Mr. Henry Akwitti is a seasoned Project Management, Evaluation, Data Management and Finance Expert with over 15 years of experience working in West Africa, East and Horn of Africa. He has worked on diverse projects across agriculture & food security, economic growth & recovery, environment, migration, WASH, peace and security. He has strong qualitative and quantitative research skills with hands on experience on the use of econometric principles. He has over the years gathered expertise in vulnerability/risk assessment & mapping, Household Economic Analysis, 3rd party evaluations and anthropometric surveys (SMART and SQUEAC). Mr. Akwitti has worked with the International Organization for Migration (IOM), Save the Children, Chemonics International and has held Senior Management positions as well as technical positions with these organizations. Before joining UNDP, he worked with the Nigeria Incentive-Based Risk Sharing System for Agricultural Lending (NIRSAL) as a Credit and Risk Management expert. Mr. Akwitti has a Bachelors degree in Computer Science and Masters degree in Economics majoring in Finance.
 

Bitseat is an experienced program management professional with over 9 years of experience in the agricultural sector. She has a proven track record of leading and managing multi-million-dollar projects, delivering tangible results for organizations focused on agriculture and rural development, such as One Acre Fund, GIZ, the Ethiopian Agricultural Transformation Agency (ATA), and the Texas Department of Agriculture in Austin, Texas. She is a Mandela Washington Fellow, a prestigious program that recognizes and empowers young leaders from Africa.

Bitseat holds a Master of Science in Innovation Management from the University of Trento and Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna in Italy, and a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering from Bahir Dar University.
 

Ms. Sana Ehsan is a public policy and economics expert supporting UNDP’s Financing for Development portfolio. She has over 15 years of experience working with UNDP, World Food Programme, and the Government of Pakistan in different capacities. Currently, she is working as Financing for Development Analyst supporting Development Policy Unit in implementing UNDP-Government established SDG Investments and Climate Financing Facility initiatives. Now she will also resume her duties as National Project Officer for Pakistan’s Insurance & Risk Financing Project. While working with UNDP, she has also contributed significantly as Research Analyst to the Pakistan’s National Human Development Report 2020 on 3P’s of Inequality: Power, People and Policy. She has done her Master’s in Public Policy and Economic Development from the Korea Development Institute of Public Policy and Management, as well as an Msc in Economics, and a Masters in Project Management.

Diana has 11 years’ experience in monitoring and evaluation of public policies, developing tools and methodologies for the efficient use of public resources, private sector contribution to SDGs and knowledge of multilateral banks programming. Diana has a master’s degree in Public and Social Policies from the Pompeu Fabra University in Spain and a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from the Pontificia Universidad Javeriana in Colombia. Furthermore, she has studies in M&E, governance, public investment, green growth. Personally, Diana loves scuba diving, plays tennis, volunteer in green NGO´s and enjoys dancing and trying different restaurants.

Masnat Al Hiary coordinates UNDP’s IRFF initiatives in Jordan. Before joining UNDP, she was working with Jordan’s National Agricultural Research Center) NARC) since 1998 in various functions. In her latest position, she was Director of the Socio-Economic Research Directorate where she coordinated more than 20 national, regional and international projects, such as the sub-project “Jordan Valley Water Sustainability and Agribusiness Competitiveness”, executed by NARC, which is sponsored by UNFCCC’s Adaptation Fund.

Masnat is a macroeconomist expert and holds a Ph.D. degree in Business Economics and a M. Sc. degree in Agricultural Economics and Agribusiness from the University of Jordan.

Josephine Douglas Laswai is the National Coordinator for the IRFF in Tanzania. Josephine has over four years of experience with UN Tanzania, supporting Joint-UN Coordination, Sustainable Development Goals monitoring and reporting of the UN Development Assistance Plan, while actively participating in developing the UN Sustainable Cooperation Framework. Josephine worked with Good Neighbours International as a Programme Administration Officer, a Monitoring and Evaluation Associate in a private consultant firm, and ICEALION Insurance Company as a Business Development Officer in charge of marketing, branding, development and selling insurance products and services. Josephine has a master's degree in Public Policy Analysis and Programme Management and a Bachelor of Science in Social Protection.

Prior to this he served for 4+ years as Programme coordinator at UNFPA Mozambique CO, based in Tete province with focus on the “Universal access to Sexual and reproductive health” project.
Between 2006 and 2007, Vidal served as assistant resident programme officer (ARPO) at UNICEF Angola, where he successfully supported programme implementation in Uige and Huambo provinces. Following his tenure at UNICEF Angola, he was the lead environmental supervisor, for the first successful on-shore seismic acquisition programme for oil and gas exploration, in Palma and Mocimboa da Praia. He has also worked on various projects in the country, as an independent consultant. Between 2009 and 2016, Vidal served at UNDP Somalia as the UNV programme coordinator for Somalia, where he successfully led the UNV programme through increased onboarding of UN Volunteers serving inside Somalia, including its visibility among UN Agencies and CSOs. Vidal holds BSc honors in Social Sciences with Economics, from the Open University in the UK and Masters in environmental management from CENCRE, Spain.

Mr. Chandra Kanta Sharma Paudel is originally from Jaimini Muncipality-7, Baglung district, Gandaki Province.  He holds a Master’s Degree in Agricultural Systems from Asian Institute of Technology Bangkok, Thailand. He had started his career with a Consultancy Firm as Research Officer under different donors’ support and then joined SNV/Nepal (Nov 1993-June 1996), moving on to hold different posts at UNDP Nepal including Natural Resource Management Advisor (1997-2008), District Development Advisor for a Decentralization Programme (2008-2009), Impact Assessment Consultant for Village Development Committee Governance (2009-2014). He had honed his Monitoring and Evaluation expertise for livelihood projects and value chain development projects by UNCDF and by the Government of Denmark. Before joining the Insurance and Risk Finance Facility (IRFF), Mr. Paudel was with the Provincial and Local Governance Support Programme (PLGSP) - Federalism Support Programme in Nepal (29 April 2020 – 26 March 2023). Besides, Mr. Paudel has also worked for some time as a freelancer in the areas of access to finance for Micro Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs), assessing income generation potentials at local level and promoting bio-gas in Nepal. 

Mai has a passion for development work. Before joining IRFF Vietnam program, she worked as Programme Officer for GIZ Regulatory Framework Promotion for Inclusive Insurance in Asia, in charge of promoting inclusive insurance and climate risk insurance in Vietnam. She also has various development sector experience working in Vietnam, Lao PDR and Cambodia for NGOs working in agriculture, value chains and community development. She has also worked for the private sector promoting inclusive business, sustainability and circular economy in materials science for industries. Mai earned her Bachelor of Engineering from Hanoi University of Science and Technology in 2006 and Master of Development Evaluation and Management from Institute of Policy Development, University of Antwerp (Belgium) and Development Studies from University of Melbourne, Australia. 

Amina Sammo is IRFF’s national coordinator in Ghana. Prior to this, she served at the Ministry of Inner-City and Zongo Development as the Director of Projects, Programmes and Social Services. Before joining the Ghana Government, she worked at CAL Bank Limited in various capacities, such as Relationship Manager, Asset and Liability Manager (Risk Management Department) and eventually exiting as a Branch Manager. Previously, she was Head of Project, Finance and Administration of an EQUALL/SFL/USAID project in Tamale on education Northern Ghana, a General Accountant with Amarjaro UK (Ghana) Limited purchasing Cocoa beans for export to the UK and BRM Wood processing Limited.

Amina is a Chartered Accountant and a Project Management Professional with over 20 years of professional experience in accounting, finance and risk management across social services, banking, utility services, commodities trading, extractive industry, research and teaching.

She holds a PHD in Project Financial Engineering), an MBA in Financial Management, and Bachelor of Commerce Degree. She is a Fellow of Institute of Professional Management (IPMP), Ghana and Association of Certified Chartered Accountants (ACCA), United Kingdom.

She was a Senior Legislative Advisor to Member of Congress Sylvana Beltrones, with whom she drove an agenda dedicated to enhancing social protection for women, children, and cancer patients. Later, during her tenure as the Director of Federal Resources in the Ministry of Finance of Aguascalientes State she mobilized resources for initiatives spanning inclusive insurance, risk management, education, health and metropolitan development and oversaw the projects execution. Rosa is a lawyer, and holds a Master of Public Policy from the London School of Economics and Political Science, having been honored with the a Chevening Scholarship, and a LLM from Universidad Panamericana in Mexico. In 2020, Rosa established a national precedent by becoming the first naturalized Mexican to run for office, as a reserve candidate for the Local Congress.