Lebanon

I am a Data and Evaluation expert, former journalist, with 18 years of professional experience, currently working as Evaluation, data and knowledge expert, in the core team of MELDEA project, providing help desk evaluation support DG INTPA and DG NEAR. Following an education at the European School of Brussels II, he graduated in Journalism at the Catholic University of Louvain-la-Neuve (UCL, École de Journalisme de Louvain), and worked for 4 years as a journalist in Brussels covering EU News. This was followed by 7 years working in the management of International Development projects for consulting companies, and 7 years working as an expert in evaluation, data analysis, communication and knowledge management for the evaluation helpdesk technical assistances with DG INTPA, DG NEAR and FPI, which is his current assignment.
In the past 7 years, he has applied his data analysis skills and knowledge of EU Project Cycle Management to the field of developmental evaluation, with the objective to improve evaluation practices and learning from evaluations in the EC institutions. He has an excellent knowledge of EU Policies and guiding principles of Team Europe initiative, Strategic Planning and Programming Cycle (SPP), Financial Guidelines and EU funding mechanisms, and an excellent knowledge EC financial and contracting procedures (PRAG, INTPA Companion), Intervention Cycle Management guidelines, internal reporting and monitoring.

Policy advocacy specialist living in Brussels. Regional work in the Middle East and Africa, notably with civil society and in the areas of human rights and HIV. Notable contributions: Policy Forum on Development http://capacity4dev.ec.europa.eu/article/eyd2015-and-policy-forum-devel…

Amedeo Rizzo is a Doctor of Philosophy (DPhil) in Law at the University of Oxford, Exeter College, and Academic Tutor at St Catherine's College (Oxford). He is undertaking research activities on international corporate taxation and tax policy, under the supervision of Professor Tsilly Dagan.

He is an Academic Fellow at Bocconi University and SDA Bocconi School of Management, where he coordinates the Accounting & Tax Policy Observatory (OFC) and the Transfer Pricing Forum. He is a Transatlantic Technology Law Forum Fellow at the University of Stanford, doing research in Law and Technology. He is the Director of the Innovation Policy Network and a member of the Group of Experts on anti-corruption for Transparency International Italy, advising on corporate and tax law. He works as financial advisor for several companies and is one of the founding partners of the Italian audit company Imperium Audit SpA.

Previously, he worked for the Directorate-General for Economic and Financial Affairs (DG ECFIN) of the European Commission as an external advisor on budget and tax policy, and for the International Tax and Transfer Pricing Team of Pricewaterhouse Coopers, Milan. He also collaborated with the Centre for Budget and Governance Accountability (CBGA), India, on financial transparency issues in Asia-Pacific countries.

As concerns his research activities, he is the author of papers published in national and international academic journals, such as International Tax Studies, International Transfer Pricing Journal, Fiscalità e Commercio Internazionale (Italian), and Novità Fiscali (Swiss), and technical newspapers such as We Wealth, which selected him for the top 300 wealth management influencers’ club. He participated in the publication of the book “Brexit: Scenari fiscali e opportunità per i professionisti italiani” published by IPSOA – Wolters Kluwer Italy and presented at the Camera dei Deputati, the Italian Chamber of Deputies.

Amedeo obtained a Master of Science in Taxation (with distinction) from the University of Oxford, a Master of Science in Law and Business Administration (summa cum laude) from Bocconi University, and a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration. He received the Bocconi - Boroli scholarship for being one of the best Bocconi graduates of 2017.

The Conflict Transformation, Peacebuilding and Security network is a leading network on peacebuilding and conflict transformation, counting more than 60k members.

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Bianca Baumler is an expert in EU strategic communication and public diplomacy and engages with civil society, local government and other stakeholders across the globe. She has been working for the EU for around 18 years - as both a senior consultant/expert and as an EU institution staff member.

Bianca is the part-time key communication expert for the European Commission (DG INTPA – International Partnerships) DEAR programme: Development Education and Awareness-Raising. She also works as a free-lance consultant, drafting communication strategies and writing speeches. 

Bianca worked at the EU Delegations to Syria and to Ukraine for seven years – shortly before the wars erupted. She has led EU public diplomacy projects and activities in South Korea, Indonesia, Hong Kong, New Zealand, Singapore and South Africa.

Part of the founding team of the European Endowment for Democracy (EED), Bianca developed all its communications and outreach from scratch. She worked together with civil society representatives and democracy activists in the EU Neighbourhood to promote their work and the role of the EED.

Bianca regularly organises VIP, civil society and media visits and tours. She has run and evaluated 360’ communication campaigns, together with PR agencies and EU officials. She has organised hundreds of events on topics ranging from democracy support to AI, from climate change to LGBTI rights. She has a particular interest in the EU Green Deal, and has organised many relevant communication activities, including the EU-Ukraine Sustainable Energy Days, which have since become an annual event.

A Fulbright scholar, Bianca has degrees from Yale University, SciencesPo-Paris (1998-99) and the Free University-Berlin (1996-2000), and recently completed an executive Harvard course on leadership and community organising. Bianca is the author of “EU Public Diplomacy in an ever-changing world.” A US-German citizen, she is fully tri-lingual in English, German and French, and also speaks Italian.

Hur Hassnain (MDS, MBA) is an evaluation specialist, author, Treasurer and founding Board Member at the International Evaluation Academy. Currently he is working as the Senior Evaluation Expert at Meldea, the European Commission DG INTPA, DG NEAR, and FPI’s external service on Monitoring, Evaluation, Learning, and Design supporting the headquarter units, and over a hundred EU Delegations around the world.

Hur has authored several internationally peer reviewed publications, including a book as lead author: Evaluation in Contexts of Fragility, Conflict and Violence published in 2021. It presents an interesting argument that “evaluation” – like development aid itself – can unintentionally exacerbate tensions in ways that can negatively affect people and institutions if care is not taken in designing and approaching it with caution and sensitivity.

Hur has over 20 years of experience of working in a variety of thematic areas including but not limited to gender equality, rural development, climate change, renewable energy, agriculture, women’s economic empowerment, education, and protection. He has lived and worked in Asia, the Middle East, Africa, and Europe. Hur has designed, commissioned, and conducted research and evaluations for projects funded by UN agencies, the European Commission, private donors and the governments of the United Kingdom, Germany, Canada, Switzerland, the Netherlands, and Norway.

Hur is a staunch advocate of the Latin proverb "rerum cognoscere causas", signifying the pursuit of understanding the causes of things – a guiding principle that underpins his work and philosophy.

Economist