Francesca Caruso is a Senior Analyst and Conflict Mediator at the Community of Sant’Egidio, specializing in conflict mediation across Central Africa and the Sahel. Her work focuses on understanding and addressing conflict dynamics at local, national, and regional levels. She actively participates in negotiation and mediation efforts, particularly in contexts involving Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration (DDR), the fight against anti-personnel
explosives, and dialogue with armed groups.

Thanks to her extensive field experience, Francesca brings real-world mediation insights and is committed to exploring effective ways to integrate the Women, Peace and Security Agenda (UNSCR 1325) into peace processes—especially across the African continent.

She travels frequently to the region, with regular missions every two months to the Central African Republic. Francesca speaks French, English, and has a good command of Arabic. She contributes to both national and international publications on peace and security in Sub Saharan Africa. In 2025, she was selected as one of the “Personnalités de l’avenir” by the PIPA program of the French Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs.

Before joining Sant’Egidio, Francesca worked from 2017 to 2023 as a researcher in the Middle East and Africa Programme at the Istituto Affari Internazionali.