IPB Council Members

Fatima Medani was elected as an IPB Council member in October 2025.

Fatima Medani is from Sudan and is based in the USA. She is a Strategic Governance and Policy Advocate with 9 years of cross-sectoral experience advancing youth engagement, feminist movement resilience, and grassroots peacebuilding.

Ejimole Fidelia Onwuekwe was elected as an IPB Council member in October 2025. She also served as an IPB Council member for the 2019–2022 term.

Ejimole Fidelia Onwuekwe is based in Imo State, Nigeria. She is a retired nurse and the founder of the World Youth Peace Organization, an NGO established to help empower youth.

Ahmad Bakdad was elected as an IPB Council member in October 2025, after working with IPB as Assistant Coordinator.

He is from Syria, he is committed to promoting child rights and gender equality, and supporting vulnerable communities, particularly children and women. Dedicated Safeguarding & Protection practitioner and project manager, specialized in capacity building and policy development for child protection & safeguarding, investigations, humanitarian aid, and community-based protection initiatives.

Holder of a Bachelor’s degree in Law and legal practice authorization. With 7+ years of national and international professional humanitarian, Community development, advocacy, global campaigns, and peace-building experiences.

Amani Aruri was re-elected as an IPB Council member in October 2025, after serving a first term from 2022.

Amani has developed skills and capacities in the fields of social transformation, community activism, human rights, peace and security, advocacy, national dialogue and peace mediation to advance gender equality, economic wellbeing, social justice and human rights agendas at the national, regional and global levels.

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Eskil Grav was re-elected as an IPB Council member in October 2025, after serving a first term from 2022.

He is a member of the IPB family,  and active in the fields of peacebuilding and disarmament. He has past experience working in community and peacebuilding activities in both Tanzania and Lebanon, and a has a background in Human Security Theory. Eskil is currently the Parliamentary Ombud for Scrutiny of the Public Administration in Oslo, Norway.

Esset Samatova is an IPB Council Member and a psychologist, human rights defender, and peace activist from the North Caucasus. She has been engaged in human rights, peacebuilding, women’s rights, and non-violent communication since 2011.

Her work focuses on psychosocial support, holistic protection, and resilience for human rights defenders, activists, and civil society organisations working under pressure. She has developed and facilitated trainings on mental health, security, risk analysis, burnout prevention, online harassment, and sustainable activism for defenders and organisations across different regions.

Esset currently works with Protection International, where she contributes to psychosocial support, protection work, and capacity-building for human rights defenders. She has also contributed to women’s empowerment initiatives and civic education projects aimed at strengthening safety, dignity, and participation for vulnerable groups.

In 2022, Esset received the Sean MacBride Peace Prize for her peace and human rights work. She has served as an IPB Council Member since 2022 and was re-elected in October 2025.

Baroness Dayon Ako-Adounvo was re-elected as an IPB Council member in October 2025, after serving a first term from 2022.
She has a background in biology and sales & business organization, airport operations and marketing. She is the founder and leader of the International Education Connect Agency which supports capacity building for the socio-economic development in Ghana and Sub-Saharan regions and promotes vocational skills exchange to foster peace and unity among the youth. Furthermore, she is founder and leader of the Feeding Hands Ministry & Zoes Trust, a non-government organization that supports villages in Ghana with food, water, and clothes.

Tord Björk was re-elected as an IPB Council member in October 2025, after serving a first term from 2022. He is currently Coordinator of the FoE Sweden EU committee and member of the peace committee and the farmer and indigenous committee.
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Tyson Smith Berry Jr. was re-elected as an IPB Council member in October 2025, after serving a first term from 2022.

Tyson is currently the Executive Director of 4Kids International. He has over 15 years of work experience in humanitarian and social work including education, child protection, peace-building, governance, health, youth and community development. Furthermore, he has expertise in monitoring and evaluation, demography, information technology, programming, and compliance with all necessary regulations in line with the standards of internal policies and procedures of NGOs both local and international.
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Yurii Sheliazhenko was re-elected as an IPB Council member in October 2025, after serving a first term from 2022.

Yurii is the Executive Secretary of the Ukrainian Pacifist Movement, board member at the European Bureau for Conscientious Objection, and at the World BEYOND War. Furthermore, he was lecturer and research associate at the Faculty of Law, KROK University in Kyiv, Ukraine, where he defended his PhD dissertation in law in December 2021. He also obtained master’s degree in law in 2016 as well as a master’s degree in Mediation and Conflict Management in 2021. Yurii authored tens of scholarly articles, taught courses in constitutional and human rights, comparative and international law, legal theory and history. Also, he is public intellectual, blogger, and human rights defender.