Session 6a: Finding reliable local partners

Chair: Anne Marie Chagnon - Vice-President, Social Development Group, Cowater International

Ms. Chagnon is a highly experienced international development expert with over 25 years of experience in 55 countries.  Currently she manages several multi-million dollar projects on three continents in a broad range of sectors including governance, social service delivery, peacebuilding, institutional capacity building, gender equality and health.  Her previous overseas experience includes management of large multidisciplinary projects aimed at strengthening public sector institutions and non-governmental organizations. In this capacity, she has promoted successful partnerships between local government authorities and civil society and their interface for improved social services delivery at the local level, including through social accountability.  Ms. Chagnon has developed customized results-based management tools that have been adopted by major funding agencies.  

Ann Witteveen - Manager, Humanitarian Programs, Oxfam

Ann is Manager, Humanitarian Programs at Oxfam Canada. Prior to joining Oxfam Canada in 2012, Ann was Deputy Regional Director (Southern Africa) of Oxfam GB, based in Pretoria, and OGB Country Director in Zambia.Ann holds a BSc from the University of Guelph and an MA from the School for International Training in Vermont. She subsequently pursued her interest in food security issues in Africa through a diverse mix of posts, agencies and countries including assignments in Kenya and Sudan for FAO, WFP and ACF, as well as regional food security posts for both OGB and Save the Children. Ann’s current role with Oxfam Canada includes a specific mandate to strengthen Oxfam’s efforts to ensure that women are at the heart of all its humanitarian programming.

Kate Higgins - Governance for Equitable Growth Program, North and South Institute

Kate leads the Governance for Equitable Growth program at The North-South Institute. Her research interests include the intersection between growth, poverty and inequality, women’s economic empowerment and global development frameworks. Previously, she was a Research Fellow with the Growth, Poverty and Inequality program at the Overseas Development Institute in London and worked at the Australian Agency for International Development (AusAID).  She has worked with the United Nations, World Bank, OECD and a number of bilateral development agencies.  She has extensive field experience in various regions. She holds an M Phil in Development Studies from the University of Oxford and a Bachelor of Economics (Social Sciences) from the University of Sydney.

Michel Côté - President CRC Sogema

President and Chief Executive Officer of CRC Sogema, Michel Côté has more than thirty years of experience in consulting and management both in Canada and abroad. Expert in strategic management of companies, he has extensive experience in the design and the implementation of recovery plans, development of strategies for organizational change, and strategy for development of private enterprises and public administrations that support the implementation of the privatization of public companies. In this capacity, he oversaw several studies and consulting interventions in different countries, mainly those in West and East Africa and Maghreb, funding from ADB, CIDA and the World Bank. He holds a Master of Business Administration (M.B.A.) from the University of Sherbrooke and a Bachelor in Political Science (B.A.) from the University of Montreal.

Presentation: Choisir et travailler avec un partenaire local (fiable)