My name is Abdul Basit Issah. I am from Ghana.

I worked as a Research Assistant to a Member of Parliament and Minister of State. I came to ISS because I wanted to enhance my understanding of local problems and developing strategies to better the lives of my constituents. I am a student of the Local Development Strategies. My experience so far suggests that I will be a better Personal Assistant when I get back to Ghana. What struck me most is the fact that we tend to neglect the promotion of Local Economic Development which has proven to be the surest path to development.

My research paper will focus on ethnic minorities and enterprise development .

My name is Grace Gasana and I come from Rwanda.

Before joining the ISS I worked as a Business Advisor on a Dairy Development Project in Rwanda. Currently I am a student in the MA Development Studies with a specialization in Local Development Strategies.
My experience at the ISS has been very remarkable; now I know what is theory and practice, I know the true meaning of diversity. Thanks to the ISS staff and my colleagues respectively.
Sometimes it’s been challenging but I love the whole experience as I believe it will make me a better person.

My name is Damenu Bekele Wondater and I am from Ethiopia.

I accomplished by BSc in Agricultural Economics and I working experience as a Regional Project Coordinator for international development organizations such as the African Development Bank, the International Fund for Agricultural Developpent and the Agency for France Development.

I was motivated to come to the ISS because I found ISS to be a centre of excellence in development studies. I am specializing in Local Development Strategies in order to tackle various development related issues that are likely to arise in my country.

My name is Gabriela María Díaz Salazar, I come from a Latin American country: Guatemala.

Until August of 2010 I was working in an NGO back home. I was enjoying my work over there because it gave me the chance to work with different people in different communities.

Since I’ve always had a great experience with the projects that I have been involved in, I knew I could do so much more. That feeling encouraged me to look for an academic upgrade. I was lucky to find out about the scholarships offered in my country and mostly to find the International Institute of Social Studies. Going through the description of the programmes offered I got more and more interested. I also received an immediate feedback from the ISS and then the process started.

I have been in the Netherlands for 5 months now and the experience has been great in every sense. My specialization is Local Development Strategies and I have to say that it has been great to meet a lot of people from different places of the world, but that we all share the same feeling of working for the benefit of our countries through our working activities.

My name is Paata Gurgenidze and I am from Georgia.

I am a student of the Public Policy and Management program. I have graduate level education of a medical doctor, but have been working in the field of not-for-profit organizations/projects management and consultancy field for 14 years. In this new profession I succeeded, thus far, due to self-education; however, now, I need to consolidate my knowledge through the degree level study to go farther as a professional and make fundaments for future academic research. This objective brought me to the ISS. I found the ISS amazing place for critical thinking and considering policy approaches, which can make real difference for the developing countries mired in neoliberal strategies of going nowhere. My research work probably will touch the medical tourism development strategic options for Georgia.

My name is Wilson Box and l come from Zimbabwe.

Before leaving for the Netherlands in 2010, I was working for the Movement for Democratic Change as the National Political Liaison Coordinator. I came to ISS to study a Masters in Development specializing in Public Policy and Management. l chose this course because it will assist me in my daily work where l do a lot of advisory work to my bosses. The course will make me a good Policy Advisor because of its hands on and theoretical approach in dealing with development issues in a political set up. What struck me most about ISS is the nature of the institution. ISS is a mini United Nations embedded in The Hague, a cosmopolitan city with more foreign nationals than any another Dutch city. You will never be disembedded at ISS. My research paper will be focusing on the role of civil society in the democratization process in Zimbabwe.

My name is Gervais Twahirwa, I am from Rwanda.

I worked as a Director of Administration in The Supreme Court of Rwanda, and I came to ISS because of the specializations and the quality of education offered by ISS.
I am a student in Public Policy and Management. My experience so far is the critical thinking and creativity I have acquired here at ISS: now I know that ‘When faced with two alternatives, always choose the third’ (proverb cited by de Bono). It is the unity in diversity that struck me most: It is a very good experience to study together with people from all corners of the world and be taught by very well qualified lecturers with various academic backgrounds.
My research paper will focus on Street-Level Bureaucracy and Service Delivery.