Child soldiers

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.

Dr. Florent BLANC, Ph.D. is Director of the “Negotiators of Europe” research and training program at ESSEC Business School.
He is the consortium team leader for the implementation of the Framework Contract (HR/R1/PO/2019/024 - LOT 3) covering the conception and delivery of negotiation-related trainings and services for the European institutions. This consortium joins the teams of College of Europe and the European Institute for Public Administration (EIPA).
As part of ESSEC IRENE’s negotiation training team, Florent delivers negotiation-related modules for the European Commission, public institutions in France and around the globe as well as private sector clients.
He contributed to capacity4dev activities as a member of the pool of trainers delivering Policy Dialogue and Negotiation as well as Context for Development modules under recent training contracts. For over 7 years, he also contributed to develop and adapt dedicated training modules for EUD teams (Nepal, Ivory Coast and Barbados). He also advised EUD on contractual negotiations for large infrastructure projects.

He contributed to the EU-PALOP-TL partnership by proposing a reflexion on the dialogue mechanisms and necessary capacity-building for Members of the partnership.

Florent holds a PhD from Northwestern University where he was George Lurcy scholar (Fulbright Program 2004-2005) and adjunct professor between 2006 and 2010. With a focus on national security policies and counterterrorism, Florent taught also courses in immigration policies, social changes, legal studies and journalism methodologies. From 2011 to 2016, he was West African Program manager for a French NGO where he oversaw and delivered projects on social cohesion, crisis prevention and education policy reform, with a focus on Mali. Florent also holds a doctorate from SciencesPo Paris.

I am a programme and project manager for EU and UN funded projects in the security sector, specialised in capacity building actions, police and military training, institutional advising, with specific focus on counter-terrorism, asymmetric threats, organised crime, technology innovation and research.

I directly participated in about 60 projects over 17 years in Europe, South East Asia, MENA, Sahel, Horn of Africa regions, as project manager, team member or short term expert.
I hold a Degree in Law and Master Degrees in “Theories and Methods in criminal investigation” and in "Strategic Information and Information Security", as well as specialization courses in CBRNe intelligence, crisis management, civil-military cooperation, law enforcement.

Italian Carabinieri military officer (reserve) specialised in international cooperation, I work as Senior Expert in EU funding at Eutalia (public company), dealing with operational as well as administrative and contractual duties.
Member of the Management Board at the Observatory on Security and CBRNe Defence – OSDIFE, Italy and co-founder at Il Caffè Geopolitico, cultural association and magazine on geopolitics.

I am an Ethiopian filmmaker, theatre artist, and media professional passionate about using storytelling as a tool for cultural preservation, social dialogue, and community empowerment. With a BA in Cinema and Theatre Arts and ongoing graduate studies in Media and Communication, I bridge artistic creativity with strategic communication to create impactful narratives.

Currently serving as Assistant Director of Stage and Studio Production at Amhara Media Corporation, I coordinate television, cultural, and studio productions, ensuring quality storytelling and audience engagement. My creative portfolio includes the feature film ውጥን (“Wutin”), short films such as Whispered Fractures, and theatre productions like Titon (children’s theatre) and Homa-Mir (indigenous marriage traditions of Gojjam).

Beyond the stage and screen, I have organized and hosted major cultural events including ንባበ ሕይወት and ንቂ ኢትዮጵያ book festivals, both covered by Amhara Television. I have participated in international festivals such as SmartPhilm, and received training from Canon Academy, Reuters, and American University.

My work focuses on amplifying underrepresented voices, integrating indigenous knowledge into modern media, and leveraging digital platforms to extend the reach of Ethiopian visual storytelling. I aim to foster cross-cultural dialogue, inspire youth, and use media as a catalyst for positive social change.

International lawyer and Rule of Law senior expert specialised in development and evaluation of EU funded external actions and other cooperations programmes supporting justice and security sector reform, human rights, gender equality, democratic governance, peacebuilding, civil society and assistance to vulnerable groups, namely in crisis, transition and post conflict countries, in MENA and Africa.

I am an Italian lawyer focusing on human rights advocacy and litigation.