Opening Remarks

Monica Goracci

Monica Goracci is currently the a.i. Director of the Department of Mobility Pathways and Inclusion of IOM in Geneva.  

She had been Chief of Mission of IOM in Germany for almost four years, after having headed the Donor Relations Division at IOM Headquarters in Geneva for six years.  

She joined IOM in 1999 in Kosovo after having worked for almost three years in WHO Headquarters in the Division of Violence and Injury Prevention. In 2002 she moved to Rome, first working on an EU funded integration project and subsequently took over the functions of Regional Programme Development officer covering the Mediterranean. She also undertook several missions to the Balkans during the time in Rome. In December 2004 she moved to Portugal where she served as Chief of Mission for IOM until 2010.  

She holds a University degree in neurological and psychomotor rehabilitation in children from the University of Rome La Sapienza and has worked in hospitals in Italy and in Ethiopia prior to joining WHO in 1996.

Moderator

Paddy Siyanga Knudsen

Paddy is a Zambian national with over 17 years of professional experience as a Development Economist and Migration governance expert. Her work covers migration governance, diaspora engagement, development cooperation and regional integration. Her experience includes supporting NGOs, governments, Regional Economic Communities (RECs) as well as UN agencies in programme formulation, implementation as well as monitoring and evaluation. She has taken on roles with the European Commission, UN agencies (UNICEF, IOM, UNESCO) as well as consultancy firms as programme manager, coordinator and consultant.  

Paddy holds a Master's in Financial Economics from SOAS and BSC Development & Economics from the London School of Economics (University of London). She is fluent in English, French, Swahili and can converse in basic Mandarin and Danish. She has lived and worked in Zambia, Tanzania, China, Malaysia, Kosovo and with missions to Ethiopia, Senegal, The Gambia, Kenya, South Africa among others. Her experience stretches to East and Southern Africa, as well as West Africa and Indian Ocean with programme support to secretariats of COMESA, EAC and IGAD.  

Paddy is currently based in Kosovo and exploring new areas of work in the Balkans and Europe, using her experience on EU-Africa as well as South-to-South Cooperation. Her areas of interest in migration include labour migration, migration and development as well as diaspora engagement. She blends in her interest in supporting efforts towards the financing of SDGs at the sub-national government with regional integration and diaspora engagement.  

Paddy is also one of the Vice Presidents of the Global Research Forum for Diaspora and Transnationalism (GRFDT) and a member of the International Advisory Group of the Public Finance by Women. 

Speakers

Ambi

Ambi is a Research Associate at the Centre for Migration, Mobility and Diaspora Studies (CMMDS), the migration vertical of the Indian Council of World Affairs, New Delhi. The Indian Council of World Affairs is India’s apex and oldest foreign policy think tank, founded in pre-Independent India. At CMMDS, she researches international migration and mobility and provides inputs to diplomats and policymakers on key migration issues. She leads high-level Government of India-mandated projects migration and mobility, such as Project PRAYAS and India-EU CAMM Phase 2, alongside key project partners, including IOM, ILO, and ICMPD.   

With over half a decade of academic and professional experience in migration and mobility research, Ambi combines rigorous academic training with valuable field insights. She holds a Master's in Migration Studies from the University of Oxford, where she explored the impact of India's gig economy on the migrant workforce. Selected as one of the fifteen early-career researchers from South Asia for the South Asian Futures Fellowship, she is researching climate migration and geopolitics in South Asia. She has presented her research at key national and international conferences and has contributed articles to renowned publications.   

Ambi has also worked as a development practitioner in Gujarat on India’s first Development Impact Model (DIB) on quality education. She is deeply interested in various facets of migration, including labour migration, mobility-immobility, climate migration, affect and the evolving landscape of the future of work, such as the digital economy and platform work. Her diverse expertise positions her as an emerging scholar in these domains.

Dr. Maureen Duru

Dr. Maureen Duru is the Founder and Director of The Food Bridge vzw, with projects focusing on indigenous food cultures and agrifood entrepreneurship in Africa and Europe. Ms Duru has developed initiatives and programs focusing on African Diasporas, food cultures, entrepreneurship and development; including the Food Bridge’s flagship annual event - African Diaspora Agrofood Forum. She is the author of the book - Diaspora, Food, and Identity. She has also written for peer reviewed journals and presented internationally, papers focusing on migrants, diaspora identity, food and related themes. She obtained her masters and doctorate degrees from the Vrije Universiteit Brussel, where she is also a researcher with FOST-the international social and cultural food studies research group. Ms Duru believes in the importance of community driven development actions and volunteers for different local community initiatives. She is the vice president of Sankaa vzw, a Flemish government funded federation of over eighty Belgian associations and is a member of the International Organization of Migration’s Diaspora Advisory board. 

Laura Aide De La Fuente

Aide De La Fuente has more than 25 years of experience in corporate financial services. She has been an active mentor for more than 10 years and a Certified Transformational Coach by one of the best and largest educational platforms in human transformation, where she has certifications in more than 40 topics ranging from entrepreneurship, professional growth, health, psychology, neuroscience, and leadership.  

She is an active collaborator of the Red Global MX – Mexican Global Network in Ireland since 2015, whose mission is to inspire, empower and help highly qualified professionals contribute to the positioning and development of Mexico from abroad by promoting the transfer and circularity of knowledge in various areas such as science and technology, entrepreneurship, creative industries, and social responsibility. Being an expat for 27 years has given her a wide range of experiences with various emigrant communities, especially with the Mexican diaspora during his presidency of the MX Global Network Ireland Chapter.  

In November 2023, Ambassador from Mexico to Ireland, Carolina Zaragoza on behalf of the Government of Mexico, The Foreign Affairs Ministry and the Institute of Mexicans Abroad - IME, awarded Laura with the maximum award medal #Ohtli 2023 in recognition of her altruistic work at the intersection of Fintech, Citizen Diplomacy, Trade and Community Building in favour of the Mexican diaspora in Ireland and Europe. Thanks to her leadership, she has built networks for professionals and has opened new paths for Mexicans living abroad.

Closing Remarks

Dr. Charles Senessie 

Prof. Senessie is a distinguished medical doctor and an Associate Professor with a MSc in Dermatology. He also holds a PhD in Health Sciences with a focus on International Health Research and Education. Currently, he is concluding a second PhD in Public Health with a major in Epidemiology. 

He has worked as a private practitioner in Switzerland and as a physician for the Swiss Federal Government Agency (Swissmedic), in the regulation of clinical trials both locally and internationally. Prof. Senessie has lectured on Dermatology at the Postgraduate level at the Faculty of Life Sciences and Education, University of South Wales, UK, and at the Department of Internal Medicine, College of Medicine and Allied Health Sciences, University of Sierra Leone. He has also worked as a WHO Consultant in Geneva on various projects, including addressing the acute shortage of health workers in low and middle-income countries. Prof. Senessie is the founder and President of the UN ECOSOC accredited Afro-European Medical and Research Network (AEMRN), which brings together Diaspora health practitioners for the Diaspora Medical Mission with mobile clinics in sub-Saharan Africa. He is also the CEO of Senessie Low-Income Countries Healthcare and Consultancy Services.  

Prof. Senessie has received several awards, including being recognized as one of the top 100 Health Care Leaders at the 2019 USA International Forum on Advancements in Healthcare, and being featured in the book "The Most Influential Contemporary African Diaspora Leaders" alongside former President Barack Obama and others. He is also the winner of the 2020/2021 Switzerland Prestige Awards for the NGO sector and the recipient of the 2023 Visionary Leadership Award in the Health Sector from the Health 2.0 Organizations in the USA. On 15th July 2023, he was appointed as the deputy minister of Health by His Excellency Julius Maada Bio, the President of the Republic of Sierra Leone. 

Peter Kwok

Peter Kwok is Founding Chair of Global Diaspora Confederation (GDC), an umbrella-led organisation that connects and empowers diaspora organisations across the world. In the UK, Peter chairs a number of diaspora organisations that interconnect Chinese and South East Asian professionals and diaspora members, and advises on regional advisory groups supporting communities. He was named on the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee Birthday Honour’s List for his work for East and South East Asian communities in the UK. Peter graduated from Imperial College and is a Freeman of the City of Glasgow.