Alumni news & careers

ISS alumnus Dr Hishmi Jamil Husain (India, USS 2004/05), has been nominated to the board of the International Geoinformatics Research and Development Journal (IGRDJ). Congratulations!

Samer Srouji (IPED 2004/2005) is now working at the Agencia Ecuatoriana de Cooperación Internacional (AGECI), the main government agency responsible for negotiating and following up on all foreign donor cooperation agreements with Ecuador. His project is to set up a research and analysis unit as part of a UNDP institutional strengthening program.

'Don't provoke, but listen'

Julien Florence Mona Saroinsong (Indonesia, W&D 1998/99), visited the Netherlands in December 2009 and was interviewed by the newspaper Friesch Dagblad about her work on reconciliation in Indonesia. In 2005 she was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize for her work as a mediator in conflicts between Muslims and Christians. She is currently programme manager for disaster relief after the earthquake in West Sumatra on 30 September. The interview (in Dutch) is published here: 'Niet provoceren, maar luisteren'

Sad News

From the Director of the Institute of Strategic Research and Development Studies (ISRDS) we heard the sad news that their staff member and ISS alumnus Dr Beverlo Pascual has passed away. Beverlo was enrolled in the MA Programme Agriculture and Rural Development (ARD) in 1982-83. He died suddenly of cardiac arrest after a game of tennis. Our thoughts go to his wife Vicky and their two daughters Karen and Ryan.

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ISS news

Two ISS students win a prize and will meet with the Dutch minister of Development Cooperation

In a conference on the Effects of the Global Financial Crisis on Developing Countries in November 2009 two ISS students won the first prize. As a result of that these students, Abena Bemah and Felicity Munemo (MA Work, Employment and Globalisation), will have an exclusive meeting with the Dutch Minister of International Development Bert Koenders on January 27, 2010 to discuss their proposal as a possible policy instrument for the government.

More info on http://www.iss.nl/News/WEG-students-scheduled-to-meet-Bert-Koenders-Minister-of-International-Development

DevISSues

The latest DevISSues was published in November 2009 and is on the theme of Migration in a Globalizing World with Mahmoud Messkoub as Guest Editor.

An Exercise in Worldmaking 2008/2009

The fourth edition of the Scholas publication 'An Exercise in Worldmaking' has recently been published and can be downloaded here.

100th PhD

On 22 December 2009, Sailaja Nandigama from India was awarded the 100th Doctoral thesis for her defence entitled 'Transformations in the Making: Actor-networks, Elite-control and Gender Dynamics in Community Forest Management Intervention in Adavipalli, Andrha Pradesh, India.

To celebrate the 100th Doctoral defence, the ISS produced a booklet entitled '100 Doctoral Theses at ISS' which includes a transcript of a Keynote Address given by Professor Ben White (outgoing chair of the ISS Doctoral Committee) on the opening of the 2007 PhD programme and a list of all 100 PhDs awarded at ISS.The booklet can be downloaded here

Remarkable ISS alumni

In the Alumni Office we are preparing a list of remarkable ISS alumni. That includes alumni in high positions but also alumni with specific merits or unusal positions. If you are aware of any of those alumni in your country or anywhere else, we would very much appreciate if you could let us know.

MA Graduation 2009

Here are photos taken by Martin Blok of the MA Graduation Ceremony on 11 December 2009. Lots of smiling faces!

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Alumni meetings

Upcoming Alumni meeting in Addis Ababa

The first ISS alumni meeting in 2010 will be held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia with ISS' Michel Wesseling. The event will take place in the first week of February. More details will follow and will be posted on the alumni meetings page of the ISS website.

Alumni meetings in 2009

The ISS Alumni Office is happy to bring to your attention that altogether 25 alumni meetings were held in 2009, including joint meetings with Erasmus University Rotterdam (EUR).
Almost 400 alumni attended these meetings, the highest number ever. The range started with the meeting on 12 February in Quito, Ecuador, hosted by David Dunham, Murat Arsel and Lorenzo Pellegrini, and was closed by a meeting on 18 December in Islamabad, Pakistan, hosted by Karin Siegmann. According to the hosts and many alumni who we have received emails from after the meetings, they were all wonderful meetings and a good time was had by all. Pictures can be seen on http://www.iss.nl/Alumni/Alumni-meetings/Past-meetings/Alumni-meetings-2009

The alumni meetings proved to be successful in many ways: strengthening the alumni network, re-establishing contacts with 'lost' alumni and strengthening the ties with the Dutch Embassies. On many occasions Embassy staff attended these meetings.

For further details please go to Alumni pages on the ISS website.

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New publications

A list of recent publications can be viewed here

Recent Working papers

Working Paper 488: Aid: the drama, the fiction, and does it work? / Arjan de Haan

Working Paper 487: Marginal benefit incidence of public health spending: evidence from Indonesian sub-national data / Ioana Kruse, Menno Pradhan, Robert Sparrow

Working Paper 486: Democratic citizenship or market based entitlements? : a gender perspective on social protection in South Asia / Amrita Chhachhi

Working Paper 485: Development through global value chains and the achievement of decent work : challenges to work and representational processes / Lee Pegler

You can also subscribe to ISS' free email notification service for the ISS Working Paper Series. Just supply your email address and you will receive a message each time a new issue is published, including the abstract and the link to the online version.

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News from Alumni Associations

NAAC Annual

The Annual General Event (AGE) of the Netherlands Alumni Network in China (NANC) was held for the third time. This time the meeting was held on 5 December 2009 in Shanghai. More than 100 alumni, members and contacts from Shanghai Consulate General were present. One of the highlights was the arrival of Sinterklaas in China and his trusty helpers, the 'Zwarte Pieten'. For a photo impression click here

Nuffic-Neso Brazil

On 10 and 11 December, Nuffic-Neso Brazil pre-launched the 'Holland Alumni Network Brazil' (HAN). Both in São Paulo and Brasília were gatherings to celebrate the launch. All Dutch alumni living in Brazil were welcome to the events and are invited to take part in this newly established network. The website www.hanbrazil.org is still under construction but in the coming period you will find more information.

A new Alumni Association in Bhutan

There is a new Netherlands Alumni Association opened in Bhutan. Their website is: www.naab.org.bt/

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Other News

EADI at 11th Annual Global Development Conference

EADI will hold a session entitled “New Crises - New Policy Responses? Rethinking European Development Co-operation (EDC)” at the GDN annual conference on 18 January 2010 in Prague. http://www.eadi.org/events/forthcoming-events/gdn2010.html

MDG Roundtable

On 25 January, EADI will be co-operating at a MDG Roundtable on “The 2010 MDG Review and Beyond: What to Do Differently? What to Do the Same?” in co-operation with IDS, DSA,

UNDP and Dfid, taking place in New York. Registration at:http://www.eadi.org/fileadmin/Documents/Events/policyforum/MDG_Roundtable_Programme_25_Jan_2010_VF.pdf

Erasmus Mundus Doctoral Program

Applications are being requested for the Erasmus Mundus Doctoral Program GEM (Globalization, European Union, Multilateralism). Ex-Master students who are interested in applying for this attractive grant: GEM "Globalization Europe Mulilateralism" should visit their website: www.erasmusmundus-gem.eu

Focuss.Info

Become a Focuss.Info workshop facilitator in your own country!
The Focuss.Info initiative stimulates the use of web2.0 tools amongst workers and researchers in the domain of development studies and cooperation. We invite people to organise local workshops and we sponsor participation.
Check out the website to get more information: http://www.focuss.info
A unique chance for alumni to support the initiative and help out your local peers.

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Contact the Alumni Office at alumni@remove-this.iss.nl for any questions, address updates, suggestions etcetera. You can also view the Alumni newsletter archive.
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