How we will reach the Sustainable Development Goals

Adan Yusuf Mahdi (MSC MPH Public Health) has been working with Save the Children for 7 years. Prior to Save the Children, he has spent over 10 years working with national and international non-profits in the field of Health and Nutrition in conflict and complex emergency regions of Somalia. He is an active member of various working groups in Nutrition. 

Dr. Alexandre Skander Galand is an associate editor of the Oxford Reports on International Human Rights Law / UN Treaty Bodies and worked for the UN Interregional Crime and Justice Research Institute as part of the War Crimes Justice Project. He specialised in international criminal law, international human rights and humanitarian law and holds a PhD in International Law from the European University Institute (EUI). 

Dr. Andrea Steinke is a research fellow at the Centre for Humanitarian Action (CHA) in Berlin. She analysis the dynamics of humanitarian interventions and leads the research project on the Humanitarian-Development-Peace-Nexus (Triple Nexus).

Andrew Gilmour served 30 years at the UN, most recently as Assistant Secretary-General for Human Rights and as Political Director in the Office of the Secretary-General in New York. He previously held senior UN positions in numerous conflict zones. With masters degrees from Oxford University and the London School of Economics, he was later an Adjunct Fellow of the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) in Washington, D.C.  

Anna Schmauder is a Junior Researcher at Clingendael – the Netherlands Institute of International Relations. As part of the Conflict Research Unit she conducts research on hybrid governance, peacebuilding and the migration-security nexus in the Sahel. 

Anna Wasiak is the Head of Advocacy and Policy at Save the Children Germany. Her work over the last years focused mainly on global health advocacy. Before joining Save the Children Anna Wasiak worked in crises management and civil protection in Brussels and Berlin. Ms. Wasiak studied Political Science and Public Administration in Germany, Israel and the UK.

Dr. Anne Ellersiek has been responsible for the Stakeholder Management of the Science Platform Sustainability 2030 at the IASS since January 2018. Previously, she was a Research Fellow at the Science and Policy Foundation (SWP) and at the United Nations Research Institute for Social Development (UNRISD). Ellersiek studied organizational psychology at the University of Leipzig and holds a doctorate in organizational sciences from the University of Tilburg in the Netherlands.

Belina Raffy helps i.a. climate scientists, social entrepreneurs, humanitarian workers to work together more joyfully and effectively and to communicate important climate and social issues with a very compassionate form of comedy. Her insights on the universal and loving nature of improvisation principles are published in her eBook “Using improv to save the world (and me)”. Belina is a world citizen who giggles a lot because she loves what she does.  

Benoit Collin has 20 years of experience in humanitarian assistance in a variety of contexts in Africa, Asia and Latin America. He is an engineer in environmental sciences. He is working in Brussels since 2018, following 3 years as Head of DG ECHO Dakar Regional Office. Benoit is experienced in humanitarian assistance policies and projects management, management of donor countries as well as regional funding allocations.

Bernhard Kowatsch is the Head of the Innovation Accelerator at the WFP which he started in 2015. The Accelerator works with disruptive startups and innovations to end global hunger. In 2019, global innovations supported by the Accelerator positively impacted the lives of 1.4 million people. Bernhard co-founded the award-winning ShareTheMeal fundraising app and built-up WFP’s Business Innovation team. He was previously a Project Leader at the Boston Consulting Group (BCG), and holds three Masters degrees from HEC Paris and Vienna University of Business.

Brooke Lauten leads NRC’s engagement on protection and forced displacement-related policy issues at the global level, including the work on the Global Compacts. Brooke has more than 15 years of experience in the humanitarian sector and holds Masters Degrees in International Affairs and Public Health from Columbia University.

Camila Bustos is a JD candidate at Yale Law School, where she works at the intersection of human rights and climate change. Camila was also a plaintiff and part of a team who won a groundbreaking lawsuit against the Colombian government for failing to meet its deforestation targets.

Chris Melzer, born in Schwerin, Germany, in 1972, worked as a journalist for 27 years, most recently as dpa bureau chief for the US and Canada in New York. Since 2017, he has been the German spokesman for UNHCR in Berlin, but has also repeatedly been on assignment internationally, most recently in Bangladesh.

Christian Wiebe is Head of Water Projects and one of the founding members of the international network Viva con Agua. Since 2005 he has campaigned for the human right to clean drinking water and basic sanitation for all people.

Cornelia Richter was Vice-President of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), a specialized agency of the United Nations. Prior to this, she was a long-standing member of the board of the German Corporation for International Cooperation (GIZ). Cornelia Richter has a degree in economics and social sciences, strategy and management and organisational development. 

David Starke is the managing director of SOS Mediteranee Germany. Through his work for the humanitarian search and rescue organisation, he looks at the Global Compact on Refugees and Global Compact for Migration from a practical perspective, close to the action.

Dirk Winkler is the Team Leader of the GIZ-projects Strengthening Capacities for Wastewater Management (CWWM), Technical and Vocational Education and Training for Jordanians and Syrian Refugees in the Water Sector (VTW) and Wastewater Treatment and Reuse, with 14 years of international experience in the Middle East and northern Africa. Dirk Winkler is a Mechanical Engineer, Education Scientist with an MBA degree in Business Administration with specialization in Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy. 

Elena Keil is currently studying Landscape Management and Nature Conservation at the Faculty of Eberswalde, Germany. Prior to her studies, she completed a voluntary service with Greenpeace where she was focusing on the implementation of the Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) programme of the UN.  Since 2018, she is a member of youpaN, a German youth platform participating in the implementation of the National Action Plan on ESD. Keil is passionate about climate protection as well as social and environmental sustainability.  

Eric Rheinstein has a BS Chem. Eng.  and a MS Environmental Science and Engineering (ESE). He has worked for several INGOs in the Balkans, Asia and Africa. He worked 7 yrs. for a US engineering firm, and for ACF for 13 yrs. His specialties are WaSH and DRM. He was in Liberia for the Ebola epidemic and is now in South Sudan.

Fawad Durrani is an expert on climate change, migration and displacement at Greenpeace. Previously, he worked for various international NGOs in Afghanistan. He aims to increase the awareness of the link between climate change and displacement.

Florian Laudi heads the divison International Order Principles, United Nations: Security Council, Peace Missions, General Assembly at the GFFO. He studied law and began his career at the GFFO in 2002. His professional career has taken him to the German Embassy in Kabul, the Permanent Mission of the United Nations in New York and the Permanent Representation of the European Union. Most recently, he was Special Representative of the Federal Foreign Office for Ukraine.

Gertrud Falk is a graduate social pedagogue and social scientist. Since 2004 she has been human rights officer at FIAN Germany. Before that she worked in the refugee counselling service of the Protestant Church and in development policy research at the University of Duisburg.

Haakon Spriewald has been coordinating the "Leave no one behind" project at Handicap International e.V. since 2017, which supports humanitarian actors in integrating disability as a cross-cutting issue. After many years of experience in the field, he has specialised in inclusive humanitarian action at HI.

Hannah Neumeyer, LL.M., is Head of Human Rights at WASH United and leads the Making Rights Real consortium, an initiative of WASH development sector organisations that supports the use of the human rights to water and sanitation in practice at local level.

Dr. Heike Kuhn has a background of 30 years in European and multilateral development cooperation including human rights, gender, HR, financing, M&E, 2030 Agenda, working with EU, FAO, WFP, IFAD and UN agencies. She is a fully qualified lawyer, having studied in Freiburg, Moscow, Los Angeles and Genoa.

Horeb Bulambo Shindano is a filmmaker and human rights activist from the Democratic Republic of Congo. He was the Field Producer for the feature documentary "This is Congo," which debuted at the 2017 Venice Film Festival. He hosted the popular television show Monusco Realities for the UN in the DRC. Horeb`s professional background includes 9 years in aid working, in the area of communications (i.a. Care Australia and World Vision International). 

 Dr Ingolf Dietrich has been the Commissioner for the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development at the BMZ, since 2014. He is responsible for the BMZ's position in the national and international processes on the 2030 Agenda. As the BMZ's coordinator for sustainable development, he coordinates work at the BMZ on the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development across directorates-general. Dr Dietrich's set of responsibilities also includes the areas of respect for human rights, gender equality, and inclusion of persons with disabilities, so that a life of dignity for all – and thus, sustainable development – can become reality.

Jana Sepehr studied political science, development studies and sociology in Kiel, San Diego and Maastricht. Afterwards she worked for several years as a freelance journalist, among others for Greenpeace Magazine, Der Spiegel, ZDF and Die Zeit. In 2017 she joined the NGO Global Citizen and heads the editorial work in Germany as Content Lead & Communications Manager. After she first visited Accra in 2013 to research her master's thesis around "Brain Drain Migration" of doctors, she traveled to Ghana several times to report on e-waste, lead recycling and health care topics.

Janet Cherono has over 13 years of WASH experience in Africa and Middle East and has worked with Care International and Mercy Corps before joining NRC. She is an active member of various technical working groups in Nigeria and aims to contribute to enhanced WASH programming and Covid-19 response.

Jennifer Ankrom Khan leads Action Against Hunger in Pakistan. She has a deep understanding of the political, societal and cultural context in Pakistan, having worked there for over 12 years in a range of CSOs from local to international. She specializes in the nutrition and humanitarian sectors.

Dr. Joseph Seriki has over 10 years of experience in designing and delivering health/nutrition development and humanitarian programmes. He is currently working as Senior Health Technical Specialist with Save the Children Somalia,  where he focuses on ensuring Universal Health Coverage (UHC) by providing support to health ministries, local governments and civil society organizations around complex initiatives for equity and rights-based programming. Dr. Seriki holds an MD degree with Master’s in Global Health and another Master’s degree in Health Economics. 

Juan Auz is a PhD researcher at Hertie School’s Centre for Fundamental Rights. He worked on indigenous peoples' rights in the Ecuadorian Amazon as the Co-Founder of Terra Mater and former Executive Director of Fundación Pachamama.

Juliana Turjman is Component Manager for Participative and Community Engagement at GIZ in Jordan. She has long working experience on community health, poverty and women rights as well as water resource management. Ms Turjman works with approaches of empowerment and active participation within host communities in particular.

Khaled Sulaiman is a Journalist and trainer, writing for independent media platforms in Arabic and Kurdish. He recently published a book about drought and climate change in Iraq. He is a Free Press Unlimited associated trainer, who also publishes on climate related topics on independent online Daraj Media, based in Lebanon.

Dr. Kira Vinke works at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research as the project lead of EPICC (East Africa Peru India Climate Capacities) and is currently co-chairing the Advisory Council on Civilian Crisis Prevention and Peacebuilding of the German Federal Government. 

Dr. Koko Warner leads on adaptation knowledge & vulnerability at UN Climate. She is IPCC lead author on climate impacts. She founded the Munich Climate Insurance Initiative & directed research on climate migration at UN University. Dr. Warner ranks in top 20 women in the climate change debate.  

Konstantin Engelbrecht (M.A. Cultural Anthropology) is Senior Policy Officer for Climate Policy at the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ). He is responsible for public relations on climate and for the topic of climate and migration. Prior to that, he conducted research on conflicts in nature reserves at the Centre for Rural Development (SLE).

Lisa Witter is an award-winning serial political entrepreneur, author, and former public servant. In 2015 she co-founded Apolitical a learning network used by public servants in 170+ countries with a mission to accelerate the transformation of government.

Louise van Schaik coordinates Clingendael research in the field of climate change and sustainable development as well and analysed the EU’s performance in multilateral bodies, including in the fields of climate change, health and food standards. She holds a Master's degree in Public Administration from Leiden University and a PhD in Political Science from the KU Leuven.  

Lucile Grosjean is the Advocacy Deputy Director for Action Against Hunger- France. Holder of a master's degree in political science, she experienced multiple international assignments, especially as part of the ACF emergency team (Afghanistan, Iraq, Somalia, Mali, CAR, Chad, etc.) she specialized in issues related to safeguarding humanitarian space and protection of civilians.

Manfred Profazi is the Senior Regional Advisor for Europe and Central Asia at the International Organization for Migration (IOM) Headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland since September 2017. He is also currently serving as Chief of Mission of IOM Germany ad interim.

After contributing to the foundation of Action Against Hunger Spain, Manuel Sánchez-Montero worked as AAH Director of Operations in Madrid and then joined FRIDE (European think tank in Madrid and Brussels) and the Humanitarian Action Office of the Spanish Agency for International development Cooperation (AECID). He is a specialist on aid and sustainability policies and programmes, risk management and multi-stakeholder alliances. 

Markus Rudolf is a Senior Researcher at the BICC and is currently leading a research project on (re)integration of displaced persons and peace process. Previously he worked inter alia as a consultant for humanitarian issues for intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations.

Martin Hoppe has studied law and started working for BMZ in 2002. He held various positions, as policy advisor on environmental protection in China, on principles and procedures, as chief speech writer and Head of Division for Peace and Security, Disaster Risk Management. Postings abroad were to the German Permanent Mission to the United Nations in New York and Head of Economic Cooperation and Development at the German Embassy in Hanoi. Currently he is the Head of Division Food and Nutrition Security, Global Food Policy, Fisheries.

Matthias Amling works as desk officer at the Division for Humanitarian Assistance - Policy, International Organisations and Multilateral Coordination of the GFFO. He is responsible for the portfolio around anticipatory humanitarian action and disaster risk reduction. Before, Matthias worked for the German INGO Welthungerhilfe both in the field and at HQ as coordinator crisis monitoring and emergency response where his areas of work included risk analysis and monitoring,  the development of Forecast-based Financing pilots, as well as collaboration with partners like the German Red Cross and the START Network. 

Maxwell Mumba is a Zambian youth advocate and psychosocial counsellor for children and youth living with HIV/AIDS and Tuberculosis. Maxwell is also passionate advocate about adolescent Nutrition and advocates for improved nutrition and policies in Zambia. Maxwell is a Real Change Fellow sponsored by RESULTS and ACTION advocating on health issues in Zambia. Maxwell is one of the Nutrition champions and a currently he is working with CSO SUN as youth programme assistance. 

Dr. Maylin Meincke is a board member of KLUG, a network of individuals, organisations and associations in the health sector dedicated to raise awareness on the impacts of climate change on human health. Fellow of the postgraduate training programme for applied epidemiology at the health office of Baden-Württemberg, she is currently working as a reseach associate at the Robert Koch-Institute (RKI). Meincke holds a MSc in International Public Health and has been active in the field of global health policy for more than ten years, inter alia for the WHO, the Deutsche Gesellschaft für technische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ) and the GIZ.

Mwandwe Chileshe is passionate about issues relating to poverty reduction and nutrition and has worked on Food Security, Nutrition and Agriculture in various roles, including supporting the International Coalition for Advocates on Nutrition through her work at 1,000 Days. She also led the Zambia Civil Society Scaling up Nutrition Alliance and was significant in the start-up of Zambia’s first Parliamentary Caucus on Food and Nutrition. 

Naima Chowdhury leads the International Gender Unit at ACF, an expert in the area of Gender Equality, Leadership and in addressing gender-based violence. Her intensive work in empowerment, climate change, food security, market development and poverty eradication influenced changes in the life of many women and the marginalized communities. 

Nicole Riffert, or Fräulein Schoko - as she is known at Tony’s – heads up marketing for the DACH region and was the very first employee in the newly set up GmbH. Her daily job is creating awareness for the issues, that still exist in the cocoa industry and inspiring consumers to support Tony’s mission for change. 

Nina Birkeland works for NRC as Senior Advisor on Disaster Displacement and Climate Change. Most recently, she led the development of the new UNDRR Words into Action guidance on Disaster Displacement. She has worked on forced migration issues since the early 1990s, in academia and for NGOs.

Prof. Dr. Pierre Thielbörger is Professor of Public Law and International Law and Director of the Institute for Peacekeeping Law and International Humanitarian Law (IFHV) at the Ruhr-University Bochum and Associate Professor of Law and Governance at the Hertie School. He is also Co-Speaker of the Human Rights Working Group of the European Society of International Law and President of the General Assembly of the worldwide "Network on Humanitarian Action" (NOHA).

Rachael Cummings is the Director of the Humanitarian Public Health Team at Save the Children UK. She has been working in development and humanitarian settings for over 15 years. Most recently, she contributed to set up the COVID-19 emergency health response in Cox’s Bazar. Cummings’ previous experiences include the West Africa Ebola outbreak in 2014/15, where she was part of the team to establish the Ebola Treatment Centre in Kerry Town.

Ralf Südhoff heads the research project on policy and strategic capacities of German humanitarian actors. Prior to that, he was Director of WFP’s Regional Bureau for the Syria Crisis in Amman (2017-2018) as well as Director of the WFP Office in Berlin for Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Liechtenstein for almost 10 years.

As the German UN Youth Delegate for Sustainable Development (2017-19) and today as an ambassador for the rights of future generations, Rebecca Freitag is working for a transformation towards a sustainable future.

Ricardo Valenzuela is Director of the International Cooperation and Institutional Relations office of the Halü Foundation in Colombia. He has experience in monitoring WASH projects with migrants and indigenous populations as well as with demobilization/reintegration of illegal armed groups. 

Sonja Hövelmann is a research fellow at the CHA, where she works on the Humanitarian-Development-Peace-Nexus and the Shrinking Humanitarian Space. Prior to this she worked as a program officer for quality management at Caritas international and coordinated the Joint Master Programme in Humanitarian Action (NOHA) at the Institute for International Law of Peace and Armed Conflict.

Dr. Stefan Voigt pioneered satellite based emergency mapping within DLR and the European Copernicus program. He helped implementing the UN-SPIDER program and the IWG-SEM. He is founder of the Open Search Foundation and initiator of DLRs Humanitarian Technology Initiative.

Tidiane Fall holds a Master degree in Geography and ecology. He can look back on 17 years of experience with Int. NGOs (World Vision, Couterpart Int., Save the Children, Alianza Por la Solidarid, MPDL, AAH) in 6 African countries. He served 7 years in Senior Management positions like programs Management and Country representative. He has a good knowledge and strong leadership on change Management, humanitarian coordination and humanitarian access negotiation. 

Valentin Thurn became internationally known with several priced cinema documentaries. He authored the books "Die Essensvernichter" and "Harte Kost" to accompany his films and has produced over 40 documentaries for ARD, ZDF and ARTE in the past 20 years. He founded "Foodsharing e. V." and the "Taste of Heimat e. V." and inspired over 30 cities in the German-speaking region to found a nutrition council. 

Wadzanai Motsi-Khatai holds a Master of Public Administration from Hertie School of Governance. She is currently Program Manager at the CIJ in Berlin. Wadzanai has over six years of experience working with government, int. non-profit, as well as community organizations. Her diverse professional experience includes working with the Govt. of Zimbabwe to develop national strategies for HIV testing, and treatment for children, working with young political activists in different countries as well as building a community for a circular economy in Berlin.

 Walter Kälin is a member of the Expert Advisory Group of the UN Secretary-General's High-Level Panel on Internal Displacement since 2019 and is also the Envoy of the Chair of the Platform on Disaster Displacement. He combines expertise from science and practice on the topic of climate refugees. 

Wayne Jordash´s experience spans capacity building, advisory work, and international litigation (at the ICC and ICJ) to enhance human rights protection. He developed GRC’s Starvation Portfolio, the development of “first-to-market” training materials for investigators of starvation violations, the training of UN organizations and direct involvement in the historic Rome Statute Amendment in December 2019 to include starvation as a crime in a non-international armed conflict.

Willow Rook is ACF’s head of programmes in Yemen, coordinating activities in health, nutrition, food security, and water and sanitation. She has six years of experience in field operations and programme management in South Sudan, Iraq, Ethiopia and Yemen. Willow holds a Master’s degree from the LSE.