Brendan O’Malley is a freelance journalist and editor in chief of University World News, the global higher education news and commentary platform/online publication.
He is also an international consultant who has worked with UN agencies and INGOs on education and development issues, including the impact of conflict on education and vice versa.
He was author of the first two global studies on violent political and military attacks on education institutions, students, teachers, academics and personnel for UNESCO (Education under Attack 2007 and 2010) and lead researcher of the third such global study (Education under Attack 2014) for the Global Coalition to Prevent Attacks on Education (GCPEA).
These reports played a role in helping to catalyse UN agencies and INGOs to put attacks on education on their agenda and persuade the UN Security Council to give monitoring and reporting of attacks on schools a higher priority in its Monitoring and Reporting Mechanism for listing and potentially sanctioning parties to conflict who carry out violations against children in armed conflict.
He is a former international editor of The Times Educational Supplement and author of numerous reports and papers on Education for All for UNESCO and others.
He has researched in and reported from dozens of countries including numerous developing countries many conflict-affected countries, and is co-author of an investigative documentary book on the impact of US and UK military interests on the Cyprus problem, The Cyprus Conspiracy: America, Espionage and the Turkish Invasion (IB Taurus 1999), which was shortlisted for the Orwell Prize and was a Guardian Book of the Year.
He is a member of the non-partisan UK parliamentary group, Friends of Cyprus, which seeks a peaceful bicommunal settlement of the Cyprus problem and has been involved in track 2 efforts to build confidence in mutual cooperation and peace in Cyprus through education initiatives.
