Lena Bareiß represents the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) in the FriEnt team since December 2023. Her main areas of interest are feminist peacebuilding and intersectionality as well as decolonial approaches to peace work, transitional justice with a focus on coping with the past and remembrance work, mental health, and psychosocial support (MHPSS) as well as flight and migration.
Prior to joining FriEnt, she worked on the peace process and the implementation of the peace agreement in Colombia for several years – amongst others for Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), a civil society platform and the Truth Commission. She supports the UN Women Regional Office for Eastern and Southern Africa on issues relating to women, peace, and security. As a research assistant in the Department of International Relations of the Academy of the Diocese of Rottenburg-Stuttgart, she worked on topics of peacebuilding, climate justice as well as indigenous knowledge and alternatives to development.
Lena Bareiß completed the trainee programme of the German Development Cooperation and holds a German and Colombian master’s degree in Conflict, Memory and Peace studies (KU Eichstätt-Ingolstadt and Universidad del Rosario).