Salma Yusuf

Salma Yusuf has served as the Deputy Director for the Office of National Unity and Reconciliation (2015-2017). She is an academic and gender equality specialist using her expertise to advocate for inclusion in post-war reconstruction using a human rights approach. Her work is cross-cutting and provides insights at local, national and international levels on inclusion of women in securing and prolonging peace. 

Previously serving as Lead Drafter and Process Manager for the development of Sri Lanka’s first National Policy on Reconciliation, she ensured that during this process the intersectional experiences of women were substantively incorporated into the document, and gender-responsiveness  was instilled as a key principle.

Salma’s academic research on gender equality has been published and recognized both on a national and international scale. She has an extensive record of providing legal and journalistic insight into galvanizing women’s active roles for peace, and served as a columnist for several publications in Sri Lanka. In addition to these diverse roles, she continues to work at a grassroots level on Women, Peace and Security issues.

She is the recipient of the European Union Visitor Program (2016), Foreign Ministry of France Leadership Award (2013), and is listed as a Fellow of the South Asia Democratic Forum.