Team Leader/Key Expert; Lecturer on Peace Studies and International Development at the Faculty of Management, Law and Social Sciences

Marika Djolai (PhD, University of Sussex) is an academic and policy analyst. She is affiliated with the Peace Studies and International Development Department at the University of Bradford. Previously, Marika was a Team Leader of “Global Exchange on Religion in Society”, EU funded global project that built a network of 150 religious and secular civil society actors, as well as journalists, from 55 countries. Previously, she was Head of Conflict and Security Cluster at the European Centre for Minority Issues (2019-2021) where her work focused on minority issues and securitisation of minorities. Her academic research focuses on community dynamics, peace, conflict, and the role of religion in society. In 2023 she published a book chapter “Interfaith dialogue in post-war Bosnia and Herzegovina: Community and Spaces of Interactions” in edited volume ‘Interreligious Encounters in Europe. Sites, Materialities and Practices’. Marika has long experience of working with local actors and community-based organizations – in Bosnia and Herzegovina with a network of 28 radio stations and as a research mentor at “Making All Voices Count” she supported CSOs in the Global South. She was a co-founder of the “Panonija” Charity and the “House of Tolerance” NGO in Serbia.