About CAVR
Armed violence destroys the things we value. Lives, communities, countries.
The Centre for Armed Violence Reduction is an international not-for-profit organisation run by an experienced team. We have seen what works and what doesn’t to prevent and reduce violence at every level.
Our mission is to develop and support solutions to stop violence, control arms and prevent conflict.
Our staff and advisors have decades of experience in reducing violence, controlling arms and supporting violence-afflicted communities. We work in collaboration with other world-leading organisations to provide a full and lasting suite of solutions for countries suffering from armed violence.
Our work helps achieve a range of peace and security targets, including the global Sustainable Development Goals, and helps countries comply with international standards such as the Arms Trade Treaty and other violence-related global initiatives. With assistance from United Nations and other trust funds and progressive donor governments, we offer our systems free of charge to aid-eligible States.
Our People
Our people are practitioners, technologists and policy experts with decades of experience reducing armed violence in some of the world’s toughest environments. Based across five continents, we work side by side with national agencies, community organisations and committed individuals to deliver practical and lasting change. CAVR’s head office is at the School of International Studies at Macquarie University in Sydney, Australia.
Alistair Gee
Executive Director
Co-founder of the Centre and designer of Shield, Alistair has been working on armed violence for nearly 30 years. He has previously held executive leadership positions with a range of peace organisations, including Act for Peace and the Institute for Economics and Peace. Alistair has served as Chairman of a dozen other organisations and committees working to prevent harm and assist displaced people, including the Asia-Pacific Centre for the Responsibility to Protect and The Border Consortium. He has enabled and supported assistance programmes in over 20 high-risk countries. Prior to this Alistair was a lawyer.
Philip Alpers
Director of Programmes
Co-founder of the Centre, designer of ArmsTracker and a faculty member at the University of Sydney School of Public Health, Philip Alpers has focussed on reducing armed violence for three decades. Accredited to the United Nations small arms Programme of Action (UNPoA) since 2001, he participates in this and the Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) processes as a member of government and other delegations. Philip has published extensively on armed violence reduction and injury prevention and is responsible for the Centre’s direction and operations.
Izzie Taylor
General Manager
Izzie began her career researching conflict in Africa before spending a decade living and working across the continent in conservation and community development programs. With over 20 years of experience building and shaping businesses across Africa, the United Kingdom, and Australia, she has worked extensively in remote communities and in partnership with NGOs. Widely travelled, Izzie is passionate about creating lasting impact in developing countries and communities by designing, implementing, and streamlining business opportunities that drive meaningful change. She thrives on exploring new ideas and finding innovative ways to do things differently.
Wagner Dias
IT and Projects Manager
Wagner Dias leads CAVR’s technology and project portfolio, making sure every digital tool advances the organisation’s mission to reduce armed violence worldwide. He began his IT career with global managed service provider CSC and, over more than 15 years, has guided large scale cloud migrations, strengthened cyber security frameworks and delivered data driven platforms that empower frontline teams.
Since joining CAVR in 2025, his focus has been to support the organisation’s digital journey and introduce resilient cloud solutions that drive CAVR’s strategy. Pragmatic and people centred, he translates complex technical issues into clear action and works closely with regional partners to build tools that perform in challenging environments.
Jennifer van Bruinessen
Communications Manager
With over a decade of experience in communications, Jennifer has applied her stakeholder engagement skills across a range of industries. Having always been passionate about humanitarian action and conflict prevention, she worked for Australian Red Cross in their IHL Program and currently teaches International Humanitarian Law at the University of Sydney. Jennifer has a Master of International Law (specialising in Humanitarian Law and Human Rights Law) from the University of Sydney Law School.
Barbara Toiya
Papua New Guinea Outreach Coordinator
Barbara is a seasoned Development Specialist from Papua New Guinea with extensive experience in gender, social inclusion, human rights, and community development. Harvard-trained in socio-political change, she has worked with government, civil society, and international agencies including the UN. Barbara now leads a women-led Peace Campaign in the Highlands Region, driving efforts to end gun violence, empower communities, and promote inclusive and sustainable peace.
Chaibou Oumarou
Regional Programmes Manager- Africa
Based in Dakar, Senegal, Chaibou is in charge of ArmsTracker implementation in West Africa. He works in close collaboration with National Commissions on Small Arms and Light Weapons and a range of state security agencies.
A specialist in information management, Chaibou has been responsible for implementing technical projects in several countries, including as a Digital Forensic Analyst/Police Officer with the National Police of Niger.
He holds masters degrees in project management and computer science, and has been awarded the United Nations Medal for service rendering and the UN Certificate of Merit.
Gustavo Du Mortier
Regional Programmes Manager Latin America
Gustavo du Mortier is a University Analyst in Computing, graduating in 1993 from the University of Buenos Aires (Argentina). Since graduating from university, he has worked as a software developer specializing in database design and functional analysis, complementing these tasks with a secondary activity as a technical writer focused on the field of information technology. Since 2024, he has been collaborating with the Center for Armed Violence Reduction (CAVR) as a reference for the implementation of the ArmsTracker software in Latin America, responsible for promoting it and advising and training security agencies interested in its use.
Peter Kaufman
Senior Database Developer (ArmsTracker)
After a successful career as an entrepreneur in Canada, Peter retired early, or so he thought, to Thailand. However, his love of learning and programming led him to a second 7-year career as IT Manager, server and network administrator for a local company.
More recently, Peter has followed his real passion, which is to design bespoke databases on a freelance basis for projects he enjoys. He’s now a ‘Top Rated Plus’ database designer on a globally popular freelance site, with 100% excellent reviews.
Peter is a Microsoft Certified Professional, and has scaled ArmsTracker to securely serve dozens of state security agencies on their own national networks.
John Stevens
Advising Director
Dr John Stevens is a health sociologist and Associate Professor with Southern Cross University’s School of Health and Human Sciences. As one of Australia’s leading experts in lifestyle medicine, and with over 30 years of experience in health practice, teaching and research he now specialises in translating complex scientific information into easy to understand knowledge and skills. His current work focusses on making the science of becoming and staying healthy easier to understand and practice by the broader community.
Roderick B. Latoza
CAVR Technical Team
Experienced systems developer skilled in program development, system upgrades, maintenance, and database administration.
An accomplished Apps Script developer, creating automation and custom solutions designing systems that streamline workflows and integrate external APIs to reduce manual tasks and improve productivity, collaboration, and data management. Important member of the CAVR technical team with his years of experience and collaborative approach.
CAVR Advisory Council
Rachel Stohl
Natalie J Goldring
Visiting Professor, Duke University
Natalie Goldring is Visiting Professor of the Practice in the Sanford School of Public Policy at Duke University in Washington, DC and was Adjunct Full Professor in the Security Studies Program at Georgetown University. Ms Goldring has worked on efforts to control the international weapons trade and on nuclear non-proliferation and disarmament for several decades. At the United Nations she represents the Acronym Institute for Disarmament Diplomacy (UK) on conventional weapons issues and is on the leadership team of the International Action Network on Small Arms (IANSA).
Rebecca Peters AO
Darren Cormack
CEO, Mines Advisory Group (MAG)
Darren is CEO of the Mines Advisory Group (MAG). Across 26 countries on 5 continents, MAG’s work has helped more than 17 million people. With a revenue of c$100m+, employing over 5,000 staff, MAG is a highly dynamic and responsive organisation, focused on its mission of saving lives and building safer communities. Prior to taking over as CEO, Darren was Director of Strategy and Government Relations with responsibility for the design, articulation, delivery and oversight of MAG’s organisational funding strategy, supporting the establishment and development of programmes and management of governments relations. Before he joined MAG in 2008, Darren worked in the private and non-profit sectors in the UK and internationally, managing a diverse range of environment, conservation, humanitarian and development projects, living and working in Cambodia, South Sudan, Sudan, the Philippines and Indonesia.
