Dr Mehari Taddele Maru is a member of the AU High Level Advisory Group on Humanitarian Affairs, Chief Strategy Consultant for IGAD and Adjunct Assistant Professor of Law and Governance at Addis Ababa University. He is a visiting lecturer at the NATO Defense College, the UN Institute for Economic Development and Planning, and armed forces and peacekeeping colleges in various countries, including Nigeria and Ethiopia. He was Programme Coordinator and Legal Expert at the AU Commission, Programme Head for Conflict Prevention and Risk Analysis at the Institute for Security Studies, and Director for University Reform at Addis Ababa University.