Ethiopia, Sudan, Djibouti
Kassa is a citizen of Ethiopia, and an associate professor of development studies at Ethiopian Civil Service University. He holds a B.A in Development Management from Ethiopian Civil Service University; M.A in local and regional development from the International Institute of Social Studies, Erasmus university, the Netherlands, and PhD in development studies from the University of South Africa. He has published widely in the areas of development and has rich experience in teaching and research. His research interests include: Rural Development, Livelihoods, Land, Agriculture, Food Security, Migration, Social Protection, Value Chain, Rural and Urban Development, Local Economic Development, Private Sector, Local Governance, Decentralization and NGOs development. He has rich experience in Social Policy Research.
ktshager@yahoo.com; +251911346214
Akram is a researcher in the fields of policy analysis, social movements, and gender, power, and politics. Akram currently works as a Social Protection Specialist at the Italian Agency for Development Cooperation (AICS), to provide systematic and sustainable technical support to the Federal Ministry of Labour and Social Development, especially in the social protection sector. He is assigned to assist in the rollout of new policies and operating systems for the Ministry of Education, Ministry of Higher Education, and Ministry of Agriculture. In addition, he is the Sudan National Coordinator of the Knowledge Innovation Exchange (KIX) Europe-Asia-Pacific Regional Hub (KIX-EAP) hosted by the Network for International Policies and Cooperation in Education and Training (NORRAG). He was a lecturer at the Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences of Omdurman Ahlia University, Sudan (2016 –2018), and recently joined the University of Medical Sciences and Technology as a part-time lecturer. Prior to that, he worked as a researcher with the Centre d’Etudes et de Documentation Economique et Juridique (CEDEJ) in Sudan, Khartoum, and also on a research project named women's fight against violence and for justice in Northern Sudan, associated with Chr. Michelsen Institute (CMI). Akram is an associate researcher at the Institute of Afro-Asian Studies, University of Khartoum, and was a fellow of the Arab Council for Social Sciences, Beirut, Lebanon. As an independent consultant, Akram conducted a number of evaluations, reviews, and gender assessments for multi-laterals, bi-laterals, and NGOs including UN agencies, PLAN international, Redr UK, Welt-hunger hilfe (WHH), Goal, and LHL Norway.
+249-912364757 ; akram_sudan@yahoo.com
Varaidzo is the holder of a Master’s degree in International Relations (MSc IR) and a Bachelor’s degree in Political Science (BSc HPOS) both from the University of Zimbabwe. An avid leadership scholar, she has focused her blogs, writings, and research on the nexus between leadership, society, and gender. She is a member of FemWISE Africa, and an alumnus of the African Leadership Centre (ALC) – Women, Leadership Peace and Security Fellowship Programme based in Kings College London and Nairobi. She has a comprehensive appreciation of African politics as an alumnus of Young Politicians in Africa and the Fredrich Ebert Stiftung (FES). Varaidzo's academic and research skills continue to be grounded at the Institute for Peace and Security Studies (IPSS) at Addis Ababa University where she is undertaking an Executive Master’s in Managing Peace and Security in Africa (MPSA). Based in the Horn of Africa, she is currently a Research Fellow in the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) –Mediation Support Unit (MSU), where she has become familiar with peace and security issues in the region alongside preventative diplomacy and mediation process design skills. Varaidzo's publications can be viewed on the African Leadership Centre and IGAD-MSU websites.
vcmupunga88@yahoo.com: variemap@gmail.com; +263772456822; +25377469326; +254115106638