Sophie HAVYARIMANA is 56 years old, wife and mother of 3 children. Currently working as a Conflict and Gender Senior Adviser for ACORD (Agency for Cooperation and Research in Development) in Burundi after 7,5 years of service at head office in Nairobi as Head of programme Operations and Development, overseeing the Pan African and country based work in 18 African countries delivering programmes on Social Justice and serving the most vulnerable. Her roles and responsibilities at ACORD have been to provide leadership on country strategy development, quality assurance, Capacity Building and methodology support to programmes;
She is a French speaker, programme development professional in conflict and post conflict areas, she is a trainer and a dialogue facilitator, performed with government officials in Burundi.
Sophie HAVYARIMANA has been developing innovative methodologies to handle conflict in communities and is a conflict mediator to restore social cohesion and lasting peace in communities. The Social Contract Model is a good example that was designed in Burundi and later amplified to other countries like Kenya, Mali and Guinee Conakry.
She has more than 20 years of experience in community development at local community, at national and regional levels with a comprehensive engagement and collaboration with Civil Society Organizations on conflict prevention and transformation. She is a graduate of Burundi University and hold a master’s degree of Leadership from Light University in Bujumbura, Burundi.
