Tahir Aziz is Director of the South Asia Program at Conciliation Resources, a London-based peacebuilding organization that provides practical support to help people affected by violent conflict achieve lasting peace and improve peacebuilding practices worldwide.
Tahir supports a range of partner organizations and individuals in the region in their initiatives for conflict transformation and resolution, often drawing upon lessons learned from peace processes in other regions. His work has a particular focus on both sides of the Line of Control, the frontier separating the Indian and Pakistani sides of Kashmir.
Before he pursued a master's in peace studies, Tahir worked for the president of the Pakistani side of Kashmir as Director of the Human Rights Commission. In this role, he participated regularly in United Nations Human Rights Commissions sessions in Geneva.
"At that time, the volatility in Kashmir was at its peak," Tahir said, referring to the violent conflict between India and Pakistan in the early 1990s over the disputed region. "It piqued my interest in human rights and engaging with the international community."
Prior to joining Conciliation Resources, Tahir was also a Research Associate with the South Asia Program at the International Institute for Strategic Studies, London, and Senior Associate with International Center for Religion and Diplomacy, Washington D.C.
Tahir appreciates the varied perspectives of his classmates at the Kroc Institute. "From 20 people I was able to learn about 20 geographical regions in a year's time," he said. "Their points of view have helped me effectively communicate – with organizations, individuals, interlocutors – in the many places I've traveled since then."