Joseph, Mallika

Mallika Joseph assumed responsibilities at the Regional Centre for Strategic Studies (RCSS) as its Executive Director in January 2012. She is the first woman and the youngest ever to assume this prestigious post. Prior to joining RCSS, she was at the New Delhi-based Institute of Peace and Conflict Studies, which she joined in 1997. She was one of its directors until December 2011.

Joseph has a PhD in international relations from Jawaharlal Nehru University in India and has worked on various issues relating to South Asian security. Her areas of interest include human security, security sector reform (SSR), international organized crime, international terrorism, left-wing extremism, improvised explosive devices, small arms and light weapons.

Mallika Joseph specializes in security sector reform (SSR) and is one of the 24 experts who were inducted into the UN Roster of SSR Experts in 2009. In 2007 and 2006, she was part of the DFID high-level technical team that offered consultancy for broad-based SSR engagement in Guyana. Between January and September 2011, she was based in Geneva, working with the International Security Sector Advisory Team (ISSAT) of the Geneva Centre for the Democratic Control of Armed Forces (DCAF), overseeing, designing and delivering SSR training.