Marc Sommers, PhD began working on education and youth challenges in war-affected contexts 25+ years ago. He has written books on education for South Sudanese and co-ordinating education during emergencies and reconstruction, co-authored a book on education in post-war Kosovo, and wrote a seminal assessment on children, education and war for the World Bank. More recently, he conducted field research and then led the design of an innovative regional peacebuilding program for refugee and IDP youth from South Sudan.
An international consultant, Marc has provided strategic advice and conducted research and evaluations in 22 war-affected countries. He has served as Senior Conflict Advisor for the State Department and Senior Research Advisor for the IGAD Center of Excellence for Preventing and Countering Violent Extremism in Djibouti (seconded by the State Dept.). Marc taught for many years at The Fletcher School and was a Jennings Randolph Senior Fellow at USIP and a Fellow at both the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars and The Bellagio Center. An award-winning author, his tenth book is called Marley’s War: Youth Alienation, Terror & Pop Culture in Sierra Leone (forthcoming, University of Georgia Press).