Panellists

António Vitorino, DG IOM 

On Friday 29 June 2018, the member states of IOM, the United Nations Migration Agency, elected Portugal’s António Manuel de Carvalho Ferreira Vitorino as the International Organization for Migration’s next Director General. 

Mr. Vitorino, 61 (DOB 12 January 1957), succeeds the United States’ William Lacy Swing, who is leaving IOM after serving two five-year terms as Director General. Mr. Vitorino’s directorship begins on 1 October 2018. 

The latest IOM director general is a former European Commissioner for Justice and Home Affairs (1999-2004) and former Minister of the Presidency and National Defence (1995-1997). He has also enjoyed a distinguished career in Portugal as a lawyer as well as in electoral politics. 

Mr. Vitorino was elected to Portugal’s Parliament in 1980. In 1983 he became Secretary of State for Parliamentary Affairs. He later served as Deputy Secretary for the Governor of Macau until 1989, when he returned to Lisbon to become a judge of the Constitutional Court, a term that ended in 1994. He subsequently served as Minister for National Defence and Deputy Prime Minister within the government of António Guterres, now the United Nations’ Secretary General. 

Moderator 

Ugochi DANIELS, DDG-Operations, IOM 

On 31 May 2021, Ugochi Daniels was appointed as IOM’s Deputy Director General – Operations, taking office on 1 September 2021.  

Ugochi Daniels is a Senior Executive with over twenty-seven years of diverse managerial experience with donor and United Nations entities, academia, as well as private sector institutions.  

Ugochi Daniels was named a (S)hero of the United Nations for championing women’s health needs in humanitarian emergencies. (S)heroes defend the vulnerable and fight for human rights, command forces and build coalitions for peace and take on the world’s toughest challenges. 

Ugochi Daniels’s career with the United Nations spans almost two decades. Prior to joining IOM, Ugochi Daniels was the Chief of Staff at the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA). She was also the United Nations Resident Coordinator and Designated Official for Security in the Islamic Republic of Iran from 2018 to 2020. From 2013 to 2018, Ugochi Daniels was the Chief of Humanitarian and Fragile Contexts Branch at the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) Headquarters. Her stint at UNFPA includes assignments in the Philippines (Country Representative, 2010-2013) and Nepal (Deputy Representative, 2007-2010). Ms Daniels joined the UNFPA in 2002 as the Deputy Program Manager for Africa Youth Alliance (2002-2007). 

Álvaro Calderón Ponce de León

Álvaro Calderón Ponce de León, a Colombian career diplomat, has been the Director of International Cooperation since January 2021. At the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Colombia, Mr. Calderón has served in several capacities, including as an advisor to the Secretary-General, Consul in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and Coordinator for Germany and Nordic Countries. He has also served as Coordinator of the Colombia Nos Une Program, Coordinator for Latin America and the Caribbean, and Director of Migratory and Consular Affairs. Most recently, he was posted to the Permanent Mission of Colombia to the Organization of American States (OAS) as an Alternate Representative. While at the OAS, he twice chaired the Committee on Migration Issues (CAM).

Mr. Calderón is a graduate of Externado University of Colombia, with a degree in Finance and International Relations. He also has completed studies in Economy at Jorge Tadeo Lozano University. He also has a specialization in Negotiations of International Political and Economic Affairs from the Japan Foundation Osaka Program, and a Master’s Degree in Analysis of Contemporary Social, Economic and Political Issues from Externado University of Colombia and the Institute of Latin American Studies at University Sorbonne Nouvelle-Paris 3 in France. He has also worked as a lecturer on migration issues at multiple universities.

H.E. Georges Rebelo Pinto Chikoti, Secretary General of the Organisation of African, Caribbean & Pacific States (OACPS) 

A citizen of Angola, SG Mr. Chikoti has devoted almost 30 years of his professional career to diplomacy and international relations. Prior to his appointment as Secretary-General, H.E. Chikoti served as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Angola to the Kingdom of Belgium, the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, and Head of Mission to the European Union.  Before this, he held several high-level posts within the government of the Republic of Angola, which included Minister of Foreign Affairs, State Secretary for Foreign Affairs in charge of Co-operation, and Vice-Minister of External Relations in Charge of International Organisations. Having the distinction of being the first Lusophone Secretary-General of the OACPS, SG Mr. Chikoti is also fluent in English and French. 

Sarah Charles is the Assistant to the Administrator of USAID’s Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance (BHA). 

Prior to BHA, Ms. Charles was the Senior Director for Policy and Advocacy for the International Rescue Committee, where she led efforts to reform the humanitarian aid system and promote policies to improve the lives of refugees and other conflict-affected people.  She also staffed the National Security Council (NSC) at the White House, first as the Director for Humanitarian Affairs and then as the Director and Acting Senior Director for Strategic Planning.  In the first role, Ms. Charles was responsible for humanitarian policy and coordinating worldwide assistance including emergencies in Syria, Iraq, Central African Republic, the Philippines, and South Sudan.  Ms. Charles played a particularly central role in coordinating the international Ebola response; an operation that used novel approaches and involved actors across the government, private sector and international community. As the Director for Strategic Planning, Ms. Charles coordinated the White House response to the global refugee and migration crisis including the 2016 Leaders Summit on Refugees. 

Before the NSC, Ms. Charles covered the Middle East for USAID’s Office of Transition Initiatives, the United States government’s primary political transition and post-conflict assistance instrument.  She led USAID’s post-Arab Spring efforts to strengthen democracy, promote space for democratic dialogue, support stabilization and encourage civic participation in the Middle East.  Ms. Charles also helped start the International Rescue Committee’s emergency response in Darfur and led multi-country refugee repatriation efforts following the signing of the Sudanese Comprehensive Peace Agreement. 

Hazem Rihawi, American Relief Coalition for Syria 

Dr. Hazem Rihawi is the Senior Programs Manager at the American Relief Coalition for Syria (ARCS) and the Co-Chair of InterAction’s Syria Working Group. He is a pharmacist who graduated from Aleppo University in Syria and has a Master of Public Health degree from Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. Hazem has 9 years of progressive work in the pharmaceutical industry, and over 9 years of extensive leadership experience in humanitarian responses, focusing on health and coordination. He is the former co-lead of the Health Cluster serving northern Syria, and he is the former Health Cluster Coordinator for Somalia. In his current role in Washington DC, Hazem actively represents and advocates on behalf of eleven Syrian American diaspora organizations to advance their humanitarian missions in their country of origin, Syria. 

Fridah Ntarangwi, Founder & Managing Director, Zidicircle 

Fridah is an active participant in migrants and diaspora engagement activities within the European Union for the Global diaspora. She Founded the first-ever diaspora entrepreneurship incubator out of the Netherlands thus leading Zidicircle into supporting the diaspora and migrants with entrepreneurship training, mentorship, matchmaking and investment access to succeed as entrepreneurs both in their countries of residence and home countries. Fridah’s affiliation to Entrepreneurship and Investments has been evident in most of her career with over 16 years’ experience in these sectors.  

Through her leadership, Zidicircle has collectively graduated hundreds of diaspora entrepreneurs and impacted many households both in Europe and Africa. She has also managed several Diaspora Entrepreneurship Programmes including IOM’s Connecting Diaspora for Development (CD4D), SNV’s Green diaspora venture backers programme and Green-Diaspora SME Matching programme, the Diaspora-SME Forum and launched investment products like the Diaspora Venture Backers programme that trains aspiring diaspora investors on how to invest in startups and SMEs in host and home countries.  

H.E. Colm Brophy, Minister of State for Overseas Development and Diaspora, Government of Ireland 

Colm Brophy was appointed Minister of State with responsibility for Overseas Development Aid and Diaspora on July 1st, 2020. He is a Fine Gael TD representing Dublin South-West. He was first elected to the Dáil in 2016. During the 32nd Dáil he served as Chairman of the Budgetary Oversight Committee which was established in 2016 to enhance the role of the Oireachtas in the budgetary formation process. He was also a Member of the Joint Committee on Justice and Equality and the Joint Committee on European Union Affairs. Member of South Dublin County Council 2008 – 2016. Colm is a former member of the Board of the Housing Finance Agency. Colm is also the former President of the Association of Irish Local Government.