Levinia Addae-Mensah

Levinia Addae-Mensah is a Fellow at UNIDIR’s Conventional Arms and Ammunition Programme, as well as a peace, security, governance and development practitioner with over 30 years of experience in conflict prevention, early warning and regional security cooperation. She has served as the first female Executive Director of the West Africa Network for Peacebuilding since September 2024, leading initiatives that connect community knowledge to national, regional and global policy processes.

Levinia has worked extensively with governments, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), the African Union and the United Nations on preventive diplomacy, election security, security sector governance, mediation and inclusive peacebuilding, with particular attention to women and youth participation.

Previously, at the Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre where she served as the first female Director responsible for Partnerships, Policy, Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation, she coordinated the Small Arms and Light Weapons (SALW) Programme, establishing multistakeholder accountability and learning platforms across West Africa. She contributed to the development of ECOWAS SALW training curricula and coordinated regional capacity-strengthening on marking and tracing, border security and stockpile management for security institutions.

Levinia has supported peace processes in Burundi, Rwanda, Liberia and Côte d’Ivoire and has held senior leadership roles in programme oversight, institutional development and policy engagement across Africa and Europe. She holds a Master’s degree in International Relations.