Comfort Ero

Comfort Ekhuase Ero is an analyst, policymaker and the president of the think-tank International Crisis Group. Her research has focussed on peacekeeping and international relations in conflict-ridden countries. Alongside her work in international diplomacy, Ero is committed to making peace-building more representative and inclusive. She was awarded the 2023 Sir Brian Urquhart Award for Distinguished Service to the UN.

Early life and education

Ero was born in England to Nigerian parents. After completing their university degrees in the United Kingdom, Ero's parents could not return to Nigeria because of the Biafra Civil War. Ero moved to Lagos when she was two years old, where she lived until primary school. She lived with her uncle on the campus of the University of Lagos. She has credited her father and uncle with her decision to pursue an academic career. Ero earned her doctorate at the London School of Economics, where she studied interventions in intra-African affairs. Specifically she focussed on the post-colonial states that emerged in 1957, and how international relations evolved during independence and the Cold war. She found that interventionist and non-interventionist practise represented a balance between dealing with short term contingencies and long term security. During her doctorate she completed an internship at the United Nations Association – UK, which inspired her to work in policymaking and international diplomacy. After earning her doctorate she moved to King's College London as a research associate in the Conflict, Security and Development Group, which was supported by the Department for International Development. She moved to the International Institute for Strategic Studies in 1998. She was a researcher in Freetown during the Sierra Leone Civil War.

Career

Ero joined Crisis Group as West Africa Project Director in 2001. She moved to the United Nations in 2004, where she spent 3 years as the Political Affairs Officer and Policy Advisor to the Special Representative of the Secretary-General in Liberia. The United Nations Mission in Liberia helped Liberia recover in the aftermath of the decade-long civil war and implement their peace agreement. Here she explored the challenges multilateral agencies face when creating policy. In 2008 she moved to the International Center for Transitional Justice, where she was responsible for the Africa Program.

Ero joined the advisory board of the Royal United Services Institute in 2020. In 2021 she returned to Crisis Group as the Interim Vice President. She was made President and CEO in December 2021. She was the first ever Black woman to lead the organisation. Crisis group conduct field research, analysis and advocacy to help policymakers prevent and resolve conflict.

Ero was awarded the Sir Brian Urquhart Award for Distinguished Service to the United Nations in 2023.

Select publications

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References

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Living people
Year of birth missing (living people)
British people of Nigerian descent
Alumni of the London School of Economics
Peace movement in England