Solfrid Lien

Thematic expertise: Peace diplomacy, cease fire monitoring, conflict resolution and mediation, international development assistance, honour related violence, gender and equality, and youth empowerment. Policy analysis and strategy development

Geographic expertise: South Asia; Sri Lanka, Afghanistan and Pakistan

Languages: English (fluent), French (basic)

Solfrid Lien served with UNDP Colombo (1999-2001) and as a cease fire monitor and deputy head of a district office for the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) (2004). As an advisor in the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs she was engaged in the facilitation of the peace process in Sri Lanka (2004-2007). She has also worked in Afghanistan and Pakistan for Norad (2002-2003). Currently, Solfrid is a senior advisor spear heading the national efforts to combat honour related violence, based at the Norwegian Ministry of Labour and Social Inclusion. She is also responsible for the Ministry’s Nordic cooperation on integration. In 2020 Solfrid earned a master’s degree in Mediation and Conflict Resolution from the University of Copenhagen. Her thesis explored Norwegian peace diplomacy and to what extent mediation theories are found to be useful. She also holds an MA in Social Anthropology from School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of London (1995). Solfrid has been a member of the Nordic Women Mediators (NWM) network since 2017 and participated in the resource group for Afghanistan in 2020-2021.