Who's who in #globaldev: January 2019 appointments

MANILA — Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade has appointed Ewen McDonald to head its new Office of the Pacific. In a news release, Australian Minister for Foreign Affairs Marise Payne described the move to establish the office as a reflection of the “Australian government’s commitment to take our engagement with the Pacific to a new level.” Observers pointed to a growing recognition of the Pacific’s role in Australian foreign policy and the need to maintain influence in the region amid increasing Chinese investments as motivating factors. McDonald is a senior officer within DFAT and previously served as its deputy secretary. Prior to the appointment, he was high commissioner to New Zealand. In his new role, he is expected to engage directly with stakeholders in the Pacific on Australian development assistance, and potentially provide oversight on major initiatives. In November, Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced the creation of the $2 billion Australian Infrastructure Financing Facility for the Pacific, which is aimed at supporting infrastructure development in the region. The facility is expected to be operational by July 2019. Bond British NGO network Bond has a new chief executive. Stephanie Draper, currently deputy chief executive at Forum for the Future, will take over the position mid-March. “Stephanie joins Bond at a point when the challenges and opportunities presented by the SDGs, safeguarding, by Brexit and the pressures on civil society space make the Bond network even more essential in the eradication of global poverty, inequality and injustice,” said board chair Caroline Nursey in a statement. Eurodad The European Network on Debt and Development has appointed Jean Letitia Saldanha as its new director. She will take over by the end of April. Saldanha comes from CIDSE, the international alliance of Catholic development organizations, and is best known for her work on development finance. Eurodad Board Chair Antonio Gambini said of her appointment: “Jean has played a leading role in development finance for over a decade, and is an inspiring leader with a passion for financial and gender justice. We are convinced that she has the expertise to bring about the transformative change we are looking for.” ECDPM Carl Michiels has joined the European Centre for Development Policy Management as its new director. ECDPM is an independent think tank focused on development cooperation between the European Union and countries in Africa, the Caribbean, and the Pacific. Prior to the role, he served as director general of the Belgian Technical Cooperation, now Enabel, for 14 years. That and past experiences working with European NGOs and in academia provide him with a “deep understanding of the European development cooperation landscape,” the organization said in a news release. BOMA Project Wendy Chamberlin is the new director of expansion and innovation at the BOMA Project. She will be in charge of promoting and expanding the nonprofit’s work on creating livelihoods for women in Northern Kenya, with the aim of reaching 1 million people by 2022. Chamberlin joins the nonprofit after 12 years at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, where she oversaw the foundation’s investment in BOMA. “Wendy’s deep experience in implementing strategies for building long-term resiliency in vulnerable populations in Sub-Saharan Africa will be invaluable for BOMA as we scale our work across Kenya, Uganda, and other countries in Africa,” said John Stephens, executive director, in a news release. United Nations U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres has appointed Danish Lieutenant General Michael Lollesgaard as head of the U.N. Mission to support the Hodeida Agreement. The special political mission was set up by the U.N. Security Council in mid-January to support the implementation of the ceasefire agreement between the government of Yemen and Houthi militia in the port city of Hodeida. Other latest U.N. appointments include: - Ibrahim Thiaw of Mauritania as new executive secretary of the U.N. Convention to Combat Desertification. - Huang Xia of China as U.N. special envoy for the Great Lakes Region. - Rola Dashti of Kuwait as new executive secretary of the U.N. Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia. - Ján Kubiš of Slovakia as the U.N. secretary-general’s special coordinator for Lebanon. WaterAid WaterAid has appointed Sol Oyuela as its new global director of policy and campaigns. Oyuela is currently director of advocacy and public affairs of UNICEF UK. She starts her new role April 1. International Youth Foundation The International Youth Foundation has appointed Yvonna Stevens as its new chief financial officer and executive vice president of finance, administration, and information technology. She served as the foundation’s director for international finance and administration from 2007-2018. IDDRI The board of the Institute for Sustainable Development and International Relations, a think tank focused on sustainable development, has appointed Sébastien Treyer as its new executive director. Treyer is currently IDDRI’s director of programs and has been with the organization for almost a decade.