Human rights defenders

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.

Guillermo Delgado is an architect with a focus on urban development and housing; and lecturer at the Monterrey Institute of Technology (ITESM).

He lived in Namibia for thirteen years, where he was part of the team that led the review of the national housing programs and the national housing policy. There, he was part of work teams, panels and committees of national projects on urbanization and housing. He has taught courses on research methods, urbanization in the African continent, and on housing. He has supervised master's and doctoral students.

Previously he was a senior lecturer at the Namibia University of Science and Technology (NUST), where he headed the Institute for Land, Livelihoods and Housing (ILLH); and before that a researcher at the Labor Resources and Research Institute (LaRRI), where he worked with the labor movement on issues of living conditions and informal economies.

Guillermo obtained his degree in architecture from the Universidad Iberoamericana (UIA), Mexico City Campus; as well as a master's degree from the Berlage Institute (today The Berlage, at the Delft University of Technology), in the Netherlands; and his PhD in architecture and urban planning from the University of Cape Town (UCT) in South Africa.

He has worked on various research, consulting, advisory, and educational projects; focused on urbanization, land tenure, governance, housing, social protection, informal settlements, co-production/self-management, and alternative socio-spatial practices.

He has also been a consultant for international cooperation agencies, non-governmental organizations, for the private sector, as well as for development banks.

He is currently the president of the Sub-Saharan Africa Chapter of RedMX, an initiative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to promote synergies between Mexicans living abroad, as well as with the country.

Currently, I am working at the Coordination of the Practitioners' Network for European Development Cooperation. Before that, I worked as an EU Strategy Officer for FIIAPP (a Spanish development agency with a focus on technical cooperation) at the Brussels office and developing the Practitioners’ Network co-Presidency. Young professional with experience in international public administration, Latin America-EU development cooperation, youth and civic engagement, and peacebuilding. Cross-cultural education, team-oriented, communicative, and proactive professional. I am part of the United Nations Alliance of Civilisations as a Fellow 2019, focusing on: “The Role of Women in Peacemaking and Conflict Prevention” (MENA region intercultural exchange fellowship). Master's in Diplomacy and International Relations at the Diplomatic School in 2019.

Freelance expert, highly experienced in implementing and managing EU-funded programmes and projects in the fields of support to civil society, democratic governance and human rights, with a special focus on Africa (Western and Central) and the EUROMED region.