Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Seasoned consultant in Environmental & Social Impact Assessment (ESIA), Environmental & Social Safeguards, Development Economics and Community Development. I specialise in Cultural Heritage in ESIA, a topic in which I have been a pioneer since the 1980s. I manage ESIAs to World Bank, UNDP, UNEP and UNESCO standards, including Heritage Impact Assessment (HIA) to ICOMOS specifications. I am co-author with Arlene Fleming of the World Bank safeguard policy OP 4.11, Physical Cultural Resources, on which the Cultural Heritage safeguard policies of multilateral and bilateral financing institutions worldwide are now largely based. I address the nexus of Culture & Development, with a specialisation in East Africa and the Horn of Africa. I am also a researcher and published author on Ethiopian history. Countries of work experience: Kenya, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Zanzibar, Ghana, Cameroon, USA, UK, Republic of Lao, Italy, Georgia, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, with representation of the World Bank and UN agencies in China, Nepal, Cambodia, India, Mexico and Brazil.
Most recent ESIA: Team Leader of ESIA and Heritage Impact Assessment of canopies proposed to permanently cover the Lalibela Rock-Hewn Churches UNESCO World Heritage site (North Wello, Ethiopia), to protect them from further deterioration from exposure to the sun and the rain. Assignment contracted by A.R.S. Progetti, S.P.A., Rome, for Expertise France.
Authored many published peer-reviewed academic papers presenting my original research into the history of Ethiopia, from the medieval to the modern period, including international conference papers. Researched and authored several published books on the Italian military invasion and occupation of Ethiopia, 1935-1941. Peer reviewer for academic journals specialising in Ethio-Italian history and genocide studies.
- Implementation oversight of the Public Works component of Ethiopia's $500 mn/annum Productive Safety Net Program. Serving some 8 million beneficiaries, it is the largest such operation in Africa, and is financed by the Ethiopian government and ten donors; - Design, compliance monitoring and supervision of environmental and social safeguards implementation for the Productive Safety Net Program; - Delivery of training courses on Environmental Impact Assessment and World Bank safeguard policies; - Contributed to the design of Public Works programs in Tanzania, Uganda and Nepal.
- Specialised in developing methodologies for addressing the Cultural Heritage component of Environmental & Social Impact Assessment; - Co-responsibility with Arlene Fleming for developing World Bank Physical Cultural Resources safeguard policy OP 4.11, negotiating it with the governments of India, Brazil, Mexico, Ghana, Ethiopia, Georgia, Cambodia and Yemen, and getting it presented and approved by the Board of the World Bank; - Author of the World Bank Physical Cultural Resources Safeguard Policy Handbook; - Responsible for compliance oversight of Nam Theun 2, a $1.3 billion World Bank-financed hydroelectric project in the Republic of Lao, in respect of the safeguarding of cultural heritage; - As a member of the World Bank Europe & Central Asia Regional Safeguards team, responsible for review and approval of all aspects of Environmental Impact Assessments and safeguards compliance for projects in Azerbaijan, Albania, Russia, Croatia, Romania and Montenegro; - Lectures, presentations and keynote speeches at conferences on cultural heritage and development; - Compliance oversight of the World Bank-financed Gilgel Gibe hydroelectric project in Ethiopia in respect of the safeguarding of cultural resources, including arrangements for salvage archaeology; - Contributed to the design of the World Bank-financed Ethiopia Cultural Heritage project, covering cultural heritage inventory, capacity-building and artisan project development in Addis Ababa; - Co-designer, with Volli Carucci of WFP, of the Public Works component of Ethiopia's Productive Safety Net Project; Designer of the Public Works Review monitoring system for Ethiopia's Productive Safety Net Program.
Member of Museography Team of the Restauration et Ouverture au Public du Palais National, Addis-Abeba project, for establishment of a motor museum, including. selection of vehicles for display, conservation requirements, and detailed histories of the palace vehicles.
- Chief Technical Advisor on Development & Environment to the Ethiopian Ministry of Economic Development and Cooperation (MEDAC) and Environmental Protection Authority (EPA), under the Conservation Strategy of Ethiopia (CSE), covering both environmental and cultural heritage resources; - Responsible for national conference on the role of Cultural Heritage in environment and development; - Overall responsibility for technical direction of the CSE, Ethiopia's first national policy driven by staeholder consultation.