Dr. Maria Saifuddin Effendi is serving as Assistant Professor at the Department of Peace and Conflict Studies, National Defense University (NDU), Islamabad – Pakistan, since 2009. She obtained her Ph.D. from the School of Politics and International Relations, Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad in 2019. Dr. Effendi is one of the few subject specialists in Conflict Resolution in Pakistan and is considered among the pioneers ofthis field in the country. She is a certified mediator, trained by Prof. Johan Galtung, founder of Peace Studies and Conflict Resolution, at Transcend Peace University, Norway. Maria served as Academic Advisor at Rotary Peace Centers Committee, Rotary International (USA) in 2015-17; Board Director at Search for Common Ground, Islamabad 2014-21; Track II Delegate for India-Pakistan Military to Military Dialogue known as “Ottawa Dialogue” 2014-15; Pakistan International Fellow 2012-13 at Near East South Asia Center for Strategic Studies (NESA-NDU), Washington DC, USA; Peace Fellow at Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), Sweden – 2007; Kodikara Fellow 2005-06 at Regional Center for Strategic Studies (RCSS), Colombo and Rotary Peace Fellow 2006- 08 under Rotary World Peace Fellowship, International Studies on Peace and Conflict Resolution by Rotary International, USA to complete M.S. in Conflict Resolution from University of Bradford, UK. Her main areas of research include Indigenous conflict resolution mechanisms in Pakistan, ethnicity, South Asian politics, peace building prospects in Kashmir, and she has been able to publish her work widely in national and international research journals.