Connecting Conversations, with humanitarian negotiator, Rehan Zahid

Mr. Rehan Zahid will talk with Dr. Marta Bolognani about his experiences as a negotiator across the globe. What can a negotiator do in the face of intractable conflicts? Who might become one? How can they maintain clear thinking ‘under fire’? And how does creative thinking survive within an institution?

When: Monday 20-May 2024, 19.30-21.00 GMT

Where: Online – live

Cost: £10 + booking fee (with the option to make an additional donation)

Who’s it for: Open to the public

Income from ticket sales will be divided between the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) and SIP’s Subsidised Treatment and Training Fund.

About the speakers

Mr. Rehan Zahid is Deputy Director of the Centre of Competence on Humanitarian Negotiation (CCHN), a joint initiative of the International Committee of the Red Cross, Médecins Sans Frontières Switzerland, and the United Nations World Food Programme. Before taking up this role, he was Chief of Advisory Services, responsible for CCHN’s negotiation advisory services to humanitarian agencies. During a 10-year tenure at the World Food Programme, he served in various roles in the field, as well as in leadership positions in the organisation’s headquarters in Rome. Mr. Zahid has negotiation experience across Yemen, Venezuela, Afghanistan, Sudan, South Sudan, and other contexts. He has a Master’s of Public Affairs in Social and Economic Policy, and a Bachelor’s degree in Economics.

Dr. Marta Bolognani is a psychoanalytic psychotherapist and member of the Severnside Institute for Psychotherapy. Before training as a psychotherapist, she was a Social Anthropologist and taught and researched in the UK and Pakistan. She has published numerous peer-reviewed articles, and has authored, contributed to, or edited a number of books. Dr. Bolognani teaches at the University of Exeter on the DPPClinPrac and the DClinPrac(Res) programmes, where she is also the International Students Tutor. Her main research areas are psychoanalysis and migration/diaspora; intercultural psychoanalysis; improving access to psychoanalytic practice; the psychoanalytic field theory (Baranger and Ferro); psychoanalysis and the arts; and psychosocial studies methodology.

Connecting Conversations explores the relatedness of psychotherapy to the arts and other disciplines. Originally a joint venture between Rowan Arts, The Bridge Foundation and the Severnside Institute for Psychotherapy, Connecting Conversations is a series of over 60 recorded events with listeners from all over the world. Interviewees range from visual artists to novelists, from dancers to comedians, from photographers to theatre directors, and have included Sebastian Faulks, Grayson Perry, Howard Jacobson, The Ballet Boyz and Jo Brand. Connecting Conversations raise funds for the speakers’ nominated charity, as well as the Severnside Institute’s low-cost therapy clinic.

All Connecting Conversations are recorded and available as a podcast after the event.