NTFC session 4: Humanitarian relief - The role and preparedness of NTFCs

Mark Henderson is a project manager and trade negotiator with 15 years' experience working with and for WTO, European Commission and the Chinese government. Since August 2018 he has worked to support developing and LDC Members with Trade Facilitation Agreement implementation at the WTO Secretariat.

During his tenure at the European Commission's Directorate General for Trade, Mark led negotiations that integrated the Paris Agreement into the Japan EU Economic Partnership Agreement, pioneering climate change considerations in major trade deals. He also contributed to shaping the EU's trade strategy within UN Sustainable Development Goal negotiations and supported the EU's chief negotiator during UNCTAD XIV in Nairobi.

Mark has managed teams delivering global projects, conducting numerous training sessions, seminars, and conferences across three continents. His work convened international stakeholders from business, politics, and the judiciary to discuss critical topics such as trade facilitation, environmental sustainability, regulatory reform, and competition policy within WTO Membership.

Virginie BOHL is a senior international expert in devising and implementing strategies to optimize the cross-border movement of humanitarian aid.

She worked for the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs of the United Nations (UN-OCHA) for 20 years and has experience in coordination, preparedness, response, information management and capacity building support.

She is the coordinator of the inter-agency IMPACCT Working group created in 2017. This group represents a network of strategic partners, such as the World Customs Organization, UNCTAD, ITU, IFRC, MSF, Save the Children, Humanitarian Dubai, HELP Logistics, OCHA and the Global Logistics Cluster (currently the host of IMPACCT).

The mission of IMPACCT aims for countries and humanitarian organizations to be prepared to effectively manage customs clearance and importation processes for humanitarian assistance and equipment.

To achieve its mission, partners come together to develop collective and coordinated approaches to support national authorities and coordination mechanisms.

Özlem Soysanli is a Senior Technical Officer at the World Customs Organization (WCO) in Brussels, Belgium.

She joined the WCO Compliance and Facilitation Directorate in August 2018. She previously worked in various capacities in the Turkish Customs Administration for over 22 years, mainly in the area of Customs legislation. She also worked as the Customs Counsellor at the Turkish Embassy in Brussels from 2014 to 2018 with the responsibility of representing the Turkish Customs at the WCO as well as at Belgium Customs.

Within the Procedures and Facilitation Sub-Directorate, she is primarily in charge of the Permanent Technical Committee (PTC), the WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA), the National Trade Facilitation Committees (NCTFs), the WCO Mercator Programme and the WCO Economic Competitiveness Package (ECP). She is also part of the Disruptive Technologies and Smart Customs Projects teams.  

Roxana is a Peruvian lawyer specialized in international law. She collaborates with the UNCTAD Trade Facilitation Section since 2021, assisting countries in Latin America, Africa, and Asia in the implementation of trade facilitation reforms and the empowerment of National Trade Facilitation Committees.

She holds an LL.M. (Master of Laws) degree from Columbia Law School and an executive master’s degree in international law in armed conflict from the Geneva Academy of International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights. She also holds a Juris Doctor degree from Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú and has studied Political Science in the Institut d’études politiques de Paris (Sciences Po).

She is fluent in English, French and Spanish.

Stanley Trief is currently the Manager of the Vanuatu electronic Single Window (VeSW) Project. The VeSW Project is funded by the Enhance Integrated Framework (EIF) and the Australian Government with support from the Vanuatu Government. Using ASYCUDA World as the system’s platform, the VeSW Project commenced in 2019.

Prior to managing the VeSW Project, Stanley was the Manager of Vanuatu’s ASYCUDA World Project from 2016 – 2018. The Project was to upgrade the Customs system in Vanuatu from ASYCUDA++, which Vanuatu was using since 1999, to the latest version of ASYCUDA.

Stanley is a customs manager by profession, managing the Customs Border Control and Enforcement unit of Vanuatu Customs from 2011 to 2015. He is also a qualified Computer Science graduate and was managing the Information, Communication and Telecommunication unit of Vanuatu since 2004 prior to moving to Customs operations.

In the Pacific region, Stanley has conducted multiple Customs modernization assessments in Pacific Island countries since 2006 to 2019, before the borders closed due to the pandemic.

Stanley holds a Bachelor of Science from the New Zealand University of Waikato and a Master of International Customs Law and Administration from the Australian University of Canberra. He is passionate about implementing reform and modernization initiatives in both Customs and in the areas trade of facilitation.

Jean-Cedric Meeus works with UNICEF as Global Chief of transport for all supplies from an end-to-end perspective. Over the years his work has focused on improving supply chains with UNICEF since 2001 and before with NGOs.

Since 2001, Jean-Cedric performed in different Supply chain functions based in Mozambique, HQ NY (Supply Emergency Response Officer), HQ Copenhagen (Chief Emergency Supply Manager), Dakar Regional office of Western and Central Africa as regional (RO Supply Chain manager). More recently he was seconded to the Gaza UN Special envoy as Supply Chain Advisor.

Prior to UNICEF, Jean-Cedric performed as Supply and Program Technical Specialist with MSF for 9 years in different countries. Jean-Cedric has led and managed emergency operations and Supply chain teams in a wide range of global humanitarian crises and development programs.

Through Jean-Cedric's different positions he managed pharmaceuticals, immunization, health, education, and WASH commodities to be delivered from origin to beneficiaries.