Focus: Government/Politics
Nereus "Neric" Acosta
Nereus "Neric" Acosta is a Philippine politician, previously serving as Presidential Adviser on Environmental Protection and as a three-term member of the Philippine House of Representatives, representing the first district in the Bukidnon province. He also served as Secretary-General of the Council of Asian Liberals and Democrats, which works with leading liberal-democratic parties in Asia for greater democratization and the strengthening of human rights. During his time in the House of Representatives, Neric was the principal author of environmental laws on solid waste management, biodiversity, and pollution in the Philippines. He also served as Chair of the Committee on Ecology and Chair of the Philippine Legislators Committee on Population and…
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Mauro Mondello
Mauro Mondello is a freelance reporter, war correspondent, and documentary filmmaker. Focusing on human rights and freedoms, his reporting strives to garner dignity and respect for all cultures and religions and to foster an open society that provides shelter for refugees and space for all humanity. He began his journalism career as a staff journalist in Italy and was based in South America between 2008 and 2011. He then moved to Tunis and reported on the Arab Spring uprisings in Tunisia, Libya, Egypt, Yemen and Syria. From 2013 to 2019, he was based in Berlin, Germany. His reportages have appeared, among others, in The Guardian, Die Zeit, Newlines Magazine, Courrier…
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Katrin Hett
Katrin Hett is a Senior Political Affairs Officer in the Executive Office of the Secretary-General at the United Nations. She joined the UN in January 2010 in the Department of Political Affairs as Political Affairs Officer, first in the Europe Division and then in the Office of the Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs. She has also served in the Secretary-General’s transition team from October to December 2016. Previously, Katrin worked as Regional Coordinator for the Western Balkans in Public Diplomacy at NATO HQ, Senior Democratisation and Public Administration Reform Advisor at OSCE in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and was Deputy Project Manager for Conflict Management at GTZ in South Africa. Born in…
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Lai Yahaya
Lai Yahaya is a lawyer, political economy analyst, and public policy policy advisor with more than 20 years’ experience advising development finance institutions, senior government officials, and leading corporatations in Sub-Saharan Africa on infrastructure development, public private partnerships, and energy sector reform. He is currently Senior Special Assistant (Planning and Strategy) to President Muhammadu Buhari in Nigeria and was most recently Senior Policy Advisor to Rt. Hon. Raila Odinga, in his role as African Union High Representative for Infrastructure Development in Africa. Lai previously led the Senior Advisors Group of the Power Africa Initiative, working with a group of former Heads of State and industry leaders, advising them on how…
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Tuokanjo Sem Shikongo
Taukondjo Sem Shikongo is currently the Senior Programme Management Officer for the Access and Benefit-Sharing (ABS) Unit, which is mandated to serve the Parties to the Nagoya Protocol on ABS at the Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity. The Unit has as its mission to provide support to Parties, in their policy development, coordination, implementation and review of issues related to access and benefit-sharing under the Convention and its Nagoya Protocol, in an integrated, mainstreamed and efficient manner and to arrange for and service the Conference of the Parties serving as the meeting of the Parties to the Nagoya Protocol. Prior to this Taukondjo served as Director for Tourism…
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Henrique F. Salas-Römer
Henrique F. Salas-Römer is President of Proyecto Venezuela, one of the political parties that make up the Mesa de la Unidad Democrática, a coalition of opposition parties in Venezuela. Henrique is also Assistant Chairman of the International Democratic Union, a working association of over 80 Conservative, Christian Democrat, and other parties of the center and center-right from over 60 countries. Elected to the National Congress at age 32, Henrique served for two years before being elected Governor of Carabobo, the third largest state in Venezuela. He was elected to four terms as Governor of Carabobo, serving from 1995 to 2004 and from 2008 to 2012. As Governor, Henrique worked to create a…
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Miguel Pulido Jiménez
Miguel Pulido JimĂ©nez is an attorney that focuses on citizen security, politics and law, and government accountability and transparency. He is Founder and Director of CREATURA, an international consultancy organization focused on social change through political and legal sectors. Miguel is formerly Executive Director of Fundar, Center for Analysis and Research, one of Mexico’s largest and leading human rights NGOs. He has been a member of the Citizen Council to Prevent Discrimination in Mexico and served on the board of the conservation organization Reforestamos Mexico. He has authored three books on human rights and citizenship, writes for Aristegui Noticias, the most visited website in Mexico, and has taught a course…
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'Dapo Oyewole
’Dapo Oyewole is Special Adviser on Development Planning & International Affairs to the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Government of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. He previously served as Special Adviser to the Minister of State for Finance in Nigeria, responsible for policy and international cooperation. Earlier, he served as Technical Adviser to two Ministers of National Planning (NPC) in the Presidency of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. The NPC is the country’s central think tank on strategic development and policy planning and serves a central advisory role to the President. At the NPC, his responsibilities spanned international cooperation, donor coordination, national development strategy, policy formulation, performance monitoring, and…
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Felix Maradiaga
Felix Maradiaga is an academic, political activist, and former presidential candidate. In June 2021 he was arrested and held in solitary confinement in Nicaragua by Ortega’s regime, sentenced to 13 years imprisonment for the alleged crime of “conspiracy to undermine national integrity." In February 2023, Felix was released from captivity and flown to the U.S., along with 221 other political prisoners from Nicaragua, where he was reunited with his family. After serving as the youngest-ever Secretary General of the Ministry of Defense, Felix has dedicated himself to strengthening peace, democracy, and the rule of law in Nicaragua. A recognized international expert in civil society and leadership development, he seeks to…
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Martina Larkin
Martina Larkin is CEO of Project Liberty, a ground breaking new initiative to transform how the internet works. Martina is a recognised international executive well versed in innovation and the world of international economics and politics. Before joining Project Liberty she was Vice President for Global Issues at System, an AI and data science company. Prior to that she spent 16 years at the World Economic Forum where she was a member of the Executive Committee. Martina is a member of `several non-profit boards, including the European Institute of Innovation and Technology of the European Commission; the international advisory panel for the Future of Science and Technology of the European…
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