Global Negotiation Academy 2026
Hosted at the University of Zurich
6–10 July 2026
The Global Negotiation Academy 2026 will take place 6–10 July 2026 at the University of Zurich. The Academy will include workshops and presentations on theoretical and practical aspects of negotiation before culminating in a multilateral simulation on negotiating global health resilience. If you have any questions, please contact Shontaye Abegaz, Project Lead at gna@global-negotiation.org
Program
Prior to the in-person program outlined below participants will receive access to the IGN e-Learning Platform at the beginning of June which will include preparatory materials and resources.
Speakers
Keynote Speaker:
Dr. David Chikvaidze
Dr. Chikvaidze's career spans nearly four decades in diplomacy, international relations, and governance. He is a close observer of the challenges of multilateralism, of great power relationships, Eurasian geopolitics, security issues, and their combined impact on energy security, connectivity, and strategic stability and risk. Chikvaidze’s UN career involved him frequently in important issues of the day, including humanitarian aid to North Korea, Western Sahara talks, Yugoslavia humanitarian aid needs, Afghanistan earthquake relief, post conflict needs assessment in Tajikistan, 2013 Geneva rounds of the EU-led P5+1 Talks on the Nuclear Program of Iran; mission assistance to UN Under-Secretaries-General J. Eliasson, P. Hansen, Y. Akashi, S. Vieira de Mello, J.A. Baker and K-J. Tokayev. He advised five Directors-General of the United Nations Office at Geneva (UNOG) first as Senior Political Adviser and then Chef de Cabinet, providing “early warning radar” and back-channel diplomacy. Chikvaidze’s career includes significant contributions to institution-building, such as establishing the prototype of the Geneva Peacebuilding Platform. As Director of the UN Library and Head of the UNOG Cultural Diplomacy program, Chikvaidze implemented a new strategic direction, created synergies with the Library of Congress and other world libraries, and developed new forms of cultural and academic outreach of UNOG. He served as Senior Adviser to the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, in charge of Communications and NGO relations and spokesman for various Human Rights Treaty Bodies. Prior to joining the UN, Chikvaidze served as presidential advance officer, then as deputy chief of the secretariat for President Gorbachev and, briefly, as presidential advance officer for President Yeltsin. In Washington, D.C. (1985-1990), he served as special assistant to the Soviet Ambassador and chief of protocol of the embassy, working with the White House, the Department of State, another Executive Departments, on US-Soviet Summits and ministerial meetings. Dr. Chikvaidze is currently vice president of the Swiss Forum for International Affairs; vice president of the Geneva Diplomatic Club, Fellow of the World Academy of Art and Science, Associate Fellow of the Geneva Center for Security Policy (GCSP), founding member of the Georgian Association of Switzerland. He is a member of the GEOCASE Advisory Board, of the Strategic Advisory Board of the Enniscorthy International Forum, of the Advisory Board of the Masters’ Program of Advanced Studies in European and International Governance (MEIG) of the University of Geneva and of the Scientific Committee of the European Association of International Studies (AESI). Most recently, he has joined Strategia Worldwide as Associate Director.
Shontaye Abegaz
Shontaye Abegaz
Shontaye Abegaz is a Senior Fellow with the Institute for Global Negotiation and will be leading the flagship Global Negotiation Academy 2026. She is an international forum convenor, advisor, and consultant focused on high-level dialogue and human security. In Switzerland, she directed the Just Governance for Human Security Forum at the Caux Conference and Seminar Centre for many years and organized side events alongside major Swiss conferences, convening participants from more than seventy countries across diplomatic, academic, practitioner, and grassroots communities. Under this framework, she created HumansecurityX, a certificate program on the fundamental pillars of human security, and led related publications advancing dialogue on human security and peacebuilding. She is also the Founder and Executive Director of the International Institute for Human Security (IIHS), a five-year, volunteer-led global think tank dedicated to advancing a people-centered approach to peace and security. Operating across four continents with a team of 18 volunteers—including those engaged through United Nations Volunteers—the Institute convened diverse global voices to elevate grassroots peacebuilders, inform international discussions, and contribute to dialogue on human security. Its work included organizing high-level panels at global conferences and fostering the inclusion of underrepresented perspectives in international peace and security conversations. Shontaye also serves as an advisor and consultant to the World Bank Group on a confidential leadership and mentorship program and as Advisor and Communications Lead (and Founding Board Member) with TASAI – The African Seed Access Index, supporting strategy, stakeholder engagement, and continent-wide visibility.
Dr. Zaza Elsheikh
Zaza Johnson Elsheikh is a CEDR Faculty member and a Distinguished Fellow of the International Academy of Mediators (IAM). She is also accredited as an International Commercial Arbitrator through the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (CIArb). As a mediator, Zaza offers a unique blend of professional experience as a medical doctor (1994), a clinical negligence solicitor (2004) and Extremist Ideology Rehabilitation Mentor (2019). She was the Senior Partner at Commercial and Medical Dispute Solutions LLP where she ran a busy clinical negligence/end-of-life, commercial, family, probate, schools and workplace mediation practice based in Dartford, UK for 15 years. In 2021, Zaza decided to develop an international mediation practice informed by the breadth of her dispute resolution experiences in the UK as a commercial, family, workplace mediator and her mediation skills training achievements abroad. She actively promotes the growth of alternative dispute resolution services for all communities, and in particular, Sulh(a) a traditional form of dispute resolution used in many countries in the Far East, Asia, Middle East and North African regions. As a Muslim faith leader, who is influenced by her mixed cultural and religious heritage, Zaza has promoted the use of dispute resolution as an early intervention for disputes between and within faith groups through the charity Belief in Mediation and Arbitration (BIMA) which she co-founded in 2012 with multi-faith mediators and arbitrators. She has also developed seminars on "faithful dispute resolution" and "faithful leadership" which benefit mediators and leaders working with international faith communities.
Dr. Jack R. Williams
Dr. Jack R. Williams is the President of the Institute for Global Negotiation, a non-profit association based in Zurich that promotes and supports the use of negotiation as an essential tool in building a more equitable, peaceful, and sustainable world. Jack teaches negotiation and conflict resolution at universities across the world including as an Adjunct Professor at Sciences Po Paris, University of Zurich and Leuphana University Lüneburg. He is also an External Consultant leading workshops and courses in various programs for the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR). Previously, Jack was an Assistant Professor of International Relations and Acting Dean of the College of International Studies at the American University of Kurdistan in Northern Iraq. Jack received his PhD in Political Philosophy from the University of Zurich, during which time he was a visiting researcher at Princeton University. Jack has also worked as a Junior Research Fellow at the Institute of European and International Economic Law at the University of Bern as well as a Summer Academy and MILE Fellow at the World Trade Institute. Jack is an accredited mediator by CEDR and the Swiss Chamber of Commercial Mediation. He has led complex international meditations and volunteers as a community mediator for Mediation Plus in the United Kingdom.
Fiorella Erni
Fiorella Erni is a seasoned negotiator and crisis management expert with a rich, multifaceted background in both humanitarian aid, diplomacy and entrepreneurship. With experience as a former humanitarian worker in conflict zones for the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), Fiorella has honed her skills in high-stakes negotiations within complex, high-pressure environments. Her work with the Centre of Competence on Humanitarian Negotiation (CCHN) further refined her expertise in advanced negotiation training for frontline workers and diplomats. Currently, Fiorella is a professional negotiator at Negotiated Resolutions, representing clients in corporate negotiations and offering tailored negotiation training. Through her own company, Stand Tall, she specialises in accompanying women in negotiation, particularly in workplace settings, with the goal of advancing more women to C-suite leadership roles. Fiorella’s academic foundation includes a BA in Social Anthropology and Arabic Literature from the University of Zurich, a Master’s in Conflict and Development from the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies, and an MBA from Ecole Hôtelière de Lausanne. She also holds a diploma in Animal Behavior from the University of Oxford, offering unique insights into human behavior in negotiations.
Peter Cunningham
Peter Cunningham is Head of Leadership at the Geneva Centre for Security Policy (GCSP) and Co-Founder of the Geneva Leadership Alliance—a collaborative network advancing leadership for peace and security worldwide. With nearly 20 years of experience in leadership development, adult education, and executive coaching across sectors and continents, Peter brings a rich and diverse perspective to his work. He is known for creating safe and inclusive spaces for learning, while also challenging individuals and groups to apply leadership mindsets in bold and transformative ways. Born in England, raised in The Netherlands, and having worked across Australia and the Asia-Pacific, Peter is now based in Geneva and works in English, French, and Dutch.
Fiorella Erni
Stephen Kilpatrick
Stephen Kilpatrick is a graduate of King’s College, London and the Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst. He served for a full career as an officer in the British army, completing multiple tours in Northern Ireland, the Balkans, the Middle East and Africa. An infantry officer, he conducted two tours as an instructor at Sandhurst, a tour as Director of Studies at the UK Joint Command and Staff Course and an equivalent tour at the Kuwait Staff College. He also worked as an advisor in the British Embassy in Tehran and subsequently the High Commission in Islamabad. He was appointed OBE in 2001 for his command of a Battle Group on operations in Kosovo. On leaving the army he served for almost 8 years as an armed forces delegate at the International Committee of the Red Cross, completing tours in Myanmar and at the ICRC Headquarters in Geneva, where his primary responsibilities were the reduction of civilian harm resulting from urban warfare and from the employment of military forces on law enforcement operations. He also joined the Centre of Competence in Humanitarian Negotiation as a training facilitator. Since leaving the ICRC in December 2023 he has undertaken short deployments to conflict areas and assumed a consultancy appointment with Article 36 in support of the project to reduce harm resulting from the use of Explosive Weapons in Populated Areas.
Ms. Palak Khanna
Ms. Palak Khanna is a former U.S. diplomat with experience conducting complex negotiations and mediations across South America, Asia and the United States. She holds a Master’s degree from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, specializing in gender and intersectional analysis, as well as negotiation and conflict resolution. Her work explores how identity and culture shape negotiation dynamics.
