Mallika Iyer is a Program Officer for The Global Network of Women Peacebuilders and the focal point for Asia-based Women, Peace, and Security programs designed to further the implementation of United Nations Security Council Resolutions 1325, 2250, 2419, the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women, and the Sustaining Peace Agenda in conflict-affected communities.  She is responsible for the coordination of GNWP’s Young Women Leaders for Peace Program in Indonesia, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Ukraine, and the Philippines, promoting young women’s meaningful participation in political decision-making, preventing violent extremism, peace processes, and the development and implementation of humanitarian action.  As a part of her advocacy for inclusive peacebuilding for women and youth, Mallika coordinates the Beijing+25 Women, Peace, and Security (WPS) – Youth, Peace, and Security (YPS) Action Coalition over 100 women’s rights and youth organizations from across the world. Mallika led the development of an advocacy paper reflecting the urgent, intersecting issues and recommendations of the participating organizations of this Action Coalition titled: “Connecting Women and Peace and Security (WPS) and Youth and Peace and Security (YPS) to Beijing+25 and the Generation Equality Forum”.

Mallika is also involved in strengthening accountability mechanisms, monitoring and evaluation, mobilizing funding, and globally advocating for the implementation of Women, Peace, and Security (WPS), Youth, Peace, and Security (YPS), and Sustaining Peace resolutions, along with improving synergies between reporting on WPS and the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW).

Mallika graduated from the London School of Economics with a BSc in International Relations in 2017. She focused on politics, economy, public international law, and Southeast Asian security relations. In London, she was actively involved with the United Nations student association and an academic international affairs journal publication. As a research assistant for the LSE Department of Management, she sharpened her data collection and analysis skills. Since then, she has co-authored GNWP publications titled “Building and Sustaining Peace from the Ground Up A Global Study of Civil Society and Local Women’s Perceptions of Sustaining Peace” and “Young Women and Girls Read, Lead, and Build Peaceful Communities.” She also contributed as a data analyst to the Georgetown Institute for Women, Peace, and Security and Peace Research Institute Oslo publication titled “Women, Peace, and Security Index 2019/20: Tracking Sustainable Peace through Inclusion, Justice, and Security for Women”. She is currently developing evidence-based research to strengthen the global response to conflict-related sexual slavery in Iraq, Uganda, Myanmar, Colombia, and South Korea.

Before joining GNWP, Mallika was a business analyst for Cognizant Technology Solutions, providing advisory services to clients to guide them through the optimization and digitization of product delivery. She drafted and communicated proposals offering tailored solutions to improve business process efficiency. Mallika also interned at a public-sector consulting firm, Conjunct Consulting, in Singapore, where she evaluated business models and identified inefficient practices to help civil society organizations achieve financial sustainability. She hopes to bring what she learned from the corporate world to civil society organizations.