Kate Fearon
Kate Fearon assumed the role of Director of the OSCE’s Conflict Prevention Centre (CPC) in January 2024, following a long career dedicated to conflict resolution and peacebuilding. Upon joining the OSCE in June 2022, Kate served as Deputy Director of the CPC where she led the Policy Support Service and oversaw the South-Eastern Europe, South Caucasus, Central Asia and Eastern Europe desks.
Previously, Kate worked for the European Union Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP) missions in Kosovo (EULEX) and in Georgia (EUMM). From her work as Special Advisor to the civilian commander of the CSDP missions in Brussels, she has experience of the CSDP missions in Ukraine, Ramallah, Rafah, Somalia, Ukraine, Niger, Iraq and Libya.
Kate was a founding member of the Northern Ireland Women’s Coalition (NIWC) in 1996. She was a NIWC Talks Team delegate to the negotiations that led to the Good Friday Agreement in 1998. She became Chief of Staff for the NIWC in the inaugural Northern Ireland Assembly. As Deputy Head of the Political Department in the Office of the High Representative in Bosnia and Herzegovina from 2004-2008, Kate contributed to the implementation of the Dayton Accords in Bosnia and Herzegovina. When she served as Head of the Mitrovica Office of the International Civilian Office in Kosovo from 2010-2012, she was responsible for the Ahtisaari Plan in northern Kosovo.
Kate completed her studies at Queen’s University of Belfast, the University of Sarajevo, and Huddersfield University. She is the author of two books, Women’s Work: The Story of the Northern Ireland Women’s Coalition (1999) and City of Soldiers: A Year of Life and Death in Afghanistan (2012), as well as numerous peer-reviewed articles on conflict resolution, the Women, Peace and Security Agenda, and on rule of law and democratization.