Salma Yusuf
Senior Fellow
Salma Yusuf is an International Lawyer & Senior International Specialist Consultant on Democratization and Governance, Peace and Conflict, Transitional Justice, Human Rights, Democratization, and Governance, Justice & Rule of Law.
With an extensive track record encompassing diverse sectors nationally, regionally and internationally, she has served and continues to serve the United Nations, Commonwealth, international and national private and corporate sectors, national and foreign governments, civil society, academia, media and journalism, and international institutions, she specializes in policy and process design, consensus-building and dialogue development, program and project implementation, research, development of toolkits and knowledge products, conducting training and empowerment initiatives, academic lectures, strategic advocacy, and thought leadership.
She is currently Visiting Professor and Faculty at University of Salamanca, Spain which is the oldest university in the Spanish speaking world.
She has taught on the Masters’s Degree Program of the University of Colombo and the University of Sydney and on the Bachelor’s Program of the University of Northumbria, United Kingdom – Regional Campus for Sri Lanka & Maldives.
She has published extensively in scholarly journals, research insights, policy documents, and opinion commentary formats.
Most recently, as a Public Official in the Government of Sri Lanka where she led the process of drafting and developing Sri Lanka's first National Policy on Reconciliation which is the first in Asia and among a few in the world.
Notably, she is a founding member currently a Board Member of the Women Mediators across the Commonwealth Network.
She was also recently selected as a Salzburg Global Fellow, further reflecting her recognition and engagement at the highest levels of global leadership and collaboration.
Further, she sits as Director and Member of numerous Boards in several international organizations and initiatives.
She has a Master of Laws in Public International Law from Queen Mary University of London and a Bachelor of Laws (Honours) from the University of London. She is an Attorney-at-Law of the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka.
She has completed specialized fellowships at the University of Toronto, the University of Canberra and the American University of Washington.
In recognition of her professional acumen and technical leadership contributions, she has received recognition and awards from the United Nations, the Commonwealth, the European Union, the Foreign Ministry of France, and the United States Department of State.