Ownership of development priorities by developing countries

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.

I am a specialist on EU’s international cooperation, with more than 13 years of experience in the field of social and democratic inclusion. I have worked in various public and private bodies, including the European Commission (DG INTPA), the Italian Government (under Prime Minister Draghi), international and civil society organisations from Latin America, Asia and the EU. My main areas of expertise include social protection and welfare policies, with a special focus on youth, as well as democratic governance.

I am a Sustainable Development Practitioner with a diverse expanse of interests and subsequent expertise, which are founded on a keen understanding and appreciation for the significance attributed to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

I am a policy officer in ECDPM’s European foreign and development policy team.

I specialise in EU and international cooperation, including relations between the EU and Africa, the EU's Neighbourhood policy, its engagement with civil society, decentralised cooperation and local governance and urban development.

Before joining ECDPM, I worked as a policy and advocacy officer at the Council of European Municipalities and Regions for the PLATFORMA coalition. I also worked in two French embassies, where I coordinated exchanges of public sector expertise between France and the Republic of Moldova, and France and Poland.

I am a graduate from Sciences Po Bordeaux and hold a PhD in EU development policy from Université des Antilles et de la Guyane. I am a scientific collaborator at the Institute for European Studies of the Université Libre de Bruxelles, advisory board member of the Jean Monnet network 'PolyCIVIS'.

African. Nigerian. UN civilian peacekeeper in the Sahel region. Ex-UNDP and ex-UNIDO.

Appreciates music, LatAm dance, culture, languages, food, fictional literature. Thinker. Voyager. 

I am Maria Yesayan from Armenia. I am currently working in UNICEF Armenia and have experience with local youth-centered and developmental NGOs in Armenia, as well as international organizations, such as World Vision International and National Geographic. I have Bachelor's with Honor in Governance and study abroad certification in the field of Political Sciences from Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. I have participated in various national and international projects covering diverse topics from diversity and inclusion to piece and security issues.