Closing Session with the Deputy High Commissioner
Wednesday 30 September 2020, 13:00 - 14:00 (CEST)
Wednesday 30 September 2020, 13:00 - 14:00 (CEST)
The Closing plenary will be led by the Deputy High Commissioner and include the ExCom Rapporteur, Ms Anne Keah, who will brief NGOs on the plans for an ExCom conclusions’ work programme and the ICVA Executive Director, who will summarise the outcome recommendations of all three sessions and the side event. Ms. Gisel Baron, active member of a Refugee Led Organisation (RLO) will share good practises for collaboration on strengthening the partnership between UNHCR, NGO and RLO in the Covid-19 response. The Deputy High Commissioner will close the annual NGO Consultations, including by sharing a vision for future NGO consultations globally and at regional level.
Angharad Laing has served as the Executive Director of the International Association of Professionals in Humanitarian Assistance and Protection (PHAP) since its establishment in 2010. PHAP is a global membership organization which brings together humanitarian practitioners from across the sector for peer exchange and support, learning, and policy engagement. She has also served on the Board of the European Society of Association Executives (ESAE) and as a member of the Steering Committee of Enhancing Learning and Research for Humanitarian Assistance (ELRHA). Having previously worked in the private sector, she entered the field of humanitarian policy in 2003 and worked for a number of years with the Program on Humanitarian Policy and Conflict Research (HPCR) at Harvard University, focusing in particular on international humanitarian law and policy as well as strengthening connections between theory and practice. She holds a bachelor’s degree from Harvard College and a master’s degree in public policy from the Harvard Kennedy School.
Ms. Anne C.R. Keah is a career diplomat, with 13 years’ experience in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs or the Republic of Kenya and currently a Counsellor II at the Permanent Mission of Kenya to the United Nations Office in Geneva. Ms. Keah has vast expertise in multilateral diplomacy covering Humanitarian and Disarmament issues both at the Ministry Headquarters in Nairobi and in her two tours of duty in Geneva. Ms. Keah joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in June, 2007, as Third Secretary, serving in the International Organizations and Conferences Division for one year. In October, 2008, Ms. Keah joined the Permanent Mission of Kenya to the United Nations Office in Geneva, serving in various capacities until June, 2013. Ms. Keah, Second Secretary at the time, then returned to the Ministry Headquarters and worked in the United Nations and Multilateral Affairs Directorate for five years. In August, 2018, Ms. Keah assumed her duties as First Secretary at the Permanent Mission of Kenya to the United Nations Office in Geneva. Ms. Keah has represented the Government of Kenya in the Formal Consultations for the Global Compact on Refugees, as a delegate from capital. Ms. Keah has also represented the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Kenya in the National Technical Committee on the Comprehensive Refugee Response Framework in Kenya. On 11th October, 2019, during the 70th Session of the Executive Committee of the High Commissioner’s Programme, Ms. Keah was elected Rapporteur of the Executive Committee Bureau. Ms. Keah is currently facilitating the negotiations for the Executive Committee Conclusions process. Ms. Keah has a Masters and Bachelors degrees’ in International Relations from the United States International University-Africa in Nairobi.
Gisel Baron is a trained Venezuelan refugee and a core member of the Internal Committee of Comunidades Inclusivas, a refugee led organization created in Baños, Ecuador with the support of UNHCR. Comunidades Inclusivas was born as a multinational initiative to achieve respectful coexistence between host communities and refugees, and to diminish the levels of discrimination and xenophobia towards Venezuelans in the community of Baños. The active members of the organization are Gisel Baron, Gabriel Poleo, Consuelo Isaza, Ireana Martinez and Jenny Benitez. They carry out multiple activities for the benefit of the community, from social and cultural activities to street cleaning, participatory street art actions and other initiatives to build an inclusive city. On a daily basis, Gisel manages donations, guides and advises access to asylum and other migratory alternatives to persons of concern to UNHCR and organises cultural activities for peaceful coexistence. Comunidades Inclusivas has been a key piece in UNHCR's communication in Ecuador with community efforts during the health emergency. They have disseminated messages to persons of concern to UNHCR, as well as identified cases with specific high-risk needs, which have been referred for follow-up by UNHCR and its partners.
Ignacio Packer is Executive Director of ICVA, the global consortium of humanitarian NGOs. ICVA is a global network of non-governmental organisations whose mission is to make humanitarian action more principled and effective by working collectively and independently to influence policy and practice. Ignacio has over 30 years of experience in humanitarian work and development issues. Until 2017, he was the Secretary General of the Terre des Hommes International Federation, and previously worked for the Terre des Hommes Foundation, the Swiss Tropical Institute, the European Association for Development and Health, Médecins Sans Frontières, KPMG and the European Bank for Latin America. He is an expert on human rights and social issues. He has been strongly engaged in global advocacy on protection frameworks for migrant and refugees.
Kelly T. Clements joined UNHCR as Deputy High Commissioner on 6 July 2015. Clements has been closely involved with refugee and displacement issues throughout her three-decade career. Before joining UNHCR, Clements was a member of the Senior Executive Service, serving as Deputy Assistant Secretary of State in the Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration (PRM) where she was responsible for humanitarian issues in Asia and the Middle East and global policy and budget. In 2014, she was Acting Deputy Chief of Mission at the U.S. Embassy in Beirut, Lebanon. From 1993 to 1996, Clements served at the U.S. Permanent Mission to the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland on a Foreign Service appointment. She was Special Assistant to the Under Secretary of State for Global Affairs in 1997-1998. Clements served as a Senior Emergency Officer for Europe, the Newly Independent States, and the Americas, and later as Balkans Assistance Coordinator; she was deployed to Albania in 1999. She worked for the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees in Bangladesh in 1992. Clements holds a B.A. in International Studies and an M.A. in Urban Affairs from Virginia Tech, USA. She is a national of the United States of America.