Michael Keating
Michael Keating is Executive Director at the European Institute of Peace, an independent body that works with a broad range of local and international actors including the European Union, European states and civil society to design and deliver action on conflict prevention, resolution and mediation.
Until late 2018, he served as the Special Representative of the Secretary-General (SRSG) and Head of the United Nations Assistance Mission in Somalia. Prior to that, he was an Associate Director at Chatham House in London, where he initiated a range of initiatives on topics including Afghanistan, natural resources and conflict, access to energy for refugees and the displaced, and humanitarian engagement with non-state armed groups.
His UN career has included assignments in Kabul as deputy SRSG, in Lilongwe, Jerusalem/Gaza, New York, Geneva, Islamabad and Mogadishu. He headed the team that formulated the Human Rights Up Front agenda for the Secretary General. He has long been an advocate for action on climate change and environmental degradation including for conflict prevention and resolution. His early career was in the private sector; he has directed a number of non governmental organisations, including the Africa Progress Panel, a policy group chaired by Kofi Annan.
He has written for a variety of journals, newspapers, and other publications, including as co-editor of ‘War and Peace in Somalia: National Grievances, Local Conflict and Al-Shabaab’. He was born in Uganda, educated in the UK and has a Master of Arts in History from the University of Cambridge.