Laura Perez

Laura Perez is an international expert on children and armed conflict and is currently serving as the Co-Director of the Human Rights and Humanitarian Policy concentration at Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA). She previously served as the Helen Hamlyn Senior Fellow and Director of Graduate Studies at Fordham University’s Institute of International Humanitarian Affairs, where she directed the academic programs in humanitarian studies and led the children and armed conflict research pillar. She has 20 years of experience working on protection issues with UN agencies and humanitarian organizations in New York and Geneva, and in the Central African Republic, Chad, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Mali, Nigeria, and Senegal. Her previous positions include Humanitarian Advocacy and Policy Specialist with UNICEF, Child Protection Team Leader with the UN Department of Peacekeeping Operations, Regional Child Protection Specialist on the MRM with UNICEF, Central Africa Analyst with the Internal Displacement Monitoring Center, Protection and Advocacy Adviser with the Norwegian Refugee Council, Protection Officer with UNHCR, and Coordinator of the Refugee Assistance Program of the New York City Bar Association. She holds an International Diploma in Humanitarian Assistance (IDHA) from Fordham University, a Master’s Degree in Political Science from Université de Bourgogne, and a Bachelor’s Degree in Literature and Society from Brown University. Originally from Venezuela, she is fluent in English, French, and Spanish.

The Case for Listing the Wagner Group for Violations against Children in CAR, Mali, and Ukraine

By Laura Perez / May 30, 2025

This post forms part of the Wagner Symposium hosted by the Armed Groups and International Law blog. The introductory post can be found here. The symposium seeks to foster deeper discussion on how best to address the Wagner Group and its affiliated entities. Since it first emerged in Ukraine in 2014, the Wagner Group has been …

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