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BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION

Adriaan Verheul, founder and owner of D2CL, has crossed the lines between disciplines often and has a rich practical and diplomatic experience in post-conflict interventions. All of his career has been on or near the military-civilian interface in post-conflict settings. His ambition is now to translate this experience into a profitable consulting practice that is networked with other consulting firms, academic institutions and independent consultants in this area. He can be reached at averheul@d2cl.com.

In Congo with former militia commander.

From October 2007, D2CL's business is on the back burner.

Since that time, Adriaan Verheul is serving as the Chief of the Integrated United Nations DDR Unit (IUNDDRU) in the United Nations Mission in Sudan (UNMIS), Khartoum, Sudan, (www.unmis.org).

Between October 2005 and 2007, Adriaan Verheul has established D2CL and took on assignments for D2CL in Palestine, Central and West Africa, Haiti, Kosovo and Nepal, in the areas of security sector reform, DDR, post-conflict peacebuilding strategies and the building of democratic institutions. Clients included, DfID, MINUSTAH, USAID, UNDP, World Bank, and GTZ.

From March 2003 to October 2005, he was a senior demobilization and reintegration specialist with the US$500 million Multi-Country Demobilization and Reintegration Program at the World Bank, Africa Region (www.mdrp.org). His responsibilities included the negotiation, design, processing and supervision of demobilization and reintegration programs for ex-combatants and soldiers in Central Africa. He made frequent trips to Africa, meeting with political and military officials at the highest level.

From 1993 to March 2003, he worked in the Department of Peacekeeping Operations (DPKO) at United Nations Headquarters in New York with responsibilities for the operational and political management of peacekeeping operations in the Middle-East, Tajikistan, Central African Republic, Sierra Leone (concluded successfully)and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, with frequent travel to these countries. The latter of these operations were among the biggest ever mounted with annual budgets of over US$ 600 million. He also served as the Secretary of the United Nations Special Committee on Peacekeeping Operations (comprising over 100 delegations) and helped develop new directions in peacekeeping policy. His last assignment with DPKO was as Special Assistant to the Assistant Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations, a job comparable to chief of staff of a large political office.

From 1990 - 1993, he was a human rights officer with the United Nations Centre for Human Rights, Geneva and the United Nations Transitional Authority in Cambodia (UNTAC), gaining first hand experience with the challenges of post-conflict settings.

From 1984 to 1990, he was an assistant professor teaching international relations and international law at the Royal Netherlands Naval Academy, gaining both academic and policy-oriented experience within a military establishment. During the same period, he also worked as a free-lance journalist and political consultant.

A reserve-officer in the Royal Netherlands Navy, he holds a BA in law and a MA in international relations from Leyden University, Netherlands. He is a Dutch citizen and speaks English, French and Dutch fluently, as well as some German and Spanish. Born in 1957, he is married and has two children. He lives in Great Falls, Virginia.

He has published in English and Dutch on security sector reform, peacekeeping, disarmament and maritime affairs, in newspapers and professional journals. Recent:
"Command and control in peacebuilding operations: some reflections from the multilateral arena", Presentation at the Information Age Metrics Working Group, see http://www.dodccrp.org/html2/iamwg_06.html
With Nicole Ball and Peter Bartu: "Squaring the Circle: Security-Sector Reform and Transformation and Fiscal Stabilisation in Palestine", Report prepared for the UK Department for International Development, 16 January 2006 (available on request).
“Ten basic points for a successful DDR programme”, in Disarmament in Conflict Prevention”, United Nations Department of Disarmament Affairs occasional papers. No. 7, May 2003, see http://disarmament.un.org/ddapublications/op7art4.pdf.
“MDRP Position Paper: Linkages Between Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration of Ex-Combatants and Security Sector Reform”, written for MDRP/World bank, October 2003, see http://www.mdrp.org/ssr-paper.pdf,
“The Long Road to Demilitarization: 1997-2003”, with Markus Kostner and Ely Dieng, in “Post-conflict Economics in Sub-Saharan Africa” edited by Jean A.P. Clément, IMF 2005.

Translated work (Dutch to English):  “Elephant Polo”, a novel set in Nepal, by Cas de Stoppelaar. See www.elephantpolonovel.com.