Welcome: Michaela Bergman, European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD)

Michaela Bergman is a social annthropologist and lawyer, with 20 years work experience with multi-lateral,
International Financial Institutions, bi-laterals and civil society in over 40 countries, including East and Central
Europe, Central, East and South Asia and the Middle East. Her expertise and experience lies in policy and project
related activities related to gender, involuntary resettlement, poverty alleviation, protection and empowerment of
vulnerable and socially excluded groups, Indigenous Peoples, community development, disability, provision of
community based services, support of civil society, human rights and labour laws; particularly in post-conflict
countries and transitional economies. Ms Bergman joined EBRD nine years ago. As Chief Counsellor for Social
issues she is the most senior and experienced social specialist of the Bank and as such provides support and
strategic advice to the institution, Environment and Sustainability Department, Banking, Office of the Chief
Economist, Clients and Human Resources and clients on gender and social issues. The Chief Counsellor for
Social issues also heads the Gender team which is responsible for delivering the Banks Strategic Gender
Initiative.
DAY 1 MONDAY, 2 JUNE
WELCOME AND OPENING REMARKS
Opening Remarks: VP Stephen Groff, ADB

Stephen P. Groff is Vice-President (Operations 2) of the Asian Development Bank (ADB). He assumed office in
October 2011. Mr. Groff is responsible for the full range of ADB's operations in East Asia, Southeast Asia, and the
Pacific. Mr. Groff supports ADB's President in managing ADB's overall operations, represents ADB in high-level
multilateral fora, and contributes to managing its relationships with its 67 member country shareholders, other
multilateral financial institutions, and key government, private sector, and civil society partners. Prior to joining
ADB, Mr. Groff was Deputy Director for Development Cooperation at the Paris-based Organisation for Economic
Co-operation and Development (OECD). He also served as OECD's envoy to the G20 Working Group on
Development and was a member of the World Economic Forum's Global Agenda Council. Prior to this he was the
Deputy Vice-President for Operations at the Washington-based Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC). Prior
to MCC, Mr. Groff held several staff positions at the ADB. Before this, Mr. Groff was the deputy director and chief
economist on a large U.S. Agency for International Development, a Program Director for the U.S. Refugee
Program, and a U.S. Peace Corps Volunteer. Mr. Groff has worked across Asia, Africa, and Latin America and
writes regularly on development issues. He also serves on a number of advisory boards for development-related
organizations. Mr. Groff holds a Master's degree in Public Administration from Harvard University and a Bachelor
of Science degree in Environmental Biology from Yale University.
Welcome Address: Sec. Corazon Soliman, DSWD Philippines

Corazon "Dinky" Juliano-Soliman is a social development professional with over 30 years of experience as a civil
society leader and community organizer. Currently, she is a member of the Cabinet of the President of the
Philippines. Having served as Secretary of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) from
2001 to 2005, she was reappointed by President Benigno S. Aquino III to the same post in 2010. As the DSWD
Secretary, she spearheads projects for poverty reduction and social protection. She is the National Project
Director for both the Kalahi-CIDSS-NCDDP (Kapit-Bisig Laban sa Kahirapan or Linking Arms to Combat Poverty -
Comprehensive Integrated Delivery of Social Services - National Community Driven Development Program) and
the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program or the Philippines' conditional cash transfer program, a five-year
poverty reduction program of the Philippine Government that is funded by the World Bank and ADB. She also
spearheads the Bottom-up Budgeting and Local Poverty Reduction and Action Planning process which
institutionalizes civil society participation in the budget and poverty reduction planning processes of the Philippine
government. She has also led projects and programs for the International Center on Innovation Transformation
and Excellence in Governance (INCITEGov) in areas of social protection and empowerment of the people. She
has designed and implemented programs to enhance social accountability with civil society organizations as
Program Coordinator of the World Bank to Cambodia.
SESSION 1: GENDER, VOICE AND AGENCY
Chair: Shireen Lateef, ADB

Shireen Lateef is Senior Advisor (Gender) in the Office of Vice-President Knowledge Management
and Sustainable Development. She was the architect of ADBs Policy on Gender and Development
(1998) which provides the guiding framework for ADBs gender and development activities. Over
the years, her tasks have included oversight of policy implementation; advice to Management on
gender-related matters; policy and program advice to operational departments; coordination of
ADB wide gender programs; resource mobilization for strategic initiatives, and; coordination with
government agencies, development partners, international and regional NGOs. She is currently
the Chair of ADBs Gender Equity Community of Practice. Prior to this position, she was Director,
Social Sectors Division in the South East Asia Department. In this role she worked directly in
operations managing project processing and implementation of social sector projects spanning
education, health, water supply and sanitation, tourism and urban development sectors in
Cambodia, Lao PDR, Indonesia, Philippines, Viet Nam. Until June 2012 she was the Chair of the
Multilateral Development Banks Working Group on Gender. She has a PhD in Social
Anthropology from Monash University, Melbourne Australia.
Speakers:
Jeni Klugman, The World Bank

Jeni Klugman is the Director of Gender and Development at the World Bank Group, where she
serves as lead spokesperson on gender equality issues, and is responsible for developing strategic
directions to promote the institution's gender agenda. She also serves on several advisory boards,
including that of the World Economic Forum's on Sustainability and Competitiveness, and those
related to the work of the Council on Foreign Relations, Plan International, International Civil
Society Network, and the Global Forum on Women in Parliaments, as well as a European Union
research program on GDP and beyond. Her previous roles include serving as the director and
lead author of three global Human Development Reports published by the United Nations
Development Programme: Overcoming Barriers: Human Mobility and Development (2009); The
Real Wealth of Nations: Pathways to Human Development (2010); and, Sustainability and Equity:
a Better Future for All (2011). Klugman has published widely on topics ranging from poverty
reduction strategies and labor markets to conflict, health reform, education and decentralization.
She holds a Ph.D. in Economics from the Australian National University, as well as postgraduate
degrees in both Law and Development Economics from Oxford University, where she was a
Rhodes Scholar.
Dr. Attiya Inayatulla, Member of National Assembly, Pakistan

Attiya Inayatullah is Chairperson, Organization of Women Parliamentarians in Politics (OWPP),
Chairperson of Rehnuma Group (Social Development Consultants), Director Kashf (micro credit for
women) and member of the World Economic Forums Global Agenda Council of Pakistan. She has
thrice served as Minister for Womens Development, Population Planning and Social Welfare, and
has been the countrys longest serving female parliamentarian with a record of initiating woman-
and child- related legislation. As President/Chairperson IPPF, she has led the Family Planning/
Population movement internationally and at home, she is also a former elected Chairperson of the
UNESCO Executive Board. A prominent sociologist, she obtained a masters degree in sociology
and anthropology from Boston University, a PhD in social demography from the University of the
Punjab and Diploma from the Institute of Development Studies Sussex.
Keiko Nowacka, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)

Keiko Nowacka leads the gender programme at the OECD Development Centre, where she is
currently responsible for the 2014 update of the Social Institutions and Gender Index (SIGI) and
the online knowledge-exchange platform, Wikigender. Prior to joining the OECD Development
Centre, she worked at the Culture Sector of UNESCO, specialising in gender, the creative
industries and culture and development; she has worked extensively on indicator development for
the cultural sector. In addition, she is also one of the editors of the first UNESCO report on Culture
and Gender Equality (due 2014). Ms Nowacka has worked for an international NGO focusing on
girls education in sub-Saharan Africa. She has a PhD from the University of Cambridge and was a
doctoral fellow at Kings College London. She is an Australian citizen.


SESSION 2: LEGAL FRAMEWORKS AND INSTITUTIONS
Chair: Imrana Jalal, ADB

Ms. Imrana Jalal is a Senior Social Development Specialist (Gender) at ADB. She has Bachelors
and Masters degrees in law from the University of Auckland, New Zealand, and a Masters degree
in Gender Studies from the University of Sydney, Australia. She is a lawyer by profession, and was
formerly a Commissioner of the Fiji Human Rights Commission. Imrana is the author of Law for
Pacific Women, and architect of the Family Law Act 2003, which removed formal legal
discrimination against women in Fiji. Law for Pacific Women is a recommended textbook at the law
school of the University of the South Pacific. Imrana is a founding member of the Pacific Regional
Rights Resource Team (RRRT), which in 1998 received the UNICEF Maurice Pate Award for its
cutting edge work in womens rights. She has also served as a barrister and solicitor in the Attorney
General's Office of Fiji, as Public Legal Advisor, as a social/political columnist in the daily
newspaper, The Fiji Times, and as an advisor to many UN agencies. She is a founding member of
the NGO, the Fiji Womens Rights Movement. Imrana is also a member of the regional networks -
Women Living Under Muslim Law, and the Asia-Pacific Forum on Women, Law and Development.
She is also a Commissioner on the Geneva-based International Commission of Jurists, as one of
its 60 Commissioners, and continues to sit on it Executive Board.
Jacques Charmes, Consultant, EBRD

Jacques Charmes is an economist and statistician, currently emeritus director for the French
Scientific Research Institute for Development (IRD). He was previously director of the Department
of Social and Health Sciences at this institute and professor of economics at the University of
Versailles. Involved in the design and analysis of many labour force, living standards, informal
sector and time-use surveys with special focus on gender in sub-Saharan Africa, and in the MENA
region, he has participated in many UN, ILO, OECD programmes and activities on these topics,
especially: the UN World's Women statistics compilations (1995, 2000), the ILO/WIEGO Women
and men in the informal economy, in 2002 and 2012. Recently he has worked for the UN
Economic Commission for Africa on the African Gender and Development Index (AGDI) applied in
more than 30 countries, the Guidebook for mainstreaming gender perspectives and household
production into national statistics, budgets and policies in Africa, the compendium for gender
statistics and the program on time-use surveys. He co-authored recently a book on womens
participation and empowerment in Algeria. He is one of the founding members of the international
network WIEGO (Women in the Informal Economy: Globalizing and Organizing) in 1997.
Speakers:
Shireen Lateef, ADB



Gisela Geisler, African Development Bank (AfDB)

Gisela Geisler is a Chief Gender Specialist in the Banks Gender and Social Development
Monitoring Division. She is responsible for assisting the mainstreaming if gender in operations
through tools, knowledge products and training. Gisela has worked in AfDB since 2000 in different
operational and policy departments, including with country economists, transport, agriculture,
energy and governance sectors. Prior to working with AfDB, Gisela worked as a researcher in a
Norwegian Research Institute, where she worked on gender relations in Africa and as a Professor
of Anthropology at a South African University. Gisela holds a M.A. in Anthropology and a Ph.D. in
Sociology from the University of Muenster in Germany.
SESSION 3: FREEDOM FROM VIOLENCE (A)
Chair: Jeni Klugman, The World Bank
Lucia Hanmer, The World Bank

Lucia Hanmer is a Lead Economist in Gender and Development Unit at the World Bank.
Previously she was a senior economic advisor for the Economic Empowerment Section at UN
Women and a senior economic advisor in Chief Economists Office at the UKs Department for
International Development. She has also been the Country Representative for the World Bank in
Guyana. Before moving into development policy she was a researcher at the UKs Overseas
Development Institute and taught economics at the Institute of Social Studies in The Hague. She
has worked on growth diagnostics, poverty reduction strategies and the PRSP approach,
inequality and attaining the MDGs, and gender and development. Much of her work has been in
sub-Saharan Africa. She has a Ph.D in Economics from the University of Cambridge.
Speakers:
Andrew Morrison, IADB

Andrew Morrison is Chief of the Gender and Diversity Division at the Inter-American Development
Bank. Prior to joining the IDB, he worked at the World Bank as a Lead Economist in the Gender
and Development Group and as the Regional Gender Coordinator for Latin America and the
Caribbean. He also has worked as an associate professor of economics at Tulane University and
the University of New Mexico. He has written books and articles in the area of gender equality,
international migration, labor markets and violence prevention. He has a Ph.D. in economics from
Vanderbilt University.
Mary Ellsberg, George Washington University

Mary Ellsberg is the Director of the Global Womens Institute at the George Washington
University. She has more than 30 years of experience in international research and program work.
Before joining the University in August 2012, Dr. Ellsberg served as vice president for research
and programs at the International Center for Research on Women. Dr. Ellsbergs deep connection
to global gender issues stems not only from her academic work but also from living in Nicaragua
for nearly 20 years leading public health and womens rights advocacy. She was a member of the
core research team of the World Health Organizations Multi-Country Study on Domestic Violence
and Womens Heath, and she has written more than 20 books and articles on gender-based
violence and methodological aspects of violence research. Dr. Ellsberg earned a doctorate in
epidemiology and public health from Umea University in Sweden and a bachelor's degree in Latin
American studies from Yale University.
SESSION 4: FREEDOM FROM VIOLENCE (B)
Chair: Andrew Morrison, IADB
James Lang, Partners for Prevention

James Lang is the UNDP Regional Advisor for Ending Violence against Women and Girls in the
Asia-Pacific region. He currently serves as a technical advisor to the DFID flagship global
programme What Works to Prevent Violence and is a member of the Sexual Violence Research
Initiative (SVRI) coordination group. He has nearly twenty years of professional experience
working with international organizations on the issues of gender, violence and engaging boys and
men in gender justice. From 2008-2014, James served as the Coordinator of Partners for
Prevention, a UN regional joint programme focused on gender-based violence prevention in Asia-
Pacific. James has also worked with various NGOs and UN agencies including Futures Without
Violence and Oxfam Great Britain. He is an active researcher, writer and trainer and has published
numerous articles on gender, masculinities and violence prevention.
Speakers:
Shamima Ali, Fiji Womens Crises Centre

Shamima Ali is the Coordinator of the Fiji Women's Crisis Centre (FWCC), the Chair of the Pacific
Women's Network Against Violence Against Women and the Chair of the NGO Coalition on
Human Rights. Shamima has been the Coordinator of FWCC since 1986, and is responsible for
the overall management, coordination and planning for all FWCC services. Shamima is a
feminist, human rights activist, Political activist, trained counsellor, trainer and advocate,
community educator and administrator, with 30 years experience in gender violence issues across
the Pacific Region. Shamima is a past Fiji Human Rights Commissioner (2004 - reappointed
2006); a member of the UN Expert Group on the Girl Child (October 2006); the UN Expert Group
on 'Prevention of Violence against Women and Girls (June 2012); a recipient of Amnesty
International NZ's inaugural Human Rights Defender Award (2009) and a Paul Harris Fellow
(Rotary Foundation of Rotary International, 2009). She holds a Bachelor of Science Degree from
the University of the South Pacific and has also attended the Institute of Women's Studies at St.
Scholastica's College, Philippines, and the Women's Human Rights Institute at Rutgers University,
New Jersey. Shamima is a founding member of the "16 Days of Activism Against Gender
Violence" campaign.
May Ali Babiker, AfDB

May Ali Babiker is a national of Sudan. She is an Economist and Anthropologist by training. She
also holds a MSc in Gender and Development. She has been working in the field of gender and
development since 2000. She started as a Lecturer of women and gender studies, combining
teaching with research and training. She has a passion on developing and delivering training
modules, as she believes development starts with capacity building and skills development.
During her 14 year career she had a wide range of experiences in designing and implementing
gender responsive projects and programs, as well as action research and policy documents in the
fields of poverty dynamics, gender equality and inclusive growth, gender mainstreaming in national
policies, population &reproductive health, womens political participation and gender issues in
labour and employment, especially in post-conflict contexts. She also worked extensively with
government and civil society organizations both in the Arab world and Africa region. She worked
for Ahfad University for Women, UNDP, UNFPA and currently she is working for the African
Development Bank as Principal Gender Specialist/Socio-economist. In August 2009, she joined
the Human Development Department where she was responsible for the integration gender
equality in projects design, implementation and completion. In October 2010 to the present she is
working in the Gender and Social Development Division, focusing more on development of gender
responsive tools, capacity building and development of policies and guidelines on gender
mainstreaming in the Bank.
Dee Jupp, Consultant, World Bank

Dee Jupp is currently based in Jakarta and leading a DFT funded project to develop qualitative research
expertise within Indonesian research organisations. She has lived and worked for extensive periods in
Bangladesh and Jamaica, helping governments, NGOs, Social Movements and community-based
organisations to adopt participatory approaches. She has led participatory research and training in Ghana,
Tanzania, Kenya, Malawi, PRC, Indonesia, the Caribbean, Nepal and Bangladesh. Her recent work has
focused on enhancing citizens' voice and understanding the perspectives of people living in poverty
through Views of the Poor and Reality Check Approach studies which involve immersion in rural villages.
She led a mixed methods study with Nepali colleagues on gender and public transport in Kathmandu
Valley in late 2013. It is this study which she will share in her presentation.
DAY 2 TUESDAY, 3 JUNE
Ferdousi Sultana, Bangladesh

Ferdousi Sultana is an expert is social development and gender in Bangladesh. She worked with ADBs
Bangladesh Program since July 1999 to September 2013 and was responsible for mainstreaming gender
and social development concerns. She also was the Civil Society Anchor of Bangladesh Program. Prior
to ADB, Ferdousi worked with Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) and several national
development institutions of Bangladesh. She also worked in the Asia Branch of CIDA in Ottawa as gender
equity Specialist. At the national level she has contributed in promoting gender equality and womens
advancement and as a member of Core Group for Beijing Follow up contributed in the process of
formulating the Policy on Womens Advancement 1997, the National Action Plan 1998 and supported
mainstreaming gender in the Five Years Plans. She has also supported the Bangladesh Government in
preparing the submissions for the review of Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination
Against Women (CEDAW). Most recently Ferdousi has Supported the Government in conducting the
national review of Beijing +20 for submission to UN. She has 35+ years of professional experience. She
a Master of Arts in Economics from University of Dhaka and a number training at home and abroad on
development issues.
SESSION 5: FREEDOM OF MOVEMENT
Chair: Michaela Bergman, EBRD
David Margonsztern, ADB

David is an urban planner specialized in urban transport, with a BSc in Political Science and a MSc in
Urban Planning and Management. A national of France, he's been working in development in Asia for
more than 12 years. In ADB, he was with the Urban and Water Development Division of the South Asia
Department for almost 4 years, where he delivered and led sustainable urban transport projects in Nepal,
Bangladesh and India. He then joined the Urban and Water Development Division of the Central and West
Asia Department in 2013, where he develops the urban transport portfolio, notably in Pakistan and
Azerbaijan. He is also an active member of ADBs Transport Community of Practice. Prior to joining ADB,
he was working in Vietnam as a Director in Ho Chi Minh City's Urban Development Management Support
Center, where he defined and delivered institutional support on public transport, urban planning and urban
design. He also worked as Director in Institute of Urban Matters in Hanoi, where he was in charge of
conceiving, launching and directing cooperation program in the field of urban planning and public
transport.
Elena Ferreras Carreras, EBRD

Elena M. Ferreras Carreras joined the gender team at EBRD, as Senior Gender Adviser more than one
year ago. She is a sociologist and gender expert with a background on policy dialogue and projects
development. Prior joining the EBRD she has been working for the African Development Bank and the
Spanish Agency for International Cooperation and Development. She has more than 15 years experience
on the field in different countries of Africa, Asia and South America. Her expertise includes gender
mainstreaming into operations and policies, masculinities approach, gender-based violence prevention
and fight, and voice and accountability. Elena holds a Master's degree in Sociology from the University of
Granada, and a Magister in Gender and Development from the University Complutense of Madrid.
Shanny Campbell, ADB

Shanny Campbell is a Senior Social Development Specialist in ADBs Central and West Asia
Department. She has 19 years experience in gender and social development spanning every ADB
geography and sector. She is passionate about Gender and Development, particularly innovations
and methodologies to meaningfully empower women.
SESSION 6: WOMENS ACCESS AND CONTROL OF LAND AND PRODUCTIVE RESOURCES
Chair: Gisela Geisler, AfDB
Maria Hartl, International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD)

Maria Hartl is covering social targeting, gender equality and womens empowerment in programme
design, appraisal and implementation of operations supported by IFAD loans and grants
worldwide. As Technical Adviser on Gender and Social Equity in IFADs Technical and Policy
Advisory Division, she is responsible for the Gender Task Group and leads global networks,
involving IFAD partners at regional, country and field level. Her assignments include the
strengthening of partnerships (UN-IANGWE, OECD-DAC) and knowledge management through
communication and outreach. She was the IFAD coordinator for the WB-FAO-IFAD Sourcebook
on Gender in Agriculture (2009) and produced studies on gender and desertification, water, rural
finance and labour saving technologies. Prior to IFAD, she worked at the UN Division for the
Advancement of Women in Vienna and New York covering womens human rights, health,
HIV/AIDS, science and technology, education and training. The organization of the Fourth World
Conference on Women (Beijing 1995) and its follow-up remain the highlight of her career. She
holds a Master of Arts in research methodology from Brighton University, Sussex (Great Britain)
and a Master of Arts in social science from the University of Munich (Germany). Before joining the
United Nations, she worked with the Council of Europe and the European Commission on
international youth exchanges.
Speakers:
Marsha Caddle, CDB

Marsha Caddle is an economist from Barbados working in the Technical Cooperation Division of
the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) on issues of governance, gender and regional
integration. She currently leads the Banks research project on gender and economics in
collaboration with the Gender Advisor. Prior to this appointment, Marsha served as Programme
Manager, Poverty Reduction with the UNDP Sub-regional Office for Barbados and the OECS. Her
work there covered programming in gender, fiscal equity and economic governance for human
development; achievement of the MDGs and setting of the international sustainable development
agenda post-2015; and the collection and analysis of socio-economic data and poverty
measurement in middle-income SIDS. She has also served as Programme Specialist for
Economic Security and Rights with UN Women, then UNIFEM. Marsha is a member of the
International Association for Feminist Economics (IAFFE) and the International Working Group on
Gender and Economics (GEM-IWG), and holds a Masters in Economics from the Universidad
Catlica Santo Domingo.
Samar Samara, Project Manager, Islamic Development Bank (IsDB)

Samar Samara is in charge of mainstreaming gender in the Deprived Families Economic
Empowerment Programme (DEEP), a partnership between the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB)
and UNDP. As the Gender Inclusion Coordinator she is responsible for defining obstacles that
exclude women entrepreneurs, women cooperatives and women owned MSMEs from economic
development business opportunities, in addition to conducting gender analysis, design,
implementation and M&E. Moreover, she is gender sensitizing and addressing specific poor
women interests in the business processes related to the DEEP targeting and analysis of
households, NGOs coaching, business plans development, implementation and monitoring. She
also facilitates knowledge management, capacity development initiatives, dissemination of
information and lessons learnt from the DEEP on women economic empowerment and inclusion in
business. Samar has extensive experience in gender mainstreaming in trade support institutions
and the private sector. Prior to her current work as a Gender Inclusion Coordinator she served as
the Monitoring and Evaluation Officer for the joint six UN agencies MDG-Gender Equality and
Women Empowerment Programme. She holds a Master of Business Administration and a
Bachelors degree on Civil Engineering.
Michaela Bergman, EBRD
SESSION 7: IDENTITY AND CIVIL REGISTRATION
Chair: Betty Wilkinson, ADB

Ms. Wilkinson is a leading professional in financial sector development and public management,
with over thirty-five years of professional field experience worldwide. She is internationally
recognized for her expertise and innovation in financial inclusion, small business development,
public management systems, and rural development. Ms. Wilkinson has worked as a banker, a
donor representative, a field researcher and policy advisor, and a developing country government
senior official. She has collaborated with numerous governments, private firms, multilateral and
bilateral donors, and non-government institutions worldwide. Ms. Wilkinson is currently engaging
with her team in areas including SME finance for women, mobile banking regulatory environments,
unconditional cash transfers and potential replication of ultra-poor program pilots, technical and
vocational education for countries with high seasonal migration patterns, improving budget
investment efficiency in infrastructure, and policy reform to improve private sector investment
climates. She uses a participatory, inclusive style to successfully engage and support stakeholders
and key champions of reform. Her academic qualifications include a degree with honors in
business economics from the University of California, and graduate studies at Cornell University in
agricultural finance. Ms. Wilkinson is currently Director of the Public Management, Financial
Sector, and Trade Division of the Central and West Asia Department of the Asian Development
Bank and is on the management committees of Communities of Practice in Finance, Governance,
Education, and Poverty and Social Protection.
Speakers:
Kristen Wenz, UNICEF EAPRO

Ms. Wenz is the focal point for Civil Registration and Vital Statistics for UNICEFs East Asia and
Pacific Regional Office based in Bangkok, Thailand. Before coming to Asia, she has worked in
UNCIEF HQ on high-level health initiatives such as Every Newborn, the H4+, and the UN
Commission for Life-Saving Commodities. She has worked for USAID in Washington DC and
Malawi as a technical advisor for Orphans and Vulnerable Children. She conducted research on
Violence against Children at Columbia University for the Millennium Villages Project.
Maria Tamargo, Consultant, IADB

Mara del Carmen Tamargo is a sociologist and specialist in gender and public policy, with
extensive public sector management experience. She has conducted studies for the Inter-American
Development Bank about the under-registration of births, with gender and ethnicity perspective in
Latin America and the Caribbean. She has also participated in the design and evaluation of
projects about reform and modernization of identity registration systems in several countries in the
region. Prior to working with IADB, she worked in public management in Argentina coordinating
social care programs for vulnerable groups. She was the General Coordinator of the Cash Transfer
Program for Human Development in Argentina, called Families for Social Inclusion. She has a
Master degree in Gender, Society and Policy, from the Latin American Faculty of Social Sciences.

Shazia Toor, Benazir Income Support Program (BISP) Pakistan

Shazia Toor is currently working in the Federal Governments largest social safety net intervention,
BISP, as Director Beneficiary Services. She is a Civil Servant and has served at various important
assignments by the Government. Her present assignment is a key position in the social safety net
program, focusing primarily on the enrolment of the beneficiaries in the program by updating their
National Identity Cards in close liaison with the National Database Registration Authority(NADRA),
managing the grievance redresal system & liaison with various partner organizations involved in
the targeting survey and 3rd party evaluations. She also coordinates with the partner organization
for conducting targeting survey in the troubled area of South Waziristan for the first time in history.

SESSION 8: WOMENS VOICES IN GOVERNANCE STRUCTURES
Chair: Sonomi Tanaka, ADB

Sonomi Tanaka is Lead Social Development Specialist (Gender and Development), and is
responsible for overseeing and providing advice on ADB-wide operations in support of gender
equality and womens empowerment. As Co-Chair of Gender Equity CoP, she facilitates
knowledge management on gender and development in ADB and coordinates gender-
mainstreaming initiatives across different departments and through different CoPs. Sonomi has
worked on gender and development, poverty reduction, social analysis, social protection, and
community participation issues in Asia and the Pacific for nearly 20 years. She has covered a
number of sectors including infrastructure, education, health, public sector management, finance,
and natural resources management. Prior to working with ADB, Sonomi worked in the World Bank
South Asia Department and in development institutions in Japan. She holds a Master of Arts on
Gender and Development from the Institute of Development Studies, Sussex University and a
post- graduate diploma on development studies from the Institute of Developing Economies
Advanced School in Japan.
Md. Shafiqul Islam Akand, Local Government Engineering Department (LGED)

Md. Shafiqul Islam Akand is performing as a Project Director of ADB assisted Second Urban
Governance and Infrastructure Improvement (Sector) Project (UGIIP2). Mr.Akand has started his
career with LGED in 1988 and since then he has been associated in implementing various Rural,
Urban and Water resource sector projects as a field engineer and performed as project manager
for ADB, World Bank and JICA assisted infrastructure development projects. He has taken over
the charge of UGIIP2 as project director from 2011 and successfully steered the project activities
including gender mainstreaming and has been awarded by ADB as best project director in 2011
and 2013. Under his leadership, UGIIP2 has set examples to other similar projects in Bangladesh
in bringing gender responsive governance improvement and infrastructure development among
project municipalities. He is an active member LGED Gender Forum through which gender
mainstreaming has been institutionalized in LGED. He holds a Master of Science in Urban
Planning from Cardiff University from UK. He has a Bachelor of Science degree in Civil
Engineering from Chittagong University of Engineering and Technology, Bangladesh.
Pok Nanda, Women for Prosperity (WfP), Cambodia

Pok Nanda, founder and executive director of Women for Prosperity, a non profit, non-
governmental organization established in 1994 that seeks to empower women to exercise their
equal right as men. Mrs. Pok Nandas education background is in Psychology. She also obtained
several certificates such as in Management, Leadership Development, Community Development,
Gender and Development, Entrepreneur, and Governance. Her life experience is mainly with
NGOs, with over 30 years of experience. She ran as candidate for parliamentarian election in
1993, and established Women for Prosperity in 1993. She spent endless time and energy designs
training programs that empower women to take on leadership roles and responsibilities, and
become effective leaders, from local to national level of Cambodias society. One of her biggest
achievement in her career was her strong commitment and effort in working as partner and
collaboration with the Royal Government of Cambodia, political parties, civil society, community,
and Women & children, which result in the increasing of women representation in the decision
making in the Senate, Parliament, Government, sub-national level, commune/sangkats. In
addition, she helped village women to form different cooperative and small producer group,
working on different activities that generate income, so that they can become economically
independence and move out of poverty. Mrs Pok Nanda also owns Organic Agricultural Farm,
which includes the Number One Most Famous in The World KOMPOT PEPPER.
Speakers:
Gabriela Vega, IADB

Gabriela Vega is the Social Development Principal Specialist at the Gender and Diversity Division
of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB). She has recently been working with governments,
CSO and academia to create integrated services for women, and to address violence against
women, adolescent motherhood and womens leadership in Latin America and the Caribbean. A
Peruvian sociologist, she holds titles from Oxford and Cambridge in the UK, and the Catholic
University in Lima, Peru. Ms. Vega has over 30 years of experience in socioeconomic research
and project analysis in the fields of poverty, labor markets and gender issues. Before joining the
IDB she was a consultant on social safety nets for the World Bank and a researcher at the Central
Reserve Bank of Peru.
SESSION 9: WOMENS VOICES IN COMMUNITY-BASED GOVERNANCE STRUCTURES
Chair: Gabriela Vega, IADB
Maria Hartl, IFAD/
Maria Victoria Paz Hilario, Pambansang Samahan ng Kilusang Magsasaka (PAKISAMA)

Ma. Victoria Paz Hilario is the Area Management Team Coordinator for Northwestern Mindanao.
Prior to joining PAKISAMA-Mindanao, she was as a Policy Advocacy Specialist at Interface
Development Interventions, Inc. (IDIS). She worked in several NGOs including Cebu Biodiversity
Conservation Foundation, Haribon Foundation for the Conservation of Natural Resources. She is a
graduate of University of the Philippines Los Baos, Laguna with a Bachelor of Science degree in
Zoology.

Alice Omesa, Don Consult Ltd., Tanzania

Alice Omesa is responsible for overseeing and providing advice on Don Consult Ltds financial and
administration activities. As Finance and Administration Manager, she facilitates the well being of
all staff as well as coordinating and planning financial investment for the organization ensuring
transparency and accountability. She is an adviser to the Managing Director and other managers
on all matters relating to finance, investment and administration as well as financial management.
Alice Omesa has worked and or involved in the financial and administration issues including
budgeting, computerizing accounts, strategic planning, costing, fundraising, financial analysis,
financial reports, contract management, management reports, capacity building for communities
and organizations on financial matters. She has supported people and provided counseling
services to people under crisis in the organization, hospitals and schools. On her free time she
provides counseling and advice to couples as well as giving talks on marriage issues. She has
worked and supported various institutions including governments, departments and donors
including donor funded projects e.g., Monduli Project funded by AfDB, NETWAS International,
NESI from South Sudan. Her innovativeness has been felt in East Africa including Kenya,
Tanzania and Uganda for over 21 years. She holds a Masters Degree in Business Administrations
from Eastern and Southern African Management Institute (ESAMI) Tanzania, and Bachelors
degree in Bachelor of Commerce (Accounting Option) from India. She holds Post Graduate
Diploma in Banking and Finance from India and holder CPA (II) from Kenya
Speakers:
Elena Ferreras Carreras, EBRD
SESSION 10: DECISION-MAKING OVER FAMILY FORMATION
Chair: Mary Ellsberg, GWU
Sofia Naveed, Pakistan

Sofia Naveed is working with Plan International, Country Office Pakistan as Country Gender
Advisor. She has 23 years professional working experience in the field of social development and
human rights sectors. She has done: M Phil in Political Science, Master in Political Science, MA in
history, LLB and enrolled for Ph.D. in Political Science and has submitted PHD thesis, her
research topic was: Domestic Violence against Women in Human Rights perspective, a Case
Study of the Punjab. She enjoyed the diverse experience of working throughout Pakistan on
different aspects of human development, gender and development, child rights and women rights.
She has facilitated seminars, given trainings, worked on Situational analysis, advocacy, human
rights issues, women and children rights, good governance, monitoring and evaluation, conflict
resolution, networking, communication and cross cultural issues. She has worked with different
national/international and Rights based organizations like ASR, Aurat Foundation, TAHAFFUZ as
well as South Asia Partnership-Pakistan. She has worked with Care International in Pakistan as
gender Mainstreaming Manager and Gender Specialist. She has also worked with UNWOMEN as
Gender Technical Consultant to Support of Provincial Disaster Management Authorities. She has
vast experience in developing a nexus between humanitarian and development. Her last job was
with International Rescue Committee, Pakistan as Deputy Gender Advisor.
Samantha Hung, ADB

Samantha Hung is the Senior Advisor to the Vice President for Administration and Corporate
Management (VPAC), who is responsible for the oversight of 5 institutional departments.
Samantha is also an active member of the ADB Gender Equity Community of Practice. She has
over 15 years of professional experience working on gender issues at policy, institutional and
program/project levels, including as a Senior Gender Specialist in the Regional and Sustainable
Development Department (RSDD) of ADB. Before joining ADB, Samantha was the Gender Advisor
for the New Zealand Agency for International Development (NZAID), responsible for providing
leadership for implementation of the NZAID Policy for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of
Women. Her earlier posts include Gender Advisor for the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat where
she provided support for advancing gender equality across Pacific Island Countries. She has also
worked with the Australian Government Office on the Status of Women, UNICEF Vietnam, and
BRIDGE (briefings on gender-development) at the Institute of Development Studies (IDS) attached
to the University of Sussex, UK. Samantha originally commenced her international development
career as an Australian Volunteer in Vietnam. Samantha is of Hong Kong Eurasian heritage and is
a dual national of Australia and United Kingdom. She holds a Masters in International Development
from the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology, and Honors Law and Commerce degrees from
the University of Melbourne in Australia.
Speakers:
Kiran Bhatia, UNFPA Asia Pacific Regional Office

Kiran Bhatia is currently the Gender Adviser at the Asia Pacific Regional Office of UNFPA and has a
background in professional Social Work and gender. She is a development professional with forty
years experience on policy and programme development in gender mainstreaming, womens and
childrens rights, violence against women and girls, advocacy and gender in humanitarian settings.
Kiran was founder director of Sanjivini, a pioneering mental health NGO in India and held regional
positions in South Asia with the Ford Foundation and UNICEF. Since 2004 she has worked with
UNFPA, first as the Adviser for Gender and Socio-cultural Research at UNFPA, sub- regional office
in Kathmandu, Nepal and currently with the Asia Pacific regional office in Bangkok covering 23
countries. Her key areas of work have included policy advocacy on harmful practices including
gender biased sex selection, child marriage and addressing prevention and response to violence
against women and girls.

DAY 3 WEDNESDAY, 4 JUNE