Antwerp, Flemish Region, Belgium
Ongoing roles: * Certified Conflict Mediator, focussing on international and intercultural mediation private, governmental and non-profit sectors * Senior Expert, SIDA Helpdesk for Peace, Migration, Humanitarian Assistance, and Nexus * Organisational Transformation Advisor, International NGO in the Human Rights Sector * Humanitarian Advisor, International NGO focused on Humanitarian Assistance and Protection of Minorities * Trainer, Migration and Conflict Prevention, SwissPeace Selected past work: * Comparative Analysis, Danish and Dutch Experience in Whole-of-Route ODA engagement (SIDA) * Donor Gaps and Overlaps Analysis, Mediterranean, Western Balkans, East and Horn of Africa, Silk, and Western African Atlantic Migration Routes (SIDA) * Short- to Medium-Term Roadmap for Addressing Displacement- and Return-Related Housing, Land and Property Issues in Post-Assad Syria (GIZ) * Five-year Humanitarian-Development-Peace Nexus Programme for inclusion of forcibly displacement populations in onging agricultural transformation efforts in Ethiopia (DANIDA) * Appraisal of three Multi-Annual ODA Whole-of-Route Migration Management and Assistance Programmes along the Mediterranean Migration Routes (DANIDA) * Advocacy Briefs for Humanitarian Leaders on Housing, Land and Property Due Diligence in Humanitarian Action (InterAction) * Leadership Coaching Focused on Strategy Development and Internal Conflict Prevention and Resolution (various non-profit organizations)
• Strengthened the joint analysis and led joint objective setting by humanitarian, peace and development actors including United Nations Agencies, local and national NGOs, and donors including IFIs. • Acted as lead advocate on humanitarian and human rights issues facing South Sudan with national and international stakeholders including both public and private advocacy. • Led senior level joint advocacy with development donors, including IFIs, to increase their risk tolerance in supporting nexus approaches, and initiate funding of (grassroots) development and peacebuilding organizations operating in unstable, conflict-affected parts of South Sudan. • Engaged national NGOs and grassroots organizations and ensured inclusion in coordination bodies, to increase their role in strategy-setting within the broader humanitarian, peacebuilding and development community. • Led and developed a multi-partner response to the impact of the Sudan Conflict on South Sudan, including for the immediate humanitarian needs of the arrival of 400,000+ returnees and refugees, medium-term planning and longer-term durable solutions, including conflict prevention support in border areas. • Initiated and led decisive prioritization of humanitarian assistance in a context of rapidly decreasing funding and reorientating humanitarian assistance to, where possible, integrate resilience from the start.
• Initiated and led the sustainable expansion of the IOM Country Office from a USD$88 million annual budget in 2021 to an annual budget of USD$190 million in 2023 in a context of shrinking international donor support for South Sudan. This included the first ever direct funding from the South Sudan Government (USD$ 5 million). • Reorganized and transformed the IOM Country Office with over 2,000 staff members, including 110 international staff, with a focus on empowering national staff and improving effectiveness, impact and services to beneficiaries, partners, and authorities across the humanitarian, peacebuilding, and development pillars. • In consultation with internal and external stakeholders, redesigned the vision for IOM in South Sudan; developed, together with the Senior Management Team, the strategy for its implementation and initiated and oversaw the recruitment of the additional senior managerial and technical staff needed. • Obtained a USD$ 135 million grant from the World Bank for community development and climate change adaptation as well as a grant for humanitarian assistance (flood response) and for durable solutions for IDPs and returnees from the Sudan conflict, both a first in South Sudan. • Championed inclusivity – introduced the first ever paid UN intern program for South Sudanese nationals with physical disabilities, including a pathway for retention as permanent staff. • Developed and rolled-out the first durable solutions roadmap for Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in South Sudan, bringing together all stakeholders including the affected communities, national and local authorities, and humanitarian and development donors. • Exercised recognized leadership within the UN and NGO community in bringing about, and advocating for, the operationalization of the triple nexus approach in South Sudan, including through innovative decentralized leadership structures and leading the durable solutions and climate change adaptation work
• Expanded the IOM Bosnia and Herzegovina Country Office operation from 20 staff and USD$1.5 million annual budget in 2017 to 650 staff and USD$ 50 million annual budget in 2020, while building a reputation for excellence in strategy, policy, advocacy, and operations and raising the profile of IOM with key audiences inside and outside the country. • Initiated and led the recruitment of senior management staff to ensure the sustainability of the expansion of the Country Office and oversaw the review of Country Office financial, administrative, procurement and HR policies, rules and procedures to ensure maximum efficiency, effectiveness, accountability and impact in the context of the ongoing expansion. • In close partnership with the national authorities and the EU, designed and implemented the response to the sudden emergence of transit migration in Bosnia and Herzegovina. This included mobilizing 100 million Euro in funding resources for programming and keeping the migrants’ plight in the country in local and global media attention through sustained advocacy and targeted media engagement. These efforts resulted in the provision of humanitarian assistance and protection services to over 80,000 migrants and refugees. • Established, in close collaboration with national Governments, the UK, the US and the EU, the first large‐scale prevention of violent extremism program in the Western Balkans, introducing innovative approaches to empower youth-at-risk to be actors of positive social change in their communities. • Initiated and led political negotiations and advocacy with national leaders and survivors’ associations for the adoption and implementation of the first legislation for reparations for survivors of conflict‐related sexual violence (CRSV) in Bosnia and Herzegovina, aiding so far over 2,000 CRSV survivors.
• Headhunted by the World Bank to develop the first comprehensive roadmap for the resolution of land conflicts in Mindanao, the Philippines, through an extensive process of community consultation and negotiations with powerholders including armed actors, eventually formally adopted by the Transitional Justice and Reconciliation Commission for the Bangsamoro. • Advocacy and policy development around protection of vulnerable migrants and refugees with the Governments in the Western Balkans and Turkey during the “European migration and refugee crisis”, including working alongside those Government to facilitate access for them to EU funding. • Designed, negotiated, and oversaw the start‐up of the EU‐funded IPA project “Regional Support to Protection Sensitive Migration Management in the Western Balkans and Turkey”, which remains ongoing.
• Appointed by the UN DSRSG/RC/HC and the HCT in South Sudan with fully delegated HC powers to lead humanitarian preparedness and reponse to the floods and 2022 rainy season in Bentiu, Unity State and surrounding areas. • Led the development and implementation of a rapid, but sustainable flood mitigation response in Unity State, protecting 500,000 people from forced displacement during the rainy season and leading and coordinating over 50 national and international humanitarian actors.