Samuel Levy followed his ICWA fellowship in Mozambique by attending Harvard Law School and working in a New York law firm, but his trajectory changed when the United Nations selected him to be a negotiator in ceasefire talks between Mozambique’s rebel RENAMO forces and the FRELIMO government. As a political affairs officer in the UN Operation in Mozambique in 1993–1994, he mediated between government and RENAMO forces for the UN’s peacekeeping operation in Mozambique. He developed and negotiated standardized procedures related to the administration of the ceasefire that still largely hold today.
From 1997 to 1999, Sam designed and implemented USAID’s program of legal reform assistance in Mozambique. A fluent Portuguese speaker, he is senior partner and founder of SAL & Caldeira Advogados, Lda, providing legal advice on Mozambican law questions relating to mining, oil and gas, and infrastructure.