James Kearney, who is originally from County Antrim, has gained a breadth of experience in the peace and security area, having worked for the Africa Educational Trust in London, Nairobi and Rumbek, Southern Sudan; and in the Office of the UN Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict.
After studying History at Oxford, James attained a Master’s degree in International Relations from Cambridge University. His doctoral studies at Edinburgh University examined Ingando 'Peace and Solidarity' camps in Rwanda as a case study in forging collective identity in post-ethnic-conflict environments. This provided the basis for James' contribution to an edited collection: "Education and Reconciliation: Exploring Conflict and Post-Conflict Situations", published by Continuum.
As Peace and Security Programme Coordinator, a key focus of James’ role is to lead on UNA-UK's nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation, and 'Responsibility to Protect' programmes, in addition to work on peacekeeping and emerging threats.
James is also a member UNA Edinburgh branch’s Middle East Working Group, and was a member of the United Nations Association's delegation to the 2010 Non-Proliferation Treaty Review Conference in New York. He has been a visiting instructor and lecturer on Global Government at the Raphael Lemkin Seminar Series on Genocide Prevention, held annually at Auschwitz-Birkenau.