Mr. Andrew Dunnett joined Vodafone as Director of the Vodafone Foundation in 2006. Andrew was previously an adviser to the Sustainable Development unit at the UK Department of Trade and Industry with specific responsibility for the CSR Academy, the lead initiative of the DTI’s CSR programme.
Andrew has fifteen years experience in corporate responsibility, community investment and public affairs, including advising organisations such as BTEC, the BBC, the Commission for Racial Equality and Thames Water. He also led a corporate community investment project in the City of London whilst Director of the St Ethelburga’s Foundation.
In addition to his work directing Vodafone’s foundation programme, Andrew is a Trustee of the M-Pesa Foundation (Kenya) and a Board member of the M-Health Alliance (USA) and served as a member of the UK Government’s Longitude Committee.
Jorge Durán has been Chief of the Secretariat of the Inter-American Committee on Ports (CIP) since 2013 and has served at the Organization of American States in several roles linked to development since 2003.
For over 30 years, Mr. Duran has assisted governments and private sector of the Americas designing and implementing development projects in Latin America and the Caribbean.
Previously, Vice-President of International at the Latin American Institute of Educational Communication; Advisor in Science and Technology Policy for the Presidency of Mexico; Special Assistant to the Mexican Ambassador at the U.N.
Damien Durand is Economics Director of Alliance for European Flax-Linen & Hemp. The France-based organization represents companies across the entire flax value chain, from field to fabric, in 16 European countries. He is in charge of economic monitoring and operational support for international issues involving the flax-linen sector.
Ms. Isabelle Durant, of Belgium, is Deputy Secretary-General of UNCTAD. From February to 12 September 2021, she headed the organization as Acting Secretary-General before the appointment of a new UNCTAD Secretary-General on 13 September 2021. Prior to holding this position, she served the organization for over three years as UNCTAD’s Deputy Secretary-General.
Ms. Durant had a distinguished career in Belgian and European politics. She held the offices of Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Transport and Energy and Senator in the Belgian Government. She also served as Vice-President of the European Parliament and Presidency of the European Union Council of Ministers of Transport.
Ms. Durant has a wealth of experience collaborating with civil society and the private sector as well, notably as the Vice-President responsible for relations between the European Parliament and civil society. Finally, Ms. Durant has held posts as a senior consultant on the empowerment of women in local government for the UNDP and as a member of Parliament of the Brussels-Capital Region in Belgium.
Maria Durleva is an international development lawyer specialising in sustainable trade of marine and terrestrial biodiversity-based products, having worked at UNCTAD’s BioTrade Initiative and the Ocean Economy and Fisheries Programme for seven years.
As a trade and biodiversity expert/programme management professional at UNCTAD, Maria has worked on a range of issues on sustainable development, and climate and trade-related aspects of sustainable use of biodiversity. She has also worked on regional projects in Latin America and the Caribbean, the European Union and ASEAN.
Maria is a trained lawyer who was born and raised in Metro Manila, Philippines. She holds a Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree from the University of the Philippines-Diliman and a Master of Laws (LLM) in International Commercial Law: Dispute Resolution and Intellectual Property from the University of Law in London, United Kingdom. She has recently completed her sustainability leadership training programme at the University of Cambridge, in the United Kingdom.
Mr. Yann Duval is Chief of the Trade Policy and Facilitation Section at the United Nations ESCAP. Over the past 20 years, he has conducted research and delivered technical assistance and advisory services on trade and development throughout Asia and the Pacific. Since joining ESCAP, he spearheaded the creation of the ESCAP-World Bank Trade Cost Database, as well as the UN Global Survey on Digital and Sustainable Trade Facilitation. Over the past 10 years, he also led the ESCAP Secretariat team supporting the negotiation of a new UN treaty on the facilitation of cross-border paperless trade in Asia and the Pacific, which entered into force in 2021.
Usha Chandnee Dwarka-Canabady is Permanent Representative of the Republic of Mauritius to the United Nations and other International Organizations in Geneva.
Prior to this appointment, Ambassador Dwarka-Canabady was, since November 2015, Secretary for Foreign Affairs of Mauritius, after having been acting Secretary for Foreign Affairs between April 2013 and October 2015. She was also Head of the Multilateral Economic Directorate (January 2007 to March 2013) and Head of the Multilateral Political Department (May 2006-2007) of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, International Trade and Regional Integration in Port-Louis, Mauritius.
Mrs Dwarka-Canabady has a BA in Psychology, Sociology and English from the University of Leicester, an MA in International Politics from the University Libre of Brussels, and a Diplomatic Studies Program Certificate from the Graduate Institute International Studies in Geneva.
Ms. Malty Dwarkasing has been Administrator-General at the Suriname Debt Management Office (SDMO) since January 2022.
Prior to that, she worked was the first female director of the Suriname Trade and Business Association. She has worked for the National Planning Office in the macro economic planning department for 8 years and at Administrator-General Suriname Debt Management Office (SDMO) as the manager Middle Office for 12 years.
Ms. Dwarkasing graduated from the Anton de Kom University of Suriname in Economics and subsequently completed several technical diploma courses in the field of "Development Planning Technique" at the Institute of Social Studies in The Hague, the Netherlands and at the Galilee College of Israel in the Development and management of SMEs.
In addition, she has followed many trainings and workshops at international organizations such as the IMF, World Bank, IADB in the field of macroeconomics and debt management.
Nichola Dyer, Senior Advisor to the Global Seaweed Coalition, brings experience across multilateral institutions and the public, private, academic, and non-profit sectors to her sustainability work.
She has designed and led strategic global initiatives across a wide range of sectors and themes, including seaweed and aquaculture, food systems and food security, governance, and engagement of marginalized and vulnerable groups. Currently, she serves on the Advisory Board of GlobalSeaweed-SUPERSTAR and several other non-profits and chairs an education grant program for women from developing countries.
During 26 years of World Bank Group service, Nichola managed the $1.5b Global Agriculture and Food Security Program, developed greenfield operational engagements on excluded minorities and disability, led the ethics office, and established the Gabon office.
She obtained her MSc in Economics at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.