Dr Ola Osman

Dr. Ola Osman is an Assistant Professor of African Politics at the University of Cambridge, a Fellow at Trinity Hall, and a senior gender consultant with the United Nations World Food Programme. She serves on the Advisory Board for the Collective Healing Initiative convened by UNESCO’s Routes of Enslaved Peoples Project. She earned her Ph.D. in Politics and International Studies from the University of Cambridge as a Gates Cambridge Scholar and her Master’s degree in Women’s Studies from the University of Oxford, supported by the Clarendon Scholarship and the Prince Sultan bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud Scholarship. Her interdisciplinary research reframes what are often described as “ethnic” wars in Africa by situating them within the longer history of Atlantic slavery. Her current work focuses on social inclusion, conflict, climate change, and food security in Ethiopia’s Afar Region.

Other Professional Activities

• Senior Gender Consultant for the United Nations World Food Programme (Addis Ababa)
• Advisory Board for the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) Routes of Enslaved People
• Editorial Board for the Journal of Dialogue Studies, special issue: Intergenerational Dialogue for Well-Being Futures: Theories, Practices, and Policy Pathways