to the applicant’s professional development, and how the applicant can contribute to Pacific Forum’s WPS programming
• Curriculum Vitae
• A letter of recommendation
• A description of a research project to undertake as a WPS Fellow (not to exceed 1,500 words)

Contact [email protected] if you need any further information.

Current Nonresident Fellows:

 

Ms. Charity Borg (US) is a Women, Peace and Security (WPS) subject matter expert, and US Department of Defense (DoD) certified Gender Advisor with 10 years of experience in international engagements, foreign affairs research, defense and government policy & plans generation and implementation in the Indo-Pacific and Africa. Throughout her career she has directly supported more than 600 bilateral and multilateral senior leader engagements with 35 Indo-Pacific, and 11 African nations. Most recently Ms. Borg served as Planner to the J5 at U.S. Indo-Pacific Command where she was responsible for the commands implementation of the U.S. Strategy on WPS and the WPS Act of 2017 by mainstreaming gender perspectives into planning, policies, and programs at all levels. She is a recognized SME on gender in military operations, strategy, plans, and security cooperation. She holds holds a M.S. in International Relations from Northeastern University and a B.S. in English Literature from the United States Air Force Academy.

Jeremi (Jem) Panganiban (PH) is interested in feminist anthropologies of sustainability, care, and resilience in maritime Southeast Asia. In her own research work, she explores how women in ocean communities thrive in the midst of armed aggression and biodiversity collapse. She is interested in the life and vitality of women in maritime communities, whose proximity to sites of crisis lend themselves to greater exposure to layers of insecurity. Jem is currently a PhD student in Peace Studies and Anthropology at the University of Notre Dame. She received her B.S. in Community Development from the University of the Philippines and an M.A in Women’s, Gender and Sexuality Studies from the Ohio State University. Prior to her graduate studies, she worked at feminist non-profit and human rights advocacy groups based in the Philippines. Jem is from Metro Manila, Philippines.

 

Celina Agaton (CAN) is the Filipino-Canadian Founder of Open Knowledge Kit. She regenerates local economies in Asia Pacific, Africa and Indigenous Canada, training local, mostly non-technical cross-sector women data collection, drone, 3D reconstruction and geospatial tools to address knowledge stewardship, gender, jobs, and climate crisis gaps. She leads programs for CGIAR, World Bank and APEC. She is a Subak Australia Climate Fellow and former Executive Director of the Creative Economy Council of the Philippines. She is on the board of Telus International Community Investment Board Philippines. In Toronto she was the Deputy Mayor’s electoral campaign Digital Director, and Open Cities Community Engagement Director at the Martin Prosperity Institute, University of Toronto. She was a Netsquared Co-Organizer and David Suzuki Foundation Ambassador. She was raised in Jakarta, Manila and Toronto and is currently based in Bali.

 

Astha Chadha (IND) is a Japanese Government MEXT PhD scholar at Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University and a researcher at the university’s Center for Democracy Promotion. She is a part-time lecturer at Beppu Mizobe Gakuen College, Japan. She holds MSc in International Relations (Ritsumeikan APU), MA in Economics (Jawaharlal Nehru University) and BA (Hons) in Economics (University of Delhi). Her research is focused on India-Japan relations, role of religion in international relations, security and defense analyses of regional powers in the Indo-Pacific, South Asian rivalries, and conflict resolution etc. She has previously published in Global Affairs, International Journal of Religion, Contemporary Japan, South Asian Popular Culture, Ritsumeikan Journal of Asia Pacific Studies, International Social Science Review and has contributed to The Diplomat, Khabarhub, Kootneeti etc.

 

Siti Darojatul Aliah (ID) or shortly called by her nick name Dete is the Founder and Director of SeRVE (Society against Radicalism and Violent Extremism) – Indonesia. She was formerly the Managing Director of Yayasan Prasasti Perdamaian (YPP) or Institute for International Peace Building and the board of YPP since 2010.  She graduated from SungKongHue University of South Korea for her Masteral Degree in 2014 with major on Inter-Asia NGOs Studies.  She has done various researches on PCVE issue, such as “Perception of the Grass Root Islamic Organization towards Democracy Practices in Indonesia” (2010), “The Role of Women in Jihadist Movement in Indonesia”, “The Role of Women in Counter Violence Extremism” (2017), “The Female Deportees: The Pathways to Hijrah” (2017).  “The Role of Non-State Security Groups in Securing the Local from Violent Extremism” with University van Amsterdam, The Netherlands (2019), “The Usage of Corruption as Tool for Propaganda and recruitment by Violent Extremism Groups” (2019) “Radicalism in State University” (2019). She visits some prisons to meet and talk with terrorist inmates and communicates closely with the family of the terrorist inmates and former terrorist inmates as well as Indonesian deportees who deported from Turkey and returnees from Syria.  She involves in preventing and countering violence extremism through several approaches such as assisting former and violence extremist offenders in order to disengage them from violence acts; assisting the wives and families of former and violence extremist offenders as an agent of disengagement of their husband and their family members; assisting Indonesia deportees who intend to travel to Syria, in order to deconstruct their radical thought, be friended with returnees from Syria, preventing young people and women from radical thought through different approaches. In order to strengthen community from radical group’s propaganda and recruitment, she established an NGO namely SeRVE Indonesia (Society Againts Radicalism and Violence Extremism). She also assisted National Counter Terrorism Agency (BNPT) in establishing Women’s Group that promoting Peace and fight against Radicalism and Violence Extremism.

 

Previous WPS Fellows:

Jennifer Howe (UK) is a PhD student at the Department of War Studies, King’s College London. Her research examines the under-explored relationship between truth commissions and violent extremism, with a particular focus on the ongoing conflict in Mindanao, Southern Philippines. She is a committee member of the King’s-based initiative, Women in War and International Politics, and a fellow at the Centre for the Study of Divided Societies. Prior to joining King’s, Jennifer worked as a resident Women, Peace and Security Fellow at the Pacific Forum. Her publications have investigated the impact of COVID-19 on conflict resolution and gender equality in Southeast Asia. She holds an M.A. in Politics and International Relations from Durham University, where she assessed the relationship between human rights compliance and transitional justice in East Asia.

 

Dr Maria Tanyag (PH) is a Fellow / Senior Lecturer at the Department of International Relations, Coral Bell School of Asia Pacific Affairs, Australian National University. She was awarded her PhD from Monash University in 2018. Maria received first class honours for both her MA (Research) and BA Honours in Political Studies from the University of Auckland, New Zealand; and a BA in Political Science magna cum laude from the University of the Philippines-Diliman. She was selected as one of the inaugural International Studies Association (ISA) Emerging Global South Scholars in 2019, and as resident Women, Peace and Security Fellow at Pacific Forum in 2021.

 

Tevvi Bullock (AUS) is a PhD Candidate at Monash University’s Gender, Peace and Security Centre. Her research broadly covers gender, climate and security, the WPS agenda, humanitarian action, and men and masculinities. She was previously a Women, Peace and Security (WPS) Resident Fellow at Pacific Forum, and a ‘21/’22 Women in International Security (WIIS) Gender, Peace and Security Next Generation Fellow. Tevvi is a ‘22 Young Australians in International Affairs (YAIA) ‘Young Woman to Watch’, an inaugural Australian Institute of International Affairs (AIIA) NextGen Leader, and a Pacific Forum Young Leader. She was previously a working group member on climate and environment in the Pacific with Asia-Pacific Development, Diplomacy and Defence Dialogue (AP4D), and was a teaching assistant at the Australian National University. Fluent in German, she was awarded the Australian German Association & Goethe-Institut 2020 Research Fellowship. Tevvi has an upcoming chapter in the Routledge Handbook of Masculinities, Conflict and Peacebuilding (exp. pub. 2024), and has published short articles with the LSE Centre for WPS, Pacific Forum, and Inkstick. She holds an Advanced Master of Diplomacy (Australian National University), a Graduate Certificate of Gender, Peace and Security (Monash University), and a Bachelor of Global Studies (University of Technology Sydney).

 

Maryruth Belsey Priebe (CAN) is a Women, Peace and Security (WPS) Fellow at Pacific Forum International, a Harvard International Relations graduate student, and the author of numerous articles. Using social science, feminist foreign policy perspectives/analyses/theories, and data analysis, her research focuses on the nexus of gender, climate change, and peace and security in the Asia-Pacific. Maryruth’s circular food economy policy work has been selected for inclusion in the OpenIDEO Food Systems Game Changers Lab, and she has held several research and fellowship positions focused on women’s leadership. She is also a member of Harvard’s Climate Leaders Program and the Research Network on Women, Peace and Security, and is a volunteer for multiple gender-climate causes. Maryruth tweets @greenwriting.