27 October 2017

Speakers © European Union, 2017

Joint Research Centre

27 October 2017 27 October 2017 , Belgium

Speakers Vladimir ŠUCHA mission Vice-President. In 2014, he was the Head of Speakers the Delegation of the European Union to Turkey. Before that, he held other positions at the Commission, includ- Director-General, Directorate- General Joint Research Center, ing as Director-General for Migration and Home Affairs European Commission and Director-General for Development and Relations with African, Caribbean, and Pacific States. He has also Vladimir Šucha is Director-General of the Joint Research headed the Private Offices of the Commission’s Presi- Centre of the European Commission, its in-house sci- dent Romano Prodi and Commissioner Mario Monti and entific service. He was Deputy Director-General of the served in the Private Offices of the Commission’s Vice JRC between 2012 and 2013. Prior to that, he spent 6 President Filippo Pandolfi and of Commissioner Franc- years in the position of Director for Culture and Media esco Vanni d’Archirafi. A lawyer by training, he enjoys in the Directorate-General for Education and Culture of teaching and has been a visiting professor at the Uni- the European Commission. Before joining the European versity of Bologna, University of Roma III, and the Col- Commission, he held various positions in the area of lege of Europe. European and international affairs. Between 2005 and Koen VERVAEKE 2006, he was Director of the Slovak Research and De- velopment Agency, the national body responsible for funding research. He was principal advisor for European Managing Director for , Affairs to the Minister of Education of the Slovak Re- European External Action Service public (2004-2005). He worked at the Slovak Represen- tation to the EU in Brussels as research, education and Koen Vervaeke, has been appointed Managing Director culture counselor (2000-2004). In parallel, he has fol- for Africa, since January 2016. He was Director-Deputy

lowed© a long-term academic and research career, being Managing Director, responsible for the coherence of

a European Union, 2017 full professor in Slovakia and visiting professor/scien- EU External Action in the Region and the programming tist at different academic institutions in many countries. (country strategies and indicative programmes) of the He published more than 100 scientific papers in peer EU’s financial cooperation, from November 2011 to De- reviewed journals. cember 2015. He has also been appointed Senior EU Coordinator for the Great Lakes region, working closely Stefano MANSERVISI with the EU Delegations and the European Commis- Director-General, Directorate-Gen- sion and EU member states to advance our objectives eral for International Cooperation of peace and prosperity in the region as a whole, and and Development, European Com- stabilisation and reconstruction in the areas most af- mission fected by conflict. Between December 2007 and Octo- ber 2011, he was the EU Special Representative to the Stefano Manservisi is the Director-General for Interna- and the Head of Delegation of the Euro- tional Cooperation and Development (DEVCO) at the pean Commission Delegation to the AU in Addis Ababa, Joint European Commission since May 2016. An Italian na- Ethiopia. Ambassador Vervaeke’s appointment reflected tional, he previously served as Head of the Private Of- Research the common will of the Council of the European Union fice of , High Representative of the and the European Commission to combine all instru- Centre Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Com- ments of the EU and thereby ensure a coherent ap- proach towards Africa, at all levels. Mr Vervaeke, a Bel- Alan BELWARD gian diplomat, held previously a post as Head of Africa Head of Unit, Knowledge for within the Policy Unit of Javier Solana, High Representa- Sustainable Development and Food tive for the EU Common Foreign and Security Policy. For Security, Directorate-General Joint the Belgian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, he performed as Research Centre, European Com- Ambassador, Special envoy for the Great Lakes Region, mission Spokesman of the Ministry and held postings in Geneva (UN), Bujumbura and Tunis. Mr Vervaeke is married and Alan Belward works at the JRC where he is head of father of four children. He has a Master in modern his- the “Knowledge for Sustainable Development and tory and art history (Catholic University Leuven). Food Security” Unit in the Directorate for Sustainable Resources. He has a BSc in Plant Biology from Philip Bob JUSU Newcastle University, a PhD in satellite remote sensing of the global environment from Cranfield University and is a Fellow of the UK’s Royal Society of Biology. Permanent Mission of the Africa He has served on numerous international science Union to the European Union teams, including work for the G8 Committee on Earth Observation Satellites and the UN-sponsored Global Mr. Philip Bob Jusu is a Socio-Economist at the AU Per- Climate Observing System (GCOS). manent Mission to the European Union and ACP Group of States where he interfaces with the EC and ACP Romain MURENZI Group on socio-economic issues. From July 2011- July Executive Director, The World 2016, he managed the migration portfolio in the De- Academy of Sciences for the partment of Social Affairs at the African Union head- advancement of science in quarters, Addis Ababa. He previously served as Political developing countries (TWAS) Affairs Officer for Returns, Resettlement, Reintegration and Post-Conflict Reconstruction in UNMIK (United Na- Romain Murenzi serves as the executive director tions Mission in Kosovo) from 2007-2010. Prior to that, of TWAS, The World Academy of Sciences for the from 2005-2007, he worked as Refugee Resettlement advancement of science in developing countries, based Officer for RMS Refugee Resettlement in New Zealand. in Trieste, Italy. He also oversees the administration From 2003 to 2005, he served in various capacities at of OWSD, the Organization for Women in Science for the UN War Crimes Tribunal (Special Court for Sierra the Developing World with over 6,000 members; of Leone) and the Anti-Corruption Commission in Sierra IAP, the InterAcademy Partnership, a global network of Leone. Mr. Jusu holds a Joint NOHA Master of Science in some 130 academies of science and medicine; and of International Humanitarian Action from University Col- GenderInSITE (GIS), international initiative to promote 27 October 2017 lege Dublin (UCD) in Ireland and University of Groningen the role of women in science, innovation, technology in Netherlands, and a Master of Science in Public Policy and engineering. The secretariat administers 440 from University of Waikato in New Zealand. He obtained doctoral/postdoctoral fellowships per year, with his Bachelor of Arts with Honours in History from Fou- applicants from over 90 developing countries, with rah Bay College- University of Sierra Leone, and Bach- currently 1,100 students on site. Research grants elor of Laws (LLB) from the University of London. and other programmes are also offered. Murenzi also plays a key role in global science diplomacy and policy. Murenzi initially joined TWAS in April 2011 for five years. He then spent 14 months at UNESCO, Paris, directing the Division of Science Policy and Capacity Speakers Building in the Natural Sciences sector. On 1 September 2017 he was transferred back to TWAS. Before that he served as Rwanda’s Minister of Education, S&T and Scientific Research (2001-2006), and as Minister in the President’s Office in Charge of S&T, and Scientific Research, with responsibilities including ICT (March 2006 - July 2009). In 2009 he was a senior scholar at © European Union, 2017

Joint Research Centre AAAS Center for Science, Technology and Sustainable Milan), International Politics (ULB, Brussels), and Development; he served as director from 2010-2011. Psychology (University of Padua, Italy). Murenzi was born in Rwanda in 1959 and raised in Burundi: BSc from National University of Burundi in Lambed TATAH 1982, MSc (1986) and PhD from Catholic University of Louvain in Belgium (1990). Public Health Physician Cécile KYENGE Cameroon Ministry of Health Member of the European Parliament, Group of the Lambed Tatah is a transdisciplinary scientist with a Progressive Alliance of Socialists mission to influence policies through sound impact and Democrats assessment and research. Lambed trained in Clinical Medicine (obtained a Doctor of Medicine degree from Cécile Kyenge, former Italian Minister for Integration, has the University of Buea in Cameroon and a Diploma in been a Member of the European Parliament since 2014. Paediatric Emergency Medicine from the University As MEP, she is a member of the Group of the Progressive of Edinburgh in UK) and in Public Health in Disasters Alliance of Socialists and Democrats (S&D), of the (obtained a Master of Public Health from the University Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs of Oviedo in Spain and Université Catholique de (LIBE) and of the Committee on Development (DEVE). Louvain in Belgium). He has accrued over five years’ She is also Vice-President of the Joint Parliamentary experience in various positions with governmental Assembly ACP-EU and member of the delegation for and non-governmental organisations, including the relations with the Pan-African Parliament. She is co- MSF. Currently, Lambed is a public health physician at President of the European Parliament “Anti-Racism and the Cameroon Ministry of Health and a fellow of the Diversity Intergroup” (ARDI). She was the co-rapporteur Health and Human Development Research Network for the European Parliament’s report on the situation in (Cameroon), Humanitarian Innovative Initiative (USA) the Mediterranean and the need for a holistic approach and Young African Leadership Initiative (YALI). As a to migration. In 2015 and 2016 she was appointed transdisciplinary scientist, Lambed focuses on three Chief Observer of the EU election observation missions broad areas: analysing methods to establish the impact in Burkina Faso and Zambia. She was also part of the EU of disaster victims on host communities to prevent local Parliament’s delegation for the EU election observation tensions, mitigating disaster risks, performing recovery missions in Nigeria, Haiti, Gabon and Gambia. assessments and building better disaster resilient communities; public health modelling for sustainable Domenico ROSA development; and exploring ways of increasing new Head of Unit, EU-Africa, African policy uptake in low- and middle-income countries. He Peace Facility, has skills in leadership, humanitarian assistance and Directorate-General for research. Development Co-operation, European Commission Connie NSHEMEREIRWE

Head of the EU-Africa, African Peace Facility Unit at the Directorate General for Development Co-operation Uganda Martyrs University and 27 October 2017 of the European Commission. Within DEVCO, he also Global Young Academy oversees the work of the Post-Cotonou Task Force, which is steering the inter-institutional process of Dr. Connie Nshemereirwe is an independent educator elaborating a proposal for a renewed partnership and researcher, with varied knowledge and experience between the EU and the ACP countries. Domenico of policy and practice in African Education Systems. previously served as Senior Adviser in the Cabinet of She holds a bachelor of Civil Engineering, as well as Commissioner Piebalgs (2012-14) and was Member of advanced degrees in the design and evaluation of the Cabinet for Development and Humanitarian Aid of education systems. Most of her previous work has Commissioners Michel and De Gucht (2006-10). He has been focused on investigating school and student-level a background in Political Economy (Bocconi University, factors that account for academic performance across Speakers © European Union, 2017

Joint Research Centre all levels of the Ugandan Education System. She has Giovanni DE SANTI also published in the area of Educational Philosophy, Director, Sustainable Resources, where she explores the fitness to purpose of African Directorate-General Joint Education Systems. In 2016 she ended her 15-year Research Centre, European career as an academic at Uganda Martyrs University Commission in order to devote more time to engaging with the policy and science arena. To this end, she is a member Giovanni De Santi has been working at the Joint of a Ugandan Think Tank known as Kigo Thinkers, Research Centre (JRC) of the European Commission and is also engaged with developing educational since 1985, where he developed his professional resources for mother-tongue early childhood literacy. expertise by managing projects and groups of experts Dr. Nshemereirwe is also passionate about promoting in the fields of energy, transport, mechanical/nuclear science leadership across the African continent, and has engineering, environmental science and management. participated in several leadership programmes within In 2007 he was nominated as Director of the Institute the continent, both as a trainee and as a facilitator. She for Energy (IE) of the JRC based both in Petten (The currently serves on the executive committee of both the Netherlands) and Ispra (Italy). The Institute represented Uganda National Young Academy and the Global Young the reference centre of the European Commission Academy, and is a steering committee member of the for research in the energy field. In January 2011 the Africa Science Leadership Programme. Institute for Energy was transformed into the Institute for Energy and Transport and its portfolio consequently Helge ZEITLER expanded to include sustainable transport. In July 2016, Deputy Head of Unit, Bilateral he was appointed Director of the Directorate I in charge & Regional Environmental of Competences, and since September 2017, he is the Cooperation, Directorate-General Director of the Directorate for Sustainable Resources. for Environment, European Giovanni De Santi holds a university degree in Commission Mechanical and Nuclear Engineering from University of Pisa and a PhD degree in Fluidodynamics from the Helge Zeitler is currently the deputy head of the unit Technical University of Munich. He has been teaching in charge of bilateral and regional cooperation of the the course “Energy Security” at Politecnico Torino, Directorate General for Environment of the European chairman of many international conferences and is the Commission. In that function, she deals with relations author of many peer reviewed publications in high level with Africa and is currently engaged in the environmental scientific journals. aspects of the preparations for the EU Africa Summit. A lawyer by training, Helge worked prior to her current post in DG Environment on the SDGs and relations with 27 October 2017 the UN Environment Programme and co-authored the EU Action Plan against Wildlife Trafficking. Before, she was in charge of environmental crime at DG Justice. Helge also served as Special Assistant to the President of the UN International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, based in Tanzania, and worked for the Foreign Ministry of Germany, mainly on migration policy. Speakers © European Union, 2017

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27 October 2017

Speakers © European Union, 2017

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