Who has really made a difference? Which alumnus/a has been able to translate what he/she learned at IOB into a genuine added value in ‘development’.

1. Pedro Inchauste is a Bolivian IOB alumnus (2014-15), who is currently working as political coordinator at the Permanent Mission of the Plurinational State of Bolivia to the UN/Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Pedro highlights that his work is focused on the discussion of issues or conflicts that are a threat to international peace and security, how to solve them and how to prevent them. At IOB, he will present about some of the main topics of discussion of the Security Council and how they work towards finding solutions to ending those conflicts; e.g. adoption of resolutions; establishment of Peace Operations and follow up to its work; imposition of sanctions; promotion of spaces for dialogue; mediation efforts, etc. More specifically, he led Bolivia’s efforts on drafting, negotiating and submitting a resolution on mine action, which was unanimously adopted as resolution 2365 (2017), the first stand-alone text on mine action, on which the Council, among others, calls upon all parties to armed conflicts to “end immediately and definitively any indiscriminate use of explosive devices in violation of international humanitarian law”, as well as to take steps to protect civilian population from the threat through education, rehabilitation and other measures. This is an example of actions that the Security Council takes towards peace and security, because there cannot be a sustainable peace, that leads to development, if the issue of mines contamination is not addressed. 
2. Narayan Gyawali: Narayan, an IOB graduate (class 2004), currently works as the programme director of Lutheran World Relief Nepal. In that capacity, he manages the Trans-boundary Resilience Project (TBR) project, which strives to increase the resilience to flooding-related disasters of communities in India and Nepal to develop resilience to flooding-related. The project has provided 75000 households with access to real time info to cope with floods, set up 107 Community development monitoring committees, 85 cooperatives and provide financial support while at the same time also training farmers in the use of flood resilient tools. Additionally, the project launched two transboundary citizen fora who played role in advocating with both the Nepali and Indian government to mainstream this approach.
3. Khalil Bitar is an IOB alumnus (and former IOB Student Union President) from Palestine. He graduated with a Master in Development Evaluation and Management from IOB in 2012 with Distinction.  Khalil is currently based in Germany where he works as an M&E Manager at an INGO and completes his doctoral studies focusing on M&E systems in conflict-affected and fragile countries.  After his graduation from IOB, Khalil returned home where he worked as an M&E specialist.  Then, he founded the Palestinian Evaluation Association (PEA); helped enhance the Middle East and North Africa Evaluation Network (EvalMENA); and, later on, co-founded EvalYouth - a global multi-stakeholders partnership that promotes young and emerging evaluators to become future leaders in the evaluation profession.  At the Alumni Impact Award seminar, Khalil will present his role in setting up these initiatives and their objectives, achievements, and the strategies he has been utilizing in founding these initiatives and leading them to be sustainable after more than five years.