Almizan Advisors is a UK-registered, global advisory firm, specialised in addressing transnational threats and in stabilisation and state resilience interventions. We hold advanced expertise in applying behavioural science insights to identify early warning signs, prevent and counter some of the world’s most complex and inter-related problems.

Overview

Almizan means ‘balance’ in Arabic. Our mission is to introduce greater equilibrium to global aid and security strategies, moving away from conventional approaches that can be single-issue and single perspective. We bring nuanced thinking, grounded in evidence, to the design and delivery of responses to transnational security and development challenges.  Our diverse and multidisciplinary team has delivered impact in some of world’s most difficult environments, in partnership with local experts and organisations.

We have a reputation for providing rigorous yet practical insights which draw on our body of ‘what works’— across multiple contexts and 50+ interventions. Our clients include the governments of the United Kingdom, Denmark, Norway, the United States and the Netherlands; the European Union; the United Nations; and organisations including the Global Community Engagement and Resilience Fund (GCERF) and Democratic Control of Armed Forces (DCAF). We have delivered support in, and have networks across, over 40 countries. Click the map for a selection of our work.

Selected track record

Almizan’s Directors and associates have, inter alia:

  • Evaluated a £9m global serious organised crime portfolio, using outcome harvesting to assess actor-based change, at programme theory of change level;
  • Handed over a multi-agency, early intervention and risk reduction programme for extremist and vulnerable youth to Tunisia's national counterterrorism authorities;
  • Enhanced the UN Strategic Framework for Libya by collecting, validating and analysing qualitative and quantitative insight from national and local government, the UN Country Team, donors and civil society;
  • Designed evidence-based ‘Pursue’ counter terrorism programming to disrupt terrorist activity in East Africa;
  • Led the development of a £50mn overseas programme to disrupt organised crime by countering the trafficking of drugs, firearms, and people;  
  • Ensured conflict sensitivity for a decentralisation model, to support peace-building and reconciliation in Libya;
  • Advised on the development of multi-agency approaches to identifying individuals at risk of terrorism-related and serious organised crime offences in prison settings
  • Stress-tested methodologies and developed key performance indicators for security agencies in fostering joint approaches to intelligence-sharing;
  • Scoped neuroscience-informed, community-based reintegration for returnees from Al Hol camp in Syria;
  • Analysed gaps and opportunities to strengthen regional counterterrorism, serious organised crime and intelligence sharing cooperation among coastal West African, Sahel and Lake Chad Basin governments and multi-lateral institutions;
  • Designed the next phase of a Sahel regional and cross-border integrated peace and stabilisation programme;
  • Designed and delivered research, monitoring, evaluation and learning systems for cutting-edge counter-disinformation programming in Europe;
  • Evaluated anti-human-trafficking interventions in South Asia, focused on safeguarding and harm reduction for children and adults in forced and bonded labour, in line with international standards (e.g. UK Modern Slavery Act);
  • Quality assured Denmark’s regional support to Syria and Syria’s neighbourhood programming, focused on humanitarian-development-peacebuilding nexus approaches to supporting protection and livelihoods for Syrians and vulnerable host communities in the region.