Mohammad Kanfash

Mohammad Kanfash is a PhD candidate and Lecturer at Utrecht University’s Faculty of Humanities within the Department of History and Art History. He is affiliated with the Center for Conflict Studies and the Contesting Governance platform, and serves on the advisory board of Justice and Peace's SamenHier initiative.

His research focuses on governance, economic sanctions, and their humanitarian consequences, particularly in Syria. He investigates how sanctions intersect with donor conditionality and exacerbate food insecurity, water access, and health challenges in conflict zones. His work also addresses post-conflict reconstruction and state-society dynamics.

Kanfash’s recent publications emphasize Syria’s political economy, humanitarian access barriers, and the interplay of sanctions with civilian harm. His articles analyze systemic failures in aid delivery and socio-political tensions in war-torn regions.

He is the founder of the Damaan Humanitarian Organization and a trainer on humanitarian negotiations at Clingendael Academy. Previously, he worked as a protection officer for the UN refugee agency in Syria, Egypt, and the Netherlands, and conducted research for institutions like the London School of Economics and Tufts University.