A 1998 reform activist born in Sibreh, Aceh Besar, in 1977, founder and leader of Solidaritas Mahasiswa untuk Rakyat (SMUR), which demanded an end to the military operations zone and Suharto's resignation. From 2001 he studied at the University of London and worked with TAPOL campaigning on human rights and conflict resolution in Aceh; after the peace he co-founded Partai Rakyat Aceh and wrote 9 Langkah Memajukan Diri dan Aceh (2008). He then built a UN career, including as UNDP technical adviser in the Solomon Islands and UN Senior Peace and Development Advisor for Pacific countries, was a fellow at Harvard's Weatherhead Center, and reached Antarctica in January 2019.