Profile
John Sofka

Sokfa John

Fellow, Centre on Conflict, Development & Peacebuilding
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PROFILE 

 

Dr. Sokfa John is a researcher and partitioner in mediation and peacebuilding. He is experienced in community, political, interfaith/cultural and international organizational mediation; dialogues; and peace and development research. He has supported national peace talks through advise, negotiation strategy and capacity building. Sokfa has facilitated many multistakeholder, community, and high-level dialogues. He has developed and delivered mediation training and coaching, and taught international mediation to postgraduate students. He is currently the Deputy Director of the Centre for Mediation in Africa, University of Pretoria, and co-leads the Africa Community Mediation initiatives (ARCoM) of MBBI and Rotary. In this role, he has co-trained coached cohorts of Rotary Peace Fellows, community mediators and police and prisons officers. Sokfa is himself a Rotary Peace Fellow (Professional development). He is also a National Geographic Explorer working on Cultural technologies of peacemaking. He holds a PhD in Religion & Social Transformation, specializing in Ethnoreligious and digital conflict and peacebuilding. He also holds a masters in Gender, Religion & Health, and a postgraduate diploma in Conflict transformation and Peacebuilding. Sokfa’s mediation accreditation and certifications include Commercial Mediation (IMI qualified) by Conflict Dynamics, South Africa; Ethnic, racial & religious Mediation, International Centre for Ethnoreligious Mediation, New York; Mediation & Conciliation, Mandela Institute, Wits University; and Mediation & Conflict Transformation, Amani Communities Africa, Kenya. Sokfa is the founding deputy president of the Africa Mediation Association. He is on the mediator’s roster of the World Bank’s CAO, and a Peacebuilding expert on the Alliance for Peacebuilding expert roster. 

 

THEMATIC EXPERTISE

 

  • Peace mediation (multi-track); community mediation; dialogue facilitation, digital peacebuilding, training development and delivery, multi/process design, conflict analysis, peace strategy, research, conflict resolution policy analysis and development.

 

Languages: English, Hausa, Tyap. French (intermediate), IsiZulu (Basic), Tswana (Basic)

 

SELECTED PUBLICATIONS

 

John, S. (2026). Digital peacebuilding in other worlds: the local digital nexus in Kenya and Nigeria. Peacebuilding, 14(1).

John, S. (2024). Digital Peacebuilding in Africa: Trends, Challenges, Opportunities. African Journal of Peace and Conflict Studies, 13(3).

John, S.F. (2023). Shaping the Instruments of Peace: Religion in Digital Peacebuilding in Africa. Palgrave Handbook of Religion and Peacebuilding

John, S. & Andreas Velthuizen (Eds). (2026). Violence Prevention Through Transformative Mediation in South Africa. Anthem Press.