Professional Experience:
I am an Economist/Social Policy Specialist, with more than 12 years experience in programme management and development cooperation. Currently, I work for the United Nations Development Programme in New York, as Programme Specialist, with support and oversight functions for countries in North East Asia and the Mekong Region. Last year, I acted as Assistant Country Director for UNDP Country Office in Timor Leste, and Head of the Poverty Reduction and Environment Unit. Between 2009 and 2012, I supported the management and oversight of a portfolio of projects on Local Development, mostly in Sub-saharan Africa and the Asia-Pacific region. Prior to that, I worked at project level, as Institutional Development Specialist for the Decentralization and Local Development Support Programme in Yemen. I also have experience in the NGO sector (Bangladesh) and academic/research/consulting sector (Venezuela).
I use state-of-the-art Results-based-Management (RBM) tools, and corporate instruments such as Balance Scorecards (tailored to development-related goals and targets). As a successful candidate for UNDP’s VIII LEAD Programme, I have gained relevant leadership competences and strong communication/ negotiation skills.
Between 2009-2012 I was co-responsible for the management and oversight of the Gender Equitable Local Development Programme (GELD), a joint UNCDF-UN Women global initiative, which sought to promote gender equity through locally-led interventions. In East Timor, as Assistant Country Director and Head of the Poverty Reduction and Environment Unit, I oversaw social protection, microfinance and area-based development programmes – all of which have a robust mainstreamed gender dimension.
Throughout my assignments in East Timor, Yemen, Venezuela, Bangladesh and New York, I have effectively managed partnerships with senior government officials – at local, state and central levels. I am used to working in diverse multicultural environments and have successfully researched for and formulated grant proposals for multi-million dollar programmatic initiatives (e.g. for Socotra’s Conservation and Development Project, Yemen).
I am familiar with Results-Based-Management tools and approaches and with the provision of upstream policy advisory services. I work well in teams, and I have helped to develop formal partnerships with national and international counterparts throughout my assignments. I also have extensive experience working in the field of gender, gender mainstreaming and gender-sensitive programming. In addition, I have a basic command of Hindi and I am currently undertaking further studies to improve my communication skills in this language.