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Kathryn Nwajiaku-Dahou

Director, Politics and Governance programme

  • Leadership Team
  • Politics and Governance
Portrait of Kathryn Nwajiaku-Dahou

Kathryn is the Director of ODI’s Politics and Governance programme, managing ODI’s team of political economy experts.She has been a widely acknowledged as an expert on politics, peacebuilding, business & human rights in conflict-affected settings and corporate accountability. A fluent French speaker, Kathryn has geographical expertise in West and Central Africa and over 25 years' experience of conducting and managing research and providing policy advice at a senior level in multilateral and bilateral institutions and NGOs.

As a member of ODI's Leadership Team, Kathryn currently chairs ODIs Decolonising Research and Policy Taskforce responsible for transforming the way knowledge is produced across the organisation.

Before joining ODI, Kathryn worked for the OECD as Head of Unit and Head of the International Dialogue on Peacebuilding and Statebuilding Secretariat and co-authored their 2015 States of Fragility report. She also previously worked for the Irish Government and spent eight years as a researcher and policy advisor for Oxfam and ACORD. As a consultant, Kathryn worked with various bilateral and multilateral institutions, including DfID, Danida and AfDB.

Kathryn has a PhD in Politics and International Relations from Nuffield College, University of Oxford and an MA in Area Studies (Africa) from the University of London's School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS).

Kathryn is currently Chair of the Expert Working Group of a Commission of Inquiry into oil and gas pollution in Nigeria (the Bayelsa State Oil and Environmental Commission) and a member of the Board of Trustees of RAID (Rights and Accountability in Development).