About US
Prepared International (PPI) is a leading expert consultancy organization in disaster risk management, emergency preparedness & response, and climate change adaptation for both the public and private sectors. Our highly skilled and diverse pool of experts, combined with extensive experience and always up-to-date tools and methodologies give us the leading edge in addressing current and future challenges.
The Organization
Prepared International (PPI) contributes to preventing loss of life, protecting assets and safeguarding sustainable development by mitigating disaster risks, developing preparedness and response capacities, and adapting to new environments. Founded in 2015 by experienced international disaster experts following the response to the Earthquake in Nepal, PPI remains committed to the Sendai Framework on DRR, the Paris Agreement, and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), thus working towards a resilient world for all.
Ever since, PPI’s experts have worked in more than 100 countries, on over 200 projects in the humanitarian and development fields.
Mission
We develop strategies and practical approaches to cope with disasters and the effects of climate change.
Together with our clients and partners, we utilise a holistic approach, encompassing all phases of disaster management to address any challenge that could prevent a country, community, organization or individual from thriving.
Contribute to meaningful action towards a disaster-resilient world in the face of climate change.
Vision
Disaster Management is PPI’s core expertise. Witnessing the unfolding effects of climate change leading to increased frequency and impacts of disasters, PPI is adjusting to the new circumstances to influence the way disasters are managed. We expand our networks and scope strategically, championing evidence-based solutions, enhancing capacity development, and leveraging emerging technologies to meet these growing challenges head-on.
Team Composition
PPI’s team works collaboratively and holistically on a wide range of projects, both for the public and private sector.

Dr. Albrecht A. Beck
Abrecht Beck is a Disaster Management and Preparedness Expert who has been working hands-on in the field for the last 13 years as a UNDAC team member.
The organisations and institutions that have benefited from Albrecht's expertise are, inter alia, IOM, UN-DPKO and the Competence Center for Disaster Risk Diplomacy.
In response to the 2015 Nepal earthquake, Albrecht identified the need to strengthen the preparedness of states and territories, cities, corporations and communities to prevent or mitigate the impact of calamities and thus, founded Prepared International.

Marc Arnold
Marc Arnold is a Climate Change Adaptation Expert with a long-standing experience in Small Island Developing States (SIDS).
He gained hands-on experience in disaster response and international relief coordination in the aftermath of Hurricane Irma and during EU funded regional programs in the field of coastal protection and Disaster Risk Reduction Initiatives beyond the Caribbean Region.
For more than 20 years, Marc worked in the public sector as both manager and senior advisor on ministerial level for the governments of the Netherlands and Sint Maarten.

Antonia Vignolo
With an academic background in climate change and migration management and 4 years of experience in this field, Antonia has successfully managed projects on climate change adaptation, nature-based conservation solutions, forced displacement and protection, as well as broader disaster risk management (DRM) and emergency preparedness and response (EP&R). Antonia initially worked at UN OCHA in the EP&R section on the UNDAC team before joining Prepared International as a project consultant. She then took on various project management roles, including an EP&R capacities assessment in Belize addressing key challenges facing SIDS, cross-border contingency planning in Ghana, developing a capacity development plan for DRR and CCA in Bulgaria, and creating a Host Nation Support system in Iceland, while delivering related training sessions.
Antonia gained experience in Asia working on community preparedness in remote Himalayan areas of Nepal, and in the Middle East contributing to the Professional Dialogue full-scale exercise in Jordan, Israel, and Palestine. She has also worked on the Pacific region, specifically on Vanuatu and Tuvalu. Her passion lies in supporting vulnerable communities and countries to become more resilient in the face of climate change. In her free time, Antonia enjoys discovering hidden gems in her current home of Portugal's Algarve region, volunteering for Safe Communities Portugal, and playing padel.

Vlatko Jovanovski
Vlatko Jovanovski is a senior disaster management expert. He started as a military officer in North Macedonia but acomplished himself professionally in the civil protection arena. He brings relevant working experience in both working for the government of North Macedonia where he covered various positions starting from local inspector for rescue and protection and ending up as Head of department for international relations. In 2016 he moved to the UNICEF office in North Macedonia as a emergency field coordinator overseeing the response activities in relation to the refugee crisis. During the time with UNICEF he supported the Regional office for Europe and Central Asia in promoting the new policy guidance on Emergency Preparedness. In that context he designed and delivered trainings to all UNICEF offices in Europe and Central Asia on the new policy. One additional task with UNICEF office that he directly supported was drafting of the Climate Landscape Analysis for Children in North Macedonia. During his second short term consultancy period with UNICEF during the COVID-19 response in 2020, he supported the analysis of the schools in North Macedonia in terms of their WASH facilities ans supported the project on infrastructure improvements of the schools and Early Childhood Development centers. He holds a masters in disaster management from the University of Copenhagen and Diploma on Business Continuity Planing from the New Buckinghamshire University in the UK. His last post before joining Prepared International was with Disaster Preparedness and Prevention Initiative for South Eastern Europe (DPPI SEE) located in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina where he was heading the Secretariat of this regional initiative for 6 years.

Gudrun Van Pottelbergh
Gudrun Van Pottelberg has wide expertise on Crisis Management, Emergency Preparedness and Response.
For the last fifteen years, she has been providing both research, training and evaluation to a broad range of crisis management actors, such as the UN or OSCE, governmental agencies, civil societies and academic institutions.

Dr. Robert Spiegel
Robert Spiegel is an expert in Disaster Management and Emergency Health.
For the last 14 years, Robert has been working with UNDAC teams around the world and is the medicine man of SARUV-International Search and Rescue Vorarlberg.
Robert has enormous expertise in emergency medicine and his hardwork in ensuring access to basic medical care to rural areas in, inter alia, Southeastern Africa.

Jakob (Sjaak) Seen
Jacob Seen was one of the disaster managers in charge of the COVID-19 response in the Rotterdam- Rijnmond region, as well as within the National Operational Coordination Center in Zeist, the Netherlands.
In addition, "Sjaak" has more than 40 years of experience as Emergency Manager in Disaster and Crisis and he has designed Emergency Operations Centers of the latest technology.
"Sjaak" is a team member of UNDAC and has long-time experience in facilitating and training at UN/UNDAC/OCHA Environmental Emergency courses.

Verena Lahousen
Verena Lahousen has a background in law and international relations, and she is both consulting, and teaching conflict management at university level.
She is a passionate mediator, trainer and coach, who believes in attitudinal change through experiential learning.
Verena has served with the UN in-country missions in Sub-Saharan Africa, the Balkans, The South Caucasus, and the Middle East.

Gert Teder
Gerd Teder is an expert in Search and Rescue (SAR), Urban Search and Rescue (USAR), as well as newest technology for first response and Fire Rescue Systems.
Gerd is the Team Leader of the Estonian Search and Rescue Team and a renowned member of UNDAC and EU Civil Protection Teams.

Dr. Odeda Benin-Goren
Odeda Benin-Goren is our Senior Consultant for Emergency Preparedness, Assessment and Coordination in Disasters (Emergency Medical Systems).
Odeda is the Academic Coordinator at the Center for Emergency Response Research (PREPARED) at the Ben Gurion University in Beer Sheva, Israel.

Louis Boshoff
Louis Boshoff has worked for the WFP in the Global Logistics Cluster in various conflict-affected and fragile states, developing and implementing large and high-profile emergency logistics and supply chain programs.
Louis is an Emergency Response and Operations manager who works with emergency actors to get supply chain, inter-agency coordination and service delivery projects done.

Franklin Babila Doh
Franklin Babila Doh has a broad experience on human security topics, with a focus on disaster risk management and humanitarian assistance.
Frank has been working for the Pan African Institute for Development in the last 5 years and is currently employed within the West Africa Division as Deputy Center Coordinator.

Marc Devalckeneer
Marc Devalckeneer spent his life with the famous B-Fast Team and the Belgium military.
In missions around the whole world, Marc was a key element in the response to both natural and man-made disasters and was therefore selected to support the NATO Emergency Response Missions.
Marc is a certified Logistic Instructor who has been working for, inter alia, the International Humanitarian Partnership, the Global Logistic Cluster, EU, CP Mechanism and in the Camp Coordination structures of the United Nations.

Michael Halwachs
Michael Halwachs is an expert on critical infrastructure management and communication technologies.
Michael has long standing expertise in local and community level capacity building for disaster resilience. He is also an experienced HSSE Manager.

Harshita Bisht
Harshita Bisht is an Environment and Public Policy professional with expertise in project management, research and knowledge development in DRR, climate adaptation and resilience sector
Harshita is an expert in institutional reforms, capacity building, knowledge sharing, peer to peer learning & evaluation as well as learning across developing countries.

Suresh Raj Pandit
Suresh Raj Pandit is an expert in Emergency Management and Coordination.
Suresh is specialised in Emergency program planning, including preparedness, multi-sector response, recovery, coordination and capacity building of humanitarian partners and government agencies

Marla Nykyri
Marla Nykyri is an expert in Emergency Medicine with long-standing hands-on field experience with infectious diseases.
She is also a renowned trainer with years of experience in conducting courses, exercises and activities for, inter alia, European Civil Protection Mechanism, Red Cross, WHO and ICP.
Marla has been working also with the COVID-19 Emergency Response as Human Resources Coordinator in Kuala Lumpur.

Ólafur Loftsson
Olafur Loftson is an expert in USAR and a renowned trainer in search and rescue. He is specialised in International Mountain Rescue and Ice Climbing.
Olafur is also a Harvard-certified Negotiation and Mediation Expert.

Andrew Bradley
Our expert in, inter alia, Crisis Planning and Humanitarian Emergency Response, Andrew is also a Certified Emergency Manager within the International Association of Emergency Managers.
Andrew has long-standing expertise in emergency response across Africa, Asia, Europe and the Middle East, within the private sector (operational and corporate), national governments and international non-governmental humanitarian response entities.
Andrew is also part in capacity teams for international organisations as both an Emergency Specialist and Humanitarian Affairs Officer. In addition, he is on duty-call for the Swedish Civil Contingencies Agency, the Canadian International Civilian Response Corps, the Norwegian Refugee Council and ShelterBox International.

James Ritchie
James Ritchie has diverse senior leadership experience from the public, private and not-for-profit sectors. He worked with, inter alia, international development, environment, water, Australian State Government Public Service, community mental health and mining sectors.
James has held various Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management responsibilities throughout his career, in particular executive accountability for fire and flood response, counter terrorism planning and emergency evacuation.

Esther Barbara Kanini Njiru
Esther Barbara Kanini Njiru is an expert in Urban Development Research and Data Analysis with key skills in, inter alia, Spatial and Land Use planning, GIS and Remote Sensing Data Collection, integration of Climate Information into National Adaptation Plans, etc.
Esther has a long-lasting experience in Database Support for UN-Habitat and is specialized in using a range of image interpretation software such as ArcGis, TerrSet, Erdas Imagine for geospatial data analysis and modelling.
Esther is a highly experienced expert on urban planning for disaster risk reduction, with a focus on data management, capacity building and urban development.

Raman Madan
Disaster Technology
Raman Madan is an expert in Emergency, Crisis and Disaster Management since 2001.
Raman is also a trainer and has conducted over 300 courses, exercises and table-tops at all levels: operational, tactical and strategic.
Raman has international expertise, gained through his work as a coordination and assessment expert for the European Civil Protection Mechanism, and as project manager of the European Modular Field Hospital.
Raman has developed the Emergency Management App & Platform, aimed at supporting organisations with a software tool for their operational staff.

Martin Fisher
Martin has a wide range of experience within humanitarian affairs, working with the United Nations and the International Red Cross Red Crescent Movement in different countries around the world.
Martin has been working in leading positions in fragile context, preparing local structures for emergencies as well as responding to immediate needs in a strategic way. His expertise extends from developing key partnerships with donors and ensuring information exchange for a coordinated implementation of humanitarian action as well as the possibility of establishment of structures in fragile context.
He has been working in Europe, Central Asia, Middle East and North Africa, not only as Humanitarian Affairs Officer, but also as Operations Manager, Trainer and Course Facilitator.

Andra I. Covaciu
Andra Covaciu is an expert in Human Rights, with a specific focus on vulnerable groups and international peace and security aspects.
Andra has strong expertise in the use of vulnerability research methods and offers a regional expertise in the Pacific.
She holds a MSc in Disaster Risk Management and Climate Change Adaption.

Aurelio Escobar
Aurelio is a technical architect who focuses on urban regeneration and sustainable territorial development, merging new technologies with integral and holistic project management.
He has expertise in the Latin American area, where he supported public institutions in disaster risk management and worked on a wide range of projects aimed at reducing the impact of disasters in urban areas.
Aurelio is a member of various working groups for sustainable urban regeneration, as well as in the group of specialist technicians for damage assessment after disastrous events in Spain.

Tarek Tawil
Tarek Tawil is a humanitarian practitioner specialising in the protection and support of refugees and internally displaced persons in conflict settings. He worked with the Syrian Arab Red Crescent (SARC) and the UNHCR during the conflict in Syria between 2014 and 2019 assuming various responsibilities.
Tarek also worked in Humanitarian Affairs at the Headquarters of OCHA, and at the Global Level of Camp Coordination and Camp Management Cluster. He is an expert in child protection response and humanitarian negotiations with non-state armed groups.

Claudia Pereira
Claudia Pereira is a landscape architect holding a masters in geographic information systems (GIS), with ten years of international work experience in the field of data and information management, GIS, humanitarian emergency responses, environment and climate change, in countries such as East-Timor, Iraq, Nigeria, Mozambique and Egypt.
After spending four years in East-Timor working closely with local communities in several climate-related and local development projects as an environmental consultant, she joined the UN Migration Agency (IOM) for the last seven years as a field data collection expert and project manager on internal displacement in natural disaster and conflict settings.

Arina Bešlagić
Arina has a wide experience in Coordinating humanitarian assistance during major crisis in Bosnia and Herzegovina and in the neighboring countries.
She is also an expert in the execution of international obligations and cooperation in civil protection. She worked as coordinator of activities of Civil Protection Administrations of Entities and Department for Public Safety of Brcko District in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Arina is a highly experienced expert in preparing simulations and trainings, organizaton of table top exercises, field exercises, conferences, workshops both with national institutions and international organizations.

Jorge Terrones
Jorge Terrones is a Systems Engineer with a Master's Degree in Risk, Disasters and Resilience from University College London, specializing in disaster risk reduction and operational continuity.
Jorge has 15 years of experience in the private sector and in the UN system leading projects, risk management strategies, and emergency/disaster preparedness and response policies.
In the last 7 years, Jorge has focused on the Continuity of Operations/Governance and Disaster Preparedness in Conflict Zones.
Overall, he has worked in Latin America and Caribbean, Africa, and Europe.

Julius Kaut
Julius is specialized in food and nutrition security in protracted crises and food system resilience, with a special focus on Somalia and South Sudan, and the wider Horn of Africa. He comes from a background in disaster risk management and conflict management.
Julius has previously studied and worked in Israel, Myanmar, the Philippines, the Netherlands, and Norway.
Julius is currently researching at the Zero Hunger Lab of Tilburg University on the impact of humanitarian aid on conflict dynamics in protracted crisis settings.

Anders Laukvik
Anders Laukvik is an expert in on-site disaster coordination and especially the technical side of operations management.
For 20 years, Anders was key in developing the IM and ICT support of the International Humanitarian Partnership (IHP) for UNDAC. In his daily work, Anders has, for over 20 years, been working with the Fire Department in Norway in Response including Incident Command, Dispatch and Coordination, and Fire Prevention.
As a highly experienced trainer, Anders has worked with organizations around the world. He has a specific personality as a «Peoples person», one who sees those around him, utilizes their strengths and brings calm.

Harm Bastian
As a senior civil protection expert, Harm Bastian has been the exercise director for the European Commission's EU MODEX field exercises for medical capacities and USAR modules since 2015 and has successfully led 29 of these exercises with up to 2,500 participants.
In the rescEU EMT project, he coordinates the cooperation between the consortium, which consists of eight Member and Participating States of the UCPM, and the Commission. The project comprises the development of 21 new medical rescEU capacities. In addition to project management tasks, he is responsible for the training and exercise programme for around 3,000 medical, technical and logistical experts.
From 2006 to 2020, he was deputy course director for the Assessment Mission Courses of the UCPM training programme. In addition, he has participated in numerous international missions in a leading role as a disaster management expert.

Ina Kubbe
Ina Kubbe is an Adjunct Professor at Tel Aviv University, in the Department of Political Science, Government, and International Relations, where she primarily researches and teaches in the fields of corruption, disaster and crisis management, conflict resolution and gender politics. She has more than 15 years of experience in these fields and has established herself as a recognized expert and academic specialist. She conducts extensive research and offers consultancy services to organizations such as the European Union, NATO, OECD, OSCE or UNODC. Ina is also a professor at the International Anti-Corruption Academy in Austria. She has published several books, special issues, and articles in the field and is also one of the founding members of the Interdisciplinary Corruption Research Network (ICRN) as well as the Chair of the ECPR Standing Group on "(Anti)Corruption and Integrity".

Annabella Skof
Annabella is an experienced team leader and senior expert in socio-economic crisis response specialising in market systems solutions for economic recovery in general and economic inclusion of forcibly displaced persons in general. She brings ample experience from around the world working in crisis and post-crisis settings with a focus on adopting market-based approaches. Since becoming an independent consultant, Annabella has delivered consultancy assignments for numerous multilateral organisations, INGOs and donors, typically working the humanitarian-development-peace nexus. Prior, Annabella served as Policy Advisor on Economic Recovery with the United National Development Programme’s Crisis Bureau and as the resident Socio-Economic Recovery Expert of the International Labour Organization’s Regional Office for Arab States, as part of which she led the ILO’s Syrian refugee crisis response in Lebanon. Annabella is fluent in English, German, Spanish, Italian and French and holds Master degrees in International Relations and Economics from the Johns Hopkins University, School of Advanced International Studies and in International Economic and Business Studies from the Leopold Franzens Universität Innsbruck.

Lindon Pronto
Lindon Pronto - M.Sc. (Environmental Governance) offers 20+ years of experience and expertise in wildfire management with employment, research, deployments, and remote support to/in over 30 countries in the Americas, Europe, Asia, Africa, and the Middle East. Mr. Pronto has years of operational experience as a federal wildland firefighter in California and 7 other states. In addition to working in many European projects, he has been commissioned by government agencies, NGOs, international organizations, and consulting firms, serves on national and international expert panels, and provides thematic expertise to the European Parliament, Commission, government agencies, and the private sector. As a subject matter expert with extensive communication experience, he has contributed to more than 150 international print, radio and television publications and broadcasts.

Gianluca Pescaroli
Dr. Gianluca Pescaroli is an Associate Professor in Operational Continuity and Organisational Resilience at University College London (UCL). His research focuses on improving operational continuity during disruptive events and increasing resilience in public and private sectors. He co-founded UCL's Research Group on Cascading Disasters in 2016 and has contributed to strategic documents for the UN and European Commission. In 2024, he became a scientific advisor for the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction. Dr. Pescaroli leads the EU Horizon Europe project "AGILE" and is involved in international consortia funded by organizations like the European Space Agency and UK Research and Innovation. His work bridges academia and practice, addressing complex challenges such as cascading risks and critical infrastructure failures.

Martin Bjerregaard
Martin is a debris and solid waste management expert with more than 30 years’ experience in post-conflict and post-disaster programmes as well as preparedness planning. Martin has supported governments in debris preparedness planning in Bangladesh, Gaza, Iraq, USA, EU countries, among others. Latest initiatives include methane reduction works within solid waste management systems to reduce negative impact of waste on climate by reducing open burning and improving landfill/dumpsite management.
Martin is co-author on the OCHA/UNEP “Disaster Waste Management Guidelines” and has delivered numerous training packages and guidelines for disaster debris and waste management on behalf of UNDAC, UNDP, MSB, UNEP, UNOPS, UNMIK and the EU.

Alexander Held
Alexander Held (M.Sc. in Forest Science), started as a fire ecologist in the Fire Ecology Group of the Max Planck Society in 2001 and gained a number of operational qualifications in the USA and South Africa. He switched from fire ecology to fire management and worked with the Global Fire Monitoring Centre GFMC in Europe and Southern Africa. Held later worked with the South African Working on Fire program from its inception until 2012 when he moved to the European Forest Institute (EFI). Alexander Held is active as a subject matter expert in a number of national and international expert committees and fire missions.

Adrian Butnaru
Adrian is a specialist in ICTs and the maritime sector. He founded and managed Smart Vision since 2020, a networking platform that unites diverse actors in the maritime transportation value chain, including corporates, startups, universities, and vocational education organizations, to promote technology adoption and innovation. He worked with Prepared International (PPI) since 2020 as an Expert in Resilience through Technology, offering critical advice on leveraging technology to enhance the resilience of the maritime sector. His expertise has been instrumental in the Global Maritime Preparedness Program (GMPP) and technical assistance projects, such as ICT utilization for road transport network vulnerability assessment in Serbia. Work focuses on maintaining port functionality despite disasters, ensuring the continuity of critical infrastructure, and preparing maritime sectors for various disruptions.

Renta Sanxhaku
Renta graduated as a medical doctor from the University of Tirana in 2012, and later specialized in endocrinology and diabetes, completing her residency in 2019. She now works as an endocrinologist, focusing on thyroid disease, diabetes, and metabolic disorders. Additionally, since 2018, she has been a part-time lecturer at the University of Medicine in Tirana, teaching Pathophysiology. She actively participates in health projects, both domestically and internationally, aimed at preventing and treating endocrine diseases.

Daniel Mendez
Daniel is a risk and crisis expert with over 15 years of experience in security, crisis, and disaster management, focusing on Belize, the Caribbean region, and more broadly on SIDS. With a BSc in Management Studies from the University of the West Indies, he worked on various initiatives; Daniel co-authored the Belize Joint Sexual Violence Prevention and Response Programme in the Belize Security Forces context, and contributed to UNICEF's Protocol for the Integrated Protection of Children and Adolescents in Disaster Situations in Belize. Daniel also developed a Climate Resilience Curriculum Training Program for the Construction Sector for the Belize Chamber of Commerce and Industry. As a commissioned officer in the Belize Defence Force, he serves as the Belize Regional Coordinator for the University of Leicester’s Avoidable Deaths Network, and holds the position of National Emergency Coordinator in Belize since June 2023.

Sandra Milkovic
Sandra is an international professional with over 13 years of focused expertise in EP&R, especially in extremely fragile and conflict heavy environments like Palestine and Israel, Iraq, Mali among others. Sandra worked for WFP actively contributing to various EP&R initiatives, supporting the organization's global crisis management efforts. Her deployments to crisis contexts in Ghana, Mali, and Palestine have showcased her ability to navigate complex humanitarian situations effectively. Previously, Sandra worked at the United Nations Resident Coordinator's office in Jerusalem, where she supported humanitarian access efforts across the region. Her career began as a Middle East Correspondent for a Croatian daily newspaper, providing her with a unique blend of media experience and fieldwork. Sandra holds an MA in International Relations from Hebrew University of Jerusalem and a BA in Political Science.

Roger Valberg
Roger Valberg is a highly experienced fire expert and professional firefighter of 35+ years, leader of the Stockholm Fire & Rescue, and Team Leader for the former Swedish INSARAG Swift team. He is among the most senior trainers of the EU Civil Protection Mechanism and a highly experienced USAR expert and has supported numerous missions in disaster regions. Mr. Valberg has trained firefighters globally to take on new topics like CBRN and USAR and been a senior trainer for large scale disasters training exercises like the Professional Dialogue Exercise (Jordan/Palestine/Israel) and in Southeast Europe (ResponSEE).
Projects/Missions (select): Team leader, HCP, Sweden for wildfires (current); EU instructor in Montenegro, HNS for wildfires (2022/23) (EU); 2022: Evacuation from Afghanistan; 2019: Croatia, Modex, Wildfires Trainer; 2018 deployment of international helicopters for wildfire support (EU); 2016: Bangladesh technical advisor for UN; 2012/13: Palestine, Lead Trainer, development of USAR capacity (MSB)

Fernanda Lammoglia
Fernanda is a Mexican engineer, consultant and researcher who works as a Research Associate on Systemic and Transition Risks at the Cambridge Centre for Risk Studies. With a background in Biotechnology Engineering and Information & Communication Technologies (ICT) for Development & Social Good, she has previously worked in Technology Innovation, Disaster Risk Management (DRM) and Emergency Preparedness & Response (EP&R) consulting. She is interested in the application of Geospatial Technologies (remote sensing, GEOINT), Open-Source Investigations and Intelligence for emergencies, search-and-rescue (SAR), humanitarian action and conflict.

Rade Rajkovchevski
Dr. Rade Rajkovchevski holds the position of Full Professor in Policing and Disaster Management in the St. Kliment Ohridski University (N.Macedonia). Commencing his academic journey in 2006, he transitioned from a background encompassing service in the military, civil protection, and private security within Southeast Europe and France. He earned his military officer credentials at the Military Academy in Skopje (2002), master's thesis in national security policy and conflict prevention (2010) and PhD in European police cooperation (2013).
His extensive expertise extends to roles as a researcher, exercise evaluator, and expert in numerous projects and initiatives funded by the EU, World Bank, Council of Europe, UN agencies, GIZ, MARRI Regional Center and other organizations. Recently, he was appointed as the Head of the DPPI SEE Secretariat, to lead it for the next three years (2024-2027).

Samban Seng
Samban is an esteemed expert in DRR, CCA, and Emergency Management with over 23 years of experience across a spectrum of high-profile organizations and roles, from grassroots to international levels such as IFRC, Plan International, Save the Children International, UNDP, Caritas UK, World Bank, AIMF, and many more development and humanitarian organizations, including government NDMOs. His expertise encompasses preparedness, response, recovery, and resilience strategies, with a strong focus on gender and inclusion mainstreaming, child-centered approaches, and multi-stakeholder coordination. Samban's significant contributions include developing guidelines, leading emergency simulations, and supporting policy and plan development, leading humanitarian operation management, and Organizational Capacity Development. In recent years, Samban has also entered into urban resilience and emergency management, establishing himself as a key player in enhancing disaster resilience and management capacities in Southeast Asia and beyond.

Gonzalo Velasco
Gonzalo Velasco has 15 years of experience working in the fire services. He holds a bachelor’s degree in international relations and is currently pursuing a Master's degree in Business Economics. In the international arena, he has been deployed with the Spanish EMT to Mozambique (2019) and Turkiye (2023) as a logistician. Gonzalo is part of the EUCPT and has worked as an expert evaluator in the H2020 program within the European Research Executive Agency. He is a member of UNDAC, and he has complemented his involvement with OCHA through his work as an intern and consultant within the Emergency Response Section in the UNDAC global team.

Tom Harbour
Tom is a recognized expert in wildland fire and aviation management policy and operations. His over fifty year career spans public service and private industry. He has engaged with varied organizations before, during, and after crises.
Tom offers trusted counsel and advice on wildland fire issues as well as policy and organizational issues. He has engaged with wildland fire problems in many areas around the world.

Maria Katajisko
Maria is a humanitarian affairs and disaster management specialist with a wide range of UN, EU, International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement (RCRC), governmental and non-governmental experience in Europe, Asia, Africa and the Middle East.
She’s a UNDAC and UCPM member and her areas of expertise include humanitarian coordination, emergency preparedness and response, disaster risk reduction (DRR), resilience building, food security and livelihoods (FSL).

Ben Sims
Ben Sims has 13 years of experience advising governments across Asia and the Pacific on addressing climate change. His work has included designing institutional frameworks and strategies for improving climate finance access and utilization, undertaking climate risk and adaptation assessments, developing guidelines and building capacity, and providing support to achieve disaster risk reduction and loss and damage action. He has been engaged as a consultant for the World Bank, ADB, UN agencies, Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI), Government of New Zealand, Commonwealth Secretariat and SPREP, and previously worked as a staff member for GGGI.

Magnus Eriksson
Magnus has been working with flood related matters for many years both in national and international context, for instance as an expert in several of the flood related IPA projects in the Balkan countries and Turkey. Magnus is part of Swedish Civil Contingencies Agency ́s (MSB) roster as a Team Leader for MSB flood containment and high-capacity pumping modules. He is also an experienced expert on Host Nation Support and trained as an expert for EU Civil Protection Teams. In his daily job Magnus works as a fire protection engineer and regional incident commander at a fire & rescue service, focusing on flood emergency response and prevention measures at municipal level. He is currently involved with adaption to climate changes due to sea level rise, storm surges, and torrential rain.

Alexander Skinner
Alexander Skinner is a crisis management specialist with ten years’ experience. He has enhanced the crisis preparedness of governments and organizations across the UK, Canada, the Middle East, and North and East Africa through training, exercising, crisis planning and programming. Most recently, Alexander has focused on preparedness and risk reduction in climate change and terrorism.
During crises, Alexander has led multiple teams delivering frontline responses and teams at headquarter offices in the UK and Canada.
Alexander designed the Canadian Government's After Action Review process for international emergency responses, with a focus on isomorphic learning and embedding knowledge.

Dr. Albrecht A. Beck
Abrecht Beck is a Disaster Management and Preparedness Expert who has been working hands-on in the field for the last 13 years as a UNDAC team member.
The organisations and institutions that have benefited from Albrecht's expertise are, inter alia, IOM, UN-DPKO and the Competence Center for Disaster Risk Diplomacy.
In response to the 2015 Nepal earthquake, Albrecht identified the need to strengthen the preparedness of states and territories, cities, corporations and communities to prevent or mitigate the impact of calamities and thus, founded Prepared International.

Marc Arnold
Marc Arnold is a Climate Change Adaptation Expert with a long-standing experience in Small Island Developing States (SIDS).
He gained hands-on experience in disaster response and international relief coordination in the aftermath of Hurricane Irma and during EU funded regional programs in the field of coastal protection and Disaster Risk Reduction Initiatives beyond the Caribbean Region.
For more than 20 years, Marc worked in the public sector as both manager and senior advisor on ministerial level for the governments of the Netherlands and Sint Maarten.

Antonia Vignolo
With an academic background in climate change and migration management and 4 years of experience in this field, Antonia has successfully managed projects on climate change adaptation, nature-based conservation solutions, forced displacement and protection, as well as broader disaster risk management (DRM) and emergency preparedness and response (EP&R). Antonia initially worked at UN OCHA in the EP&R section on the UNDAC team before joining Prepared International as a project consultant. She then took on various project management roles, including an EP&R capacities assessment in Belize addressing key challenges facing SIDS, cross-border contingency planning in Ghana, developing a capacity development plan for DRR and CCA in Bulgaria, and creating a Host Nation Support system in Iceland, while delivering related training sessions.
Antonia gained experience in Asia working on community preparedness in remote Himalayan areas of Nepal, and in the Middle East contributing to the Professional Dialogue full-scale exercise in Jordan, Israel, and Palestine. She has also worked on the Pacific region, specifically on Vanuatu and Tuvalu. Her passion lies in supporting vulnerable communities and countries to become more resilient in the face of climate change. In her free time, Antonia enjoys discovering hidden gems in her current home of Portugal's Algarve region, volunteering for Safe Communities Portugal, and playing padel.

Vlatko Jovanovski
Vlatko Jovanovski is a senior disaster management expert. He started as a military officer in North Macedonia but acomplished himself professionally in the civil protection arena. He brings relevant working experience in both working for the government of North Macedonia where he covered various positions starting from local inspector for rescue and protection and ending up as Head of department for international relations. In 2016 he moved to the UNICEF office in North Macedonia as a emergency field coordinator overseeing the response activities in relation to the refugee crisis. During the time with UNICEF he supported the Regional office for Europe and Central Asia in promoting the new policy guidance on Emergency Preparedness. In that context he designed and delivered trainings to all UNICEF offices in Europe and Central Asia on the new policy. One additional task with UNICEF office that he directly supported was drafting of the Climate Landscape Analysis for Children in North Macedonia. During his second short term consultancy period with UNICEF during the COVID-19 response in 2020, he supported the analysis of the schools in North Macedonia in terms of their WASH facilities ans supported the project on infrastructure improvements of the schools and Early Childhood Development centers. He holds a masters in disaster management from the University of Copenhagen and Diploma on Business Continuity Planing from the New Buckinghamshire University in the UK. His last post before joining Prepared International was with Disaster Preparedness and Prevention Initiative for South Eastern Europe (DPPI SEE) located in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina where he was heading the Secretariat of this regional initiative for 6 years.

Gudrun Van Pottelbergh
Gudrun Van Pottelberg has wide expertise on Crisis Management, Emergency Preparedness and Response.
For the last fifteen years, she has been providing both research, training and evaluation to a broad range of crisis management actors, such as the UN or OSCE, governmental agencies, civil societies and academic institutions.

Dr. Robert Spiegel
Robert Spiegel is an expert in Disaster Management and Emergency Health.
For the last 14 years, Robert has been working with UNDAC teams around the world and is the medicine man of SARUV-International Search and Rescue Vorarlberg.
Robert has enormous expertise in emergency medicine and his hardwork in ensuring access to basic medical care to rural areas in, inter alia, Southeastern Africa.

Jakob (Sjaak) Seen
Jacob Seen was one of the disaster managers in charge of the COVID-19 response in the Rotterdam- Rijnmond region, as well as within the National Operational Coordination Center in Zeist, the Netherlands.
In addition, "Sjaak" has more than 40 years of experience as Emergency Manager in Disaster and Crisis and he has designed Emergency Operations Centers of the latest technology.
"Sjaak" is a team member of UNDAC and has long-time experience in facilitating and training at UN/UNDAC/OCHA Environmental Emergency courses.

Verena Lahousen
Verena Lahousen has a background in law and international relations, and she is both consulting, and teaching conflict management at university level.
She is a passionate mediator, trainer and coach, who believes in attitudinal change through experiential learning.
Verena has served with the UN in-country missions in Sub-Saharan Africa, the Balkans, The South Caucasus, and the Middle East.

Gert Teder
Gerd Teder is an expert in Search and Rescue (SAR), Urban Search and Rescue (USAR), as well as newest technology for first response and Fire Rescue Systems.
Gerd is the Team Leader of the Estonian Search and Rescue Team and a renowned member of UNDAC and EU Civil Protection Teams.

Dr. Odeda Benin-Goren
Odeda Benin-Goren is our Senior Consultant for Emergency Preparedness, Assessment and Coordination in Disasters (Emergency Medical Systems).
Odeda is the Academic Coordinator at the Center for Emergency Response Research (PREPARED) at the Ben Gurion University in Beer Sheva, Israel.

Louis Boshoff
Louis Boshoff has worked for the WFP in the Global Logistics Cluster in various conflict-affected and fragile states, developing and implementing large and high-profile emergency logistics and supply chain programs.
Louis is an Emergency Response and Operations manager who works with emergency actors to get supply chain, inter-agency coordination and service delivery projects done.

Franklin Babila Doh
Franklin Babila Doh has a broad experience on human security topics, with a focus on disaster risk management and humanitarian assistance.
Frank has been working for the Pan African Institute for Development in the last 5 years and is currently employed within the West Africa Division as Deputy Center Coordinator.

Marc Devalckeneer
Marc Devalckeneer spent his life with the famous B-Fast Team and the Belgium military.
In missions around the whole world, Marc was a key element in the response to both natural and man-made disasters and was therefore selected to support the NATO Emergency Response Missions.
Marc is a certified Logistic Instructor who has been working for, inter alia, the International Humanitarian Partnership, the Global Logistic Cluster, EU, CP Mechanism and in the Camp Coordination structures of the United Nations.

Michael Halwachs
Michael Halwachs is an expert on critical infrastructure management and communication technologies.
Michael has long standing expertise in local and community level capacity building for disaster resilience. He is also an experienced HSSE Manager.

Harshita Bisht
Harshita Bisht is an Environment and Public Policy professional with expertise in project management, research and knowledge development in DRR, climate adaptation and resilience sector
Harshita is an expert in institutional reforms, capacity building, knowledge sharing, peer to peer learning & evaluation as well as learning across developing countries.

Suresh Raj Pandit
Suresh Raj Pandit is an expert in Emergency Management and Coordination.
Suresh is specialised in Emergency program planning, including preparedness, multi-sector response, recovery, coordination and capacity building of humanitarian partners and government agencies

Marla Nykyri
Marla Nykyri is an expert in Emergency Medicine with long-standing hands-on field experience with infectious diseases.
She is also a renowned trainer with years of experience in conducting courses, exercises and activities for, inter alia, European Civil Protection Mechanism, Red Cross, WHO and ICP.
Marla has been working also with the COVID-19 Emergency Response as Human Resources Coordinator in Kuala Lumpur.

Ólafur Loftsson
Olafur Loftson is an expert in USAR and a renowned trainer in search and rescue. He is specialised in International Mountain Rescue and Ice Climbing.
Olafur is also a Harvard-certified Negotiation and Mediation Expert.

Andrew Bradley
Our expert in, inter alia, Crisis Planning and Humanitarian Emergency Response, Andrew is also a Certified Emergency Manager within the International Association of Emergency Managers.
Andrew has long-standing expertise in emergency response across Africa, Asia, Europe and the Middle East, within the private sector (operational and corporate), national governments and international non-governmental humanitarian response entities.
Andrew is also part in capacity teams for international organisations as both an Emergency Specialist and Humanitarian Affairs Officer. In addition, he is on duty-call for the Swedish Civil Contingencies Agency, the Canadian International Civilian Response Corps, the Norwegian Refugee Council and ShelterBox International.

James Ritchie
James Ritchie has diverse senior leadership experience from the public, private and not-for-profit sectors. He worked with, inter alia, international development, environment, water, Australian State Government Public Service, community mental health and mining sectors.
James has held various Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management responsibilities throughout his career, in particular executive accountability for fire and flood response, counter terrorism planning and emergency evacuation.

Esther Barbara Kanini Njiru
Esther Barbara Kanini Njiru is an expert in Urban Development Research and Data Analysis with key skills in, inter alia, Spatial and Land Use planning, GIS and Remote Sensing Data Collection, integration of Climate Information into National Adaptation Plans, etc.
Esther has a long-lasting experience in Database Support for UN-Habitat and is specialized in using a range of image interpretation software such as ArcGis, TerrSet, Erdas Imagine for geospatial data analysis and modelling.
Esther is a highly experienced expert on urban planning for disaster risk reduction, with a focus on data management, capacity building and urban development.

Raman Madan
Disaster Technology
Raman Madan is an expert in Emergency, Crisis and Disaster Management since 2001.
Raman is also a trainer and has conducted over 300 courses, exercises and table-tops at all levels: operational, tactical and strategic.
Raman has international expertise, gained through his work as a coordination and assessment expert for the European Civil Protection Mechanism, and as project manager of the European Modular Field Hospital.
Raman has developed the Emergency Management App & Platform, aimed at supporting organisations with a software tool for their operational staff.

Martin Fisher
Martin has a wide range of experience within humanitarian affairs, working with the United Nations and the International Red Cross Red Crescent Movement in different countries around the world.
Martin has been working in leading positions in fragile context, preparing local structures for emergencies as well as responding to immediate needs in a strategic way. His expertise extends from developing key partnerships with donors and ensuring information exchange for a coordinated implementation of humanitarian action as well as the possibility of establishment of structures in fragile context.
He has been working in Europe, Central Asia, Middle East and North Africa, not only as Humanitarian Affairs Officer, but also as Operations Manager, Trainer and Course Facilitator.

Andra I. Covaciu
Andra Covaciu is an expert in Human Rights, with a specific focus on vulnerable groups and international peace and security aspects.
Andra has strong expertise in the use of vulnerability research methods and offers a regional expertise in the Pacific.
She holds a MSc in Disaster Risk Management and Climate Change Adaption.

Aurelio Escobar
Aurelio is a technical architect who focuses on urban regeneration and sustainable territorial development, merging new technologies with integral and holistic project management.
He has expertise in the Latin American area, where he supported public institutions in disaster risk management and worked on a wide range of projects aimed at reducing the impact of disasters in urban areas.
Aurelio is a member of various working groups for sustainable urban regeneration, as well as in the group of specialist technicians for damage assessment after disastrous events in Spain.

Tarek Tawil
Tarek Tawil is a humanitarian practitioner specialising in the protection and support of refugees and internally displaced persons in conflict settings. He worked with the Syrian Arab Red Crescent (SARC) and the UNHCR during the conflict in Syria between 2014 and 2019 assuming various responsibilities.
Tarek also worked in Humanitarian Affairs at the Headquarters of OCHA, and at the Global Level of Camp Coordination and Camp Management Cluster. He is an expert in child protection response and humanitarian negotiations with non-state armed groups.

Claudia Pereira
Claudia Pereira is a landscape architect holding a masters in geographic information systems (GIS), with ten years of international work experience in the field of data and information management, GIS, humanitarian emergency responses, environment and climate change, in countries such as East-Timor, Iraq, Nigeria, Mozambique and Egypt.
After spending four years in East-Timor working closely with local communities in several climate-related and local development projects as an environmental consultant, she joined the UN Migration Agency (IOM) for the last seven years as a field data collection expert and project manager on internal displacement in natural disaster and conflict settings.

Arina Bešlagić
Arina has a wide experience in Coordinating humanitarian assistance during major crisis in Bosnia and Herzegovina and in the neighboring countries.
She is also an expert in the execution of international obligations and cooperation in civil protection. She worked as coordinator of activities of Civil Protection Administrations of Entities and Department for Public Safety of Brcko District in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Arina is a highly experienced expert in preparing simulations and trainings, organizaton of table top exercises, field exercises, conferences, workshops both with national institutions and international organizations.

Jorge Terrones
Jorge Terrones is a Systems Engineer with a Master's Degree in Risk, Disasters and Resilience from University College London, specializing in disaster risk reduction and operational continuity.
Jorge has 15 years of experience in the private sector and in the UN system leading projects, risk management strategies, and emergency/disaster preparedness and response policies.
In the last 7 years, Jorge has focused on the Continuity of Operations/Governance and Disaster Preparedness in Conflict Zones.
Overall, he has worked in Latin America and Caribbean, Africa, and Europe.

Julius Kaut
Julius is specialized in food and nutrition security in protracted crises and food system resilience, with a special focus on Somalia and South Sudan, and the wider Horn of Africa. He comes from a background in disaster risk management and conflict management.
Julius has previously studied and worked in Israel, Myanmar, the Philippines, the Netherlands, and Norway.
Julius is currently researching at the Zero Hunger Lab of Tilburg University on the impact of humanitarian aid on conflict dynamics in protracted crisis settings.

Anders Laukvik
Anders Laukvik is an expert in on-site disaster coordination and especially the technical side of operations management.
For 20 years, Anders was key in developing the IM and ICT support of the International Humanitarian Partnership (IHP) for UNDAC. In his daily work, Anders has, for over 20 years, been working with the Fire Department in Norway in Response including Incident Command, Dispatch and Coordination, and Fire Prevention.
As a highly experienced trainer, Anders has worked with organizations around the world. He has a specific personality as a «Peoples person», one who sees those around him, utilizes their strengths and brings calm.

Harm Bastian
As a senior civil protection expert, Harm Bastian has been the exercise director for the European Commission's EU MODEX field exercises for medical capacities and USAR modules since 2015 and has successfully led 29 of these exercises with up to 2,500 participants.
In the rescEU EMT project, he coordinates the cooperation between the consortium, which consists of eight Member and Participating States of the UCPM, and the Commission. The project comprises the development of 21 new medical rescEU capacities. In addition to project management tasks, he is responsible for the training and exercise programme for around 3,000 medical, technical and logistical experts.
From 2006 to 2020, he was deputy course director for the Assessment Mission Courses of the UCPM training programme. In addition, he has participated in numerous international missions in a leading role as a disaster management expert.

Ina Kubbe
Ina Kubbe is an Adjunct Professor at Tel Aviv University, in the Department of Political Science, Government, and International Relations, where she primarily researches and teaches in the fields of corruption, disaster and crisis management, conflict resolution and gender politics. She has more than 15 years of experience in these fields and has established herself as a recognized expert and academic specialist. She conducts extensive research and offers consultancy services to organizations such as the European Union, NATO, OECD, OSCE or UNODC. Ina is also a professor at the International Anti-Corruption Academy in Austria. She has published several books, special issues, and articles in the field and is also one of the founding members of the Interdisciplinary Corruption Research Network (ICRN) as well as the Chair of the ECPR Standing Group on "(Anti)Corruption and Integrity".

Annabella Skof
Annabella is an experienced team leader and senior expert in socio-economic crisis response specialising in market systems solutions for economic recovery in general and economic inclusion of forcibly displaced persons in general. She brings ample experience from around the world working in crisis and post-crisis settings with a focus on adopting market-based approaches. Since becoming an independent consultant, Annabella has delivered consultancy assignments for numerous multilateral organisations, INGOs and donors, typically working the humanitarian-development-peace nexus. Prior, Annabella served as Policy Advisor on Economic Recovery with the United National Development Programme’s Crisis Bureau and as the resident Socio-Economic Recovery Expert of the International Labour Organization’s Regional Office for Arab States, as part of which she led the ILO’s Syrian refugee crisis response in Lebanon. Annabella is fluent in English, German, Spanish, Italian and French and holds Master degrees in International Relations and Economics from the Johns Hopkins University, School of Advanced International Studies and in International Economic and Business Studies from the Leopold Franzens Universität Innsbruck.

Lindon Pronto
Lindon Pronto - M.Sc. (Environmental Governance) offers 20+ years of experience and expertise in wildfire management with employment, research, deployments, and remote support to/in over 30 countries in the Americas, Europe, Asia, Africa, and the Middle East. Mr. Pronto has years of operational experience as a federal wildland firefighter in California and 7 other states. In addition to working in many European projects, he has been commissioned by government agencies, NGOs, international organizations, and consulting firms, serves on national and international expert panels, and provides thematic expertise to the European Parliament, Commission, government agencies, and the private sector. As a subject matter expert with extensive communication experience, he has contributed to more than 150 international print, radio and television publications and broadcasts.

Gianluca Pescaroli
Dr. Gianluca Pescaroli is an Associate Professor in Operational Continuity and Organisational Resilience at University College London (UCL). His research focuses on improving operational continuity during disruptive events and increasing resilience in public and private sectors. He co-founded UCL's Research Group on Cascading Disasters in 2016 and has contributed to strategic documents for the UN and European Commission. In 2024, he became a scientific advisor for the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction. Dr. Pescaroli leads the EU Horizon Europe project "AGILE" and is involved in international consortia funded by organizations like the European Space Agency and UK Research and Innovation. His work bridges academia and practice, addressing complex challenges such as cascading risks and critical infrastructure failures.

Martin Bjerregaard
Martin is a debris and solid waste management expert with more than 30 years’ experience in post-conflict and post-disaster programmes as well as preparedness planning. Martin has supported governments in debris preparedness planning in Bangladesh, Gaza, Iraq, USA, EU countries, among others. Latest initiatives include methane reduction works within solid waste management systems to reduce negative impact of waste on climate by reducing open burning and improving landfill/dumpsite management.
Martin is co-author on the OCHA/UNEP “Disaster Waste Management Guidelines” and has delivered numerous training packages and guidelines for disaster debris and waste management on behalf of UNDAC, UNDP, MSB, UNEP, UNOPS, UNMIK and the EU.

Alexander Held
Alexander Held (M.Sc. in Forest Science), started as a fire ecologist in the Fire Ecology Group of the Max Planck Society in 2001 and gained a number of operational qualifications in the USA and South Africa. He switched from fire ecology to fire management and worked with the Global Fire Monitoring Centre GFMC in Europe and Southern Africa. Held later worked with the South African Working on Fire program from its inception until 2012 when he moved to the European Forest Institute (EFI). Alexander Held is active as a subject matter expert in a number of national and international expert committees and fire missions.

Adrian Butnaru
Adrian is a specialist in ICTs and the maritime sector. He founded and managed Smart Vision since 2020, a networking platform that unites diverse actors in the maritime transportation value chain, including corporates, startups, universities, and vocational education organizations, to promote technology adoption and innovation. He worked with Prepared International (PPI) since 2020 as an Expert in Resilience through Technology, offering critical advice on leveraging technology to enhance the resilience of the maritime sector. His expertise has been instrumental in the Global Maritime Preparedness Program (GMPP) and technical assistance projects, such as ICT utilization for road transport network vulnerability assessment in Serbia. Work focuses on maintaining port functionality despite disasters, ensuring the continuity of critical infrastructure, and preparing maritime sectors for various disruptions.

Renta Sanxhaku
Renta graduated as a medical doctor from the University of Tirana in 2012, and later specialized in endocrinology and diabetes, completing her residency in 2019. She now works as an endocrinologist, focusing on thyroid disease, diabetes, and metabolic disorders. Additionally, since 2018, she has been a part-time lecturer at the University of Medicine in Tirana, teaching Pathophysiology. She actively participates in health projects, both domestically and internationally, aimed at preventing and treating endocrine diseases.

Daniel Mendez
Daniel is a risk and crisis expert with over 15 years of experience in security, crisis, and disaster management, focusing on Belize, the Caribbean region, and more broadly on SIDS. With a BSc in Management Studies from the University of the West Indies, he worked on various initiatives; Daniel co-authored the Belize Joint Sexual Violence Prevention and Response Programme in the Belize Security Forces context, and contributed to UNICEF's Protocol for the Integrated Protection of Children and Adolescents in Disaster Situations in Belize. Daniel also developed a Climate Resilience Curriculum Training Program for the Construction Sector for the Belize Chamber of Commerce and Industry. As a commissioned officer in the Belize Defence Force, he serves as the Belize Regional Coordinator for the University of Leicester’s Avoidable Deaths Network, and holds the position of National Emergency Coordinator in Belize since June 2023.

Sandra Milkovic
Sandra is an international professional with over 13 years of focused expertise in EP&R, especially in extremely fragile and conflict heavy environments like Palestine and Israel, Iraq, Mali among others. Sandra worked for WFP actively contributing to various EP&R initiatives, supporting the organization's global crisis management efforts. Her deployments to crisis contexts in Ghana, Mali, and Palestine have showcased her ability to navigate complex humanitarian situations effectively. Previously, Sandra worked at the United Nations Resident Coordinator's office in Jerusalem, where she supported humanitarian access efforts across the region. Her career began as a Middle East Correspondent for a Croatian daily newspaper, providing her with a unique blend of media experience and fieldwork. Sandra holds an MA in International Relations from Hebrew University of Jerusalem and a BA in Political Science.

Roger Valberg
Roger Valberg is a highly experienced fire expert and professional firefighter of 35+ years, leader of the Stockholm Fire & Rescue, and Team Leader for the former Swedish INSARAG Swift team. He is among the most senior trainers of the EU Civil Protection Mechanism and a highly experienced USAR expert and has supported numerous missions in disaster regions. Mr. Valberg has trained firefighters globally to take on new topics like CBRN and USAR and been a senior trainer for large scale disasters training exercises like the Professional Dialogue Exercise (Jordan/Palestine/Israel) and in Southeast Europe (ResponSEE).
Projects/Missions (select): Team leader, HCP, Sweden for wildfires (current); EU instructor in Montenegro, HNS for wildfires (2022/23) (EU); 2022: Evacuation from Afghanistan; 2019: Croatia, Modex, Wildfires Trainer; 2018 deployment of international helicopters for wildfire support (EU); 2016: Bangladesh technical advisor for UN; 2012/13: Palestine, Lead Trainer, development of USAR capacity (MSB)

Fernanda Lammoglia
Fernanda is a Mexican engineer, consultant and researcher who works as a Research Associate on Systemic and Transition Risks at the Cambridge Centre for Risk Studies. With a background in Biotechnology Engineering and Information & Communication Technologies (ICT) for Development & Social Good, she has previously worked in Technology Innovation, Disaster Risk Management (DRM) and Emergency Preparedness & Response (EP&R) consulting. She is interested in the application of Geospatial Technologies (remote sensing, GEOINT), Open-Source Investigations and Intelligence for emergencies, search-and-rescue (SAR), humanitarian action and conflict.

Rade Rajkovchevski
Dr. Rade Rajkovchevski holds the position of Full Professor in Policing and Disaster Management in the St. Kliment Ohridski University (N.Macedonia). Commencing his academic journey in 2006, he transitioned from a background encompassing service in the military, civil protection, and private security within Southeast Europe and France. He earned his military officer credentials at the Military Academy in Skopje (2002), master's thesis in national security policy and conflict prevention (2010) and PhD in European police cooperation (2013).
His extensive expertise extends to roles as a researcher, exercise evaluator, and expert in numerous projects and initiatives funded by the EU, World Bank, Council of Europe, UN agencies, GIZ, MARRI Regional Center and other organizations. Recently, he was appointed as the Head of the DPPI SEE Secretariat, to lead it for the next three years (2024-2027).

Samban Seng
Samban is an esteemed expert in DRR, CCA, and Emergency Management with over 23 years of experience across a spectrum of high-profile organizations and roles, from grassroots to international levels such as IFRC, Plan International, Save the Children International, UNDP, Caritas UK, World Bank, AIMF, and many more development and humanitarian organizations, including government NDMOs. His expertise encompasses preparedness, response, recovery, and resilience strategies, with a strong focus on gender and inclusion mainstreaming, child-centered approaches, and multi-stakeholder coordination. Samban's significant contributions include developing guidelines, leading emergency simulations, and supporting policy and plan development, leading humanitarian operation management, and Organizational Capacity Development. In recent years, Samban has also entered into urban resilience and emergency management, establishing himself as a key player in enhancing disaster resilience and management capacities in Southeast Asia and beyond.

Gonzalo Velasco
Gonzalo Velasco has 15 years of experience working in the fire services. He holds a bachelor’s degree in international relations and is currently pursuing a Master's degree in Business Economics. In the international arena, he has been deployed with the Spanish EMT to Mozambique (2019) and Turkiye (2023) as a logistician. Gonzalo is part of the EUCPT and has worked as an expert evaluator in the H2020 program within the European Research Executive Agency. He is a member of UNDAC, and he has complemented his involvement with OCHA through his work as an intern and consultant within the Emergency Response Section in the UNDAC global team.

Tom Harbour
Tom is a recognized expert in wildland fire and aviation management policy and operations. His over fifty year career spans public service and private industry. He has engaged with varied organizations before, during, and after crises.
Tom offers trusted counsel and advice on wildland fire issues as well as policy and organizational issues. He has engaged with wildland fire problems in many areas around the world.

Maria Katajisko
Maria is a humanitarian affairs and disaster management specialist with a wide range of UN, EU, International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement (RCRC), governmental and non-governmental experience in Europe, Asia, Africa and the Middle East.
She’s a UNDAC and UCPM member and her areas of expertise include humanitarian coordination, emergency preparedness and response, disaster risk reduction (DRR), resilience building, food security and livelihoods (FSL).

Ben Sims
Ben Sims has 13 years of experience advising governments across Asia and the Pacific on addressing climate change. His work has included designing institutional frameworks and strategies for improving climate finance access and utilization, undertaking climate risk and adaptation assessments, developing guidelines and building capacity, and providing support to achieve disaster risk reduction and loss and damage action. He has been engaged as a consultant for the World Bank, ADB, UN agencies, Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI), Government of New Zealand, Commonwealth Secretariat and SPREP, and previously worked as a staff member for GGGI.

Magnus Eriksson
Magnus has been working with flood related matters for many years both in national and international context, for instance as an expert in several of the flood related IPA projects in the Balkan countries and Turkey. Magnus is part of Swedish Civil Contingencies Agency ́s (MSB) roster as a Team Leader for MSB flood containment and high-capacity pumping modules. He is also an experienced expert on Host Nation Support and trained as an expert for EU Civil Protection Teams. In his daily job Magnus works as a fire protection engineer and regional incident commander at a fire & rescue service, focusing on flood emergency response and prevention measures at municipal level. He is currently involved with adaption to climate changes due to sea level rise, storm surges, and torrential rain.

Alexander Skinner
Alexander Skinner is a crisis management specialist with ten years’ experience. He has enhanced the crisis preparedness of governments and organizations across the UK, Canada, the Middle East, and North and East Africa through training, exercising, crisis planning and programming. Most recently, Alexander has focused on preparedness and risk reduction in climate change and terrorism.
During crises, Alexander has led multiple teams delivering frontline responses and teams at headquarter offices in the UK and Canada.
Alexander designed the Canadian Government's After Action Review process for international emergency responses, with a focus on isomorphic learning and embedding knowledge.

Dr. Albrecht A. Beck
Abrecht Beck is a Disaster Management and Preparedness Expert who has been working hands-on in the field for the last 13 years as a UNDAC team member.
The organisations and institutions that have benefited from Albrecht's expertise are, inter alia, IOM, UN-DPKO and the Competence Center for Disaster Risk Diplomacy.
In response to the 2015 Nepal earthquake, Albrecht identified the need to strengthen the preparedness of states and territories, cities, corporations and communities to prevent or mitigate the impact of calamities and thus, founded Prepared International.

Marc Arnold
Marc Arnold is a Climate Change Adaptation Expert with a long-standing experience in Small Island Developing States (SIDS).
He gained hands-on experience in disaster response and international relief coordination in the aftermath of Hurricane Irma and during EU funded regional programs in the field of coastal protection and Disaster Risk Reduction Initiatives beyond the Caribbean Region.
For more than 20 years, Marc worked in the public sector as both manager and senior advisor on ministerial level for the governments of the Netherlands and Sint Maarten.

Antonia Vignolo
With an academic background in climate change and migration management and 4 years of experience in this field, Antonia has successfully managed projects on climate change adaptation, nature-based conservation solutions, forced displacement and protection, as well as broader disaster risk management (DRM) and emergency preparedness and response (EP&R). Antonia initially worked at UN OCHA in the EP&R section on the UNDAC team before joining Prepared International as a project consultant. She then took on various project management roles, including an EP&R capacities assessment in Belize addressing key challenges facing SIDS, cross-border contingency planning in Ghana, developing a capacity development plan for DRR and CCA in Bulgaria, and creating a Host Nation Support system in Iceland, while delivering related training sessions.
Antonia gained experience in Asia working on community preparedness in remote Himalayan areas of Nepal, and in the Middle East contributing to the Professional Dialogue full-scale exercise in Jordan, Israel, and Palestine. She has also worked on the Pacific region, specifically on Vanuatu and Tuvalu. Her passion lies in supporting vulnerable communities and countries to become more resilient in the face of climate change. In her free time, Antonia enjoys discovering hidden gems in her current home of Portugal's Algarve region, volunteering for Safe Communities Portugal, and playing padel.

Vlatko Jovanovski
Vlatko Jovanovski is a senior disaster management expert. He started as a military officer in North Macedonia but acomplished himself professionally in the civil protection arena. He brings relevant working experience in both working for the government of North Macedonia where he covered various positions starting from local inspector for rescue and protection and ending up as Head of department for international relations. In 2016 he moved to the UNICEF office in North Macedonia as a emergency field coordinator overseeing the response activities in relation to the refugee crisis. During the time with UNICEF he supported the Regional office for Europe and Central Asia in promoting the new policy guidance on Emergency Preparedness. In that context he designed and delivered trainings to all UNICEF offices in Europe and Central Asia on the new policy. One additional task with UNICEF office that he directly supported was drafting of the Climate Landscape Analysis for Children in North Macedonia. During his second short term consultancy period with UNICEF during the COVID-19 response in 2020, he supported the analysis of the schools in North Macedonia in terms of their WASH facilities ans supported the project on infrastructure improvements of the schools and Early Childhood Development centers. He holds a masters in disaster management from the University of Copenhagen and Diploma on Business Continuity Planing from the New Buckinghamshire University in the UK. His last post before joining Prepared International was with Disaster Preparedness and Prevention Initiative for South Eastern Europe (DPPI SEE) located in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina where he was heading the Secretariat of this regional initiative for 6 years.

Gudrun Van Pottelbergh
Gudrun Van Pottelberg has wide expertise on Crisis Management, Emergency Preparedness and Response.
For the last fifteen years, she has been providing both research, training and evaluation to a broad range of crisis management actors, such as the UN or OSCE, governmental agencies, civil societies and academic institutions.

Dr. Robert Spiegel
Robert Spiegel is an expert in Disaster Management and Emergency Health.
For the last 14 years, Robert has been working with UNDAC teams around the world and is the medicine man of SARUV-International Search and Rescue Vorarlberg.
Robert has enormous expertise in emergency medicine and his hardwork in ensuring access to basic medical care to rural areas in, inter alia, Southeastern Africa.

Jakob (Sjaak) Seen
Jacob Seen was one of the disaster managers in charge of the COVID-19 response in the Rotterdam- Rijnmond region, as well as within the National Operational Coordination Center in Zeist, the Netherlands.
In addition, "Sjaak" has more than 40 years of experience as Emergency Manager in Disaster and Crisis and he has designed Emergency Operations Centers of the latest technology.
"Sjaak" is a team member of UNDAC and has long-time experience in facilitating and training at UN/UNDAC/OCHA Environmental Emergency courses.

Verena Lahousen
Verena Lahousen has a background in law and international relations, and she is both consulting, and teaching conflict management at university level.
She is a passionate mediator, trainer and coach, who believes in attitudinal change through experiential learning.
Verena has served with the UN in-country missions in Sub-Saharan Africa, the Balkans, The South Caucasus, and the Middle East.

Gert Teder
Gerd Teder is an expert in Search and Rescue (SAR), Urban Search and Rescue (USAR), as well as newest technology for first response and Fire Rescue Systems.
Gerd is the Team Leader of the Estonian Search and Rescue Team and a renowned member of UNDAC and EU Civil Protection Teams.

Dr. Odeda Benin-Goren
Odeda Benin-Goren is our Senior Consultant for Emergency Preparedness, Assessment and Coordination in Disasters (Emergency Medical Systems).
Odeda is the Academic Coordinator at the Center for Emergency Response Research (PREPARED) at the Ben Gurion University in Beer Sheva, Israel.

Louis Boshoff
Louis Boshoff has worked for the WFP in the Global Logistics Cluster in various conflict-affected and fragile states, developing and implementing large and high-profile emergency logistics and supply chain programs.
Louis is an Emergency Response and Operations manager who works with emergency actors to get supply chain, inter-agency coordination and service delivery projects done.

Franklin Babila Doh
Franklin Babila Doh has a broad experience on human security topics, with a focus on disaster risk management and humanitarian assistance.
Frank has been working for the Pan African Institute for Development in the last 5 years and is currently employed within the West Africa Division as Deputy Center Coordinator.

Marc Devalckeneer
Marc Devalckeneer spent his life with the famous B-Fast Team and the Belgium military.
In missions around the whole world, Marc was a key element in the response to both natural and man-made disasters and was therefore selected to support the NATO Emergency Response Missions.
Marc is a certified Logistic Instructor who has been working for, inter alia, the International Humanitarian Partnership, the Global Logistic Cluster, EU, CP Mechanism and in the Camp Coordination structures of the United Nations.

Michael Halwachs
Michael Halwachs is an expert on critical infrastructure management and communication technologies.
Michael has long standing expertise in local and community level capacity building for disaster resilience. He is also an experienced HSSE Manager.

Harshita Bisht
Harshita Bisht is an Environment and Public Policy professional with expertise in project management, research and knowledge development in DRR, climate adaptation and resilience sector
Harshita is an expert in institutional reforms, capacity building, knowledge sharing, peer to peer learning & evaluation as well as learning across developing countries.

Suresh Raj Pandit
Suresh Raj Pandit is an expert in Emergency Management and Coordination.
Suresh is specialised in Emergency program planning, including preparedness, multi-sector response, recovery, coordination and capacity building of humanitarian partners and government agencies

Marla Nykyri
Marla Nykyri is an expert in Emergency Medicine with long-standing hands-on field experience with infectious diseases.
She is also a renowned trainer with years of experience in conducting courses, exercises and activities for, inter alia, European Civil Protection Mechanism, Red Cross, WHO and ICP.
Marla has been working also with the COVID-19 Emergency Response as Human Resources Coordinator in Kuala Lumpur.

Ólafur Loftsson
Olafur Loftson is an expert in USAR and a renowned trainer in search and rescue. He is specialised in International Mountain Rescue and Ice Climbing.
Olafur is also a Harvard-certified Negotiation and Mediation Expert.

Andrew Bradley
Our expert in, inter alia, Crisis Planning and Humanitarian Emergency Response, Andrew is also a Certified Emergency Manager within the International Association of Emergency Managers.
Andrew has long-standing expertise in emergency response across Africa, Asia, Europe and the Middle East, within the private sector (operational and corporate), national governments and international non-governmental humanitarian response entities.
Andrew is also part in capacity teams for international organisations as both an Emergency Specialist and Humanitarian Affairs Officer. In addition, he is on duty-call for the Swedish Civil Contingencies Agency, the Canadian International Civilian Response Corps, the Norwegian Refugee Council and ShelterBox International.

James Ritchie
James Ritchie has diverse senior leadership experience from the public, private and not-for-profit sectors. He worked with, inter alia, international development, environment, water, Australian State Government Public Service, community mental health and mining sectors.
James has held various Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management responsibilities throughout his career, in particular executive accountability for fire and flood response, counter terrorism planning and emergency evacuation.

Esther Barbara Kanini Njiru
Esther Barbara Kanini Njiru is an expert in Urban Development Research and Data Analysis with key skills in, inter alia, Spatial and Land Use planning, GIS and Remote Sensing Data Collection, integration of Climate Information into National Adaptation Plans, etc.
Esther has a long-lasting experience in Database Support for UN-Habitat and is specialized in using a range of image interpretation software such as ArcGis, TerrSet, Erdas Imagine for geospatial data analysis and modelling.
Esther is a highly experienced expert on urban planning for disaster risk reduction, with a focus on data management, capacity building and urban development.

Raman Madan
Disaster Technology
Raman Madan is an expert in Emergency, Crisis and Disaster Management since 2001.
Raman is also a trainer and has conducted over 300 courses, exercises and table-tops at all levels: operational, tactical and strategic.
Raman has international expertise, gained through his work as a coordination and assessment expert for the European Civil Protection Mechanism, and as project manager of the European Modular Field Hospital.
Raman has developed the Emergency Management App & Platform, aimed at supporting organisations with a software tool for their operational staff.

Martin Fisher
Martin has a wide range of experience within humanitarian affairs, working with the United Nations and the International Red Cross Red Crescent Movement in different countries around the world.
Martin has been working in leading positions in fragile context, preparing local structures for emergencies as well as responding to immediate needs in a strategic way. His expertise extends from developing key partnerships with donors and ensuring information exchange for a coordinated implementation of humanitarian action as well as the possibility of establishment of structures in fragile context.
He has been working in Europe, Central Asia, Middle East and North Africa, not only as Humanitarian Affairs Officer, but also as Operations Manager, Trainer and Course Facilitator.

Andra I. Covaciu
Andra Covaciu is an expert in Human Rights, with a specific focus on vulnerable groups and international peace and security aspects.
Andra has strong expertise in the use of vulnerability research methods and offers a regional expertise in the Pacific.
She holds a MSc in Disaster Risk Management and Climate Change Adaption.

Aurelio Escobar
Aurelio is a technical architect who focuses on urban regeneration and sustainable territorial development, merging new technologies with integral and holistic project management.
He has expertise in the Latin American area, where he supported public institutions in disaster risk management and worked on a wide range of projects aimed at reducing the impact of disasters in urban areas.
Aurelio is a member of various working groups for sustainable urban regeneration, as well as in the group of specialist technicians for damage assessment after disastrous events in Spain.

Tarek Tawil
Tarek Tawil is a humanitarian practitioner specialising in the protection and support of refugees and internally displaced persons in conflict settings. He worked with the Syrian Arab Red Crescent (SARC) and the UNHCR during the conflict in Syria between 2014 and 2019 assuming various responsibilities.
Tarek also worked in Humanitarian Affairs at the Headquarters of OCHA, and at the Global Level of Camp Coordination and Camp Management Cluster. He is an expert in child protection response and humanitarian negotiations with non-state armed groups.

Claudia Pereira
Claudia Pereira is a landscape architect holding a masters in geographic information systems (GIS), with ten years of international work experience in the field of data and information management, GIS, humanitarian emergency responses, environment and climate change, in countries such as East-Timor, Iraq, Nigeria, Mozambique and Egypt.
After spending four years in East-Timor working closely with local communities in several climate-related and local development projects as an environmental consultant, she joined the UN Migration Agency (IOM) for the last seven years as a field data collection expert and project manager on internal displacement in natural disaster and conflict settings.

Arina Bešlagić
Arina has a wide experience in Coordinating humanitarian assistance during major crisis in Bosnia and Herzegovina and in the neighboring countries.
She is also an expert in the execution of international obligations and cooperation in civil protection. She worked as coordinator of activities of Civil Protection Administrations of Entities and Department for Public Safety of Brcko District in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Arina is a highly experienced expert in preparing simulations and trainings, organizaton of table top exercises, field exercises, conferences, workshops both with national institutions and international organizations.

Jorge Terrones
Jorge Terrones is a Systems Engineer with a Master's Degree in Risk, Disasters and Resilience from University College London, specializing in disaster risk reduction and operational continuity.
Jorge has 15 years of experience in the private sector and in the UN system leading projects, risk management strategies, and emergency/disaster preparedness and response policies.
In the last 7 years, Jorge has focused on the Continuity of Operations/Governance and Disaster Preparedness in Conflict Zones.
Overall, he has worked in Latin America and Caribbean, Africa, and Europe.

Julius Kaut
Julius is specialized in food and nutrition security in protracted crises and food system resilience, with a special focus on Somalia and South Sudan, and the wider Horn of Africa. He comes from a background in disaster risk management and conflict management.
Julius has previously studied and worked in Israel, Myanmar, the Philippines, the Netherlands, and Norway.
Julius is currently researching at the Zero Hunger Lab of Tilburg University on the impact of humanitarian aid on conflict dynamics in protracted crisis settings.

Anders Laukvik
Anders Laukvik is an expert in on-site disaster coordination and especially the technical side of operations management.
For 20 years, Anders was key in developing the IM and ICT support of the International Humanitarian Partnership (IHP) for UNDAC. In his daily work, Anders has, for over 20 years, been working with the Fire Department in Norway in Response including Incident Command, Dispatch and Coordination, and Fire Prevention.
As a highly experienced trainer, Anders has worked with organizations around the world. He has a specific personality as a «Peoples person», one who sees those around him, utilizes their strengths and brings calm.

Harm Bastian
As a senior civil protection expert, Harm Bastian has been the exercise director for the European Commission's EU MODEX field exercises for medical capacities and USAR modules since 2015 and has successfully led 29 of these exercises with up to 2,500 participants.
In the rescEU EMT project, he coordinates the cooperation between the consortium, which consists of eight Member and Participating States of the UCPM, and the Commission. The project comprises the development of 21 new medical rescEU capacities. In addition to project management tasks, he is responsible for the training and exercise programme for around 3,000 medical, technical and logistical experts.
From 2006 to 2020, he was deputy course director for the Assessment Mission Courses of the UCPM training programme. In addition, he has participated in numerous international missions in a leading role as a disaster management expert.

Ina Kubbe
Ina Kubbe is an Adjunct Professor at Tel Aviv University, in the Department of Political Science, Government, and International Relations, where she primarily researches and teaches in the fields of corruption, disaster and crisis management, conflict resolution and gender politics. She has more than 15 years of experience in these fields and has established herself as a recognized expert and academic specialist. She conducts extensive research and offers consultancy services to organizations such as the European Union, NATO, OECD, OSCE or UNODC. Ina is also a professor at the International Anti-Corruption Academy in Austria. She has published several books, special issues, and articles in the field and is also one of the founding members of the Interdisciplinary Corruption Research Network (ICRN) as well as the Chair of the ECPR Standing Group on "(Anti)Corruption and Integrity".

Annabella Skof
Annabella is an experienced team leader and senior expert in socio-economic crisis response specialising in market systems solutions for economic recovery in general and economic inclusion of forcibly displaced persons in general. She brings ample experience from around the world working in crisis and post-crisis settings with a focus on adopting market-based approaches. Since becoming an independent consultant, Annabella has delivered consultancy assignments for numerous multilateral organisations, INGOs and donors, typically working the humanitarian-development-peace nexus. Prior, Annabella served as Policy Advisor on Economic Recovery with the United National Development Programme’s Crisis Bureau and as the resident Socio-Economic Recovery Expert of the International Labour Organization’s Regional Office for Arab States, as part of which she led the ILO’s Syrian refugee crisis response in Lebanon. Annabella is fluent in English, German, Spanish, Italian and French and holds Master degrees in International Relations and Economics from the Johns Hopkins University, School of Advanced International Studies and in International Economic and Business Studies from the Leopold Franzens Universität Innsbruck.

Lindon Pronto
Lindon Pronto - M.Sc. (Environmental Governance) offers 20+ years of experience and expertise in wildfire management with employment, research, deployments, and remote support to/in over 30 countries in the Americas, Europe, Asia, Africa, and the Middle East. Mr. Pronto has years of operational experience as a federal wildland firefighter in California and 7 other states. In addition to working in many European projects, he has been commissioned by government agencies, NGOs, international organizations, and consulting firms, serves on national and international expert panels, and provides thematic expertise to the European Parliament, Commission, government agencies, and the private sector. As a subject matter expert with extensive communication experience, he has contributed to more than 150 international print, radio and television publications and broadcasts.

Gianluca Pescaroli
Dr. Gianluca Pescaroli is an Associate Professor in Operational Continuity and Organisational Resilience at University College London (UCL). His research focuses on improving operational continuity during disruptive events and increasing resilience in public and private sectors. He co-founded UCL's Research Group on Cascading Disasters in 2016 and has contributed to strategic documents for the UN and European Commission. In 2024, he became a scientific advisor for the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction. Dr. Pescaroli leads the EU Horizon Europe project "AGILE" and is involved in international consortia funded by organizations like the European Space Agency and UK Research and Innovation. His work bridges academia and practice, addressing complex challenges such as cascading risks and critical infrastructure failures.

Martin Bjerregaard
Martin is a debris and solid waste management expert with more than 30 years’ experience in post-conflict and post-disaster programmes as well as preparedness planning. Martin has supported governments in debris preparedness planning in Bangladesh, Gaza, Iraq, USA, EU countries, among others. Latest initiatives include methane reduction works within solid waste management systems to reduce negative impact of waste on climate by reducing open burning and improving landfill/dumpsite management.
Martin is co-author on the OCHA/UNEP “Disaster Waste Management Guidelines” and has delivered numerous training packages and guidelines for disaster debris and waste management on behalf of UNDAC, UNDP, MSB, UNEP, UNOPS, UNMIK and the EU.

Alexander Held
Alexander Held (M.Sc. in Forest Science), started as a fire ecologist in the Fire Ecology Group of the Max Planck Society in 2001 and gained a number of operational qualifications in the USA and South Africa. He switched from fire ecology to fire management and worked with the Global Fire Monitoring Centre GFMC in Europe and Southern Africa. Held later worked with the South African Working on Fire program from its inception until 2012 when he moved to the European Forest Institute (EFI). Alexander Held is active as a subject matter expert in a number of national and international expert committees and fire missions.

Adrian Butnaru
Adrian is a specialist in ICTs and the maritime sector. He founded and managed Smart Vision since 2020, a networking platform that unites diverse actors in the maritime transportation value chain, including corporates, startups, universities, and vocational education organizations, to promote technology adoption and innovation. He worked with Prepared International (PPI) since 2020 as an Expert in Resilience through Technology, offering critical advice on leveraging technology to enhance the resilience of the maritime sector. His expertise has been instrumental in the Global Maritime Preparedness Program (GMPP) and technical assistance projects, such as ICT utilization for road transport network vulnerability assessment in Serbia. Work focuses on maintaining port functionality despite disasters, ensuring the continuity of critical infrastructure, and preparing maritime sectors for various disruptions.

Renta Sanxhaku
Renta graduated as a medical doctor from the University of Tirana in 2012, and later specialized in endocrinology and diabetes, completing her residency in 2019. She now works as an endocrinologist, focusing on thyroid disease, diabetes, and metabolic disorders. Additionally, since 2018, she has been a part-time lecturer at the University of Medicine in Tirana, teaching Pathophysiology. She actively participates in health projects, both domestically and internationally, aimed at preventing and treating endocrine diseases.

Daniel Mendez
Daniel is a risk and crisis expert with over 15 years of experience in security, crisis, and disaster management, focusing on Belize, the Caribbean region, and more broadly on SIDS. With a BSc in Management Studies from the University of the West Indies, he worked on various initiatives; Daniel co-authored the Belize Joint Sexual Violence Prevention and Response Programme in the Belize Security Forces context, and contributed to UNICEF's Protocol for the Integrated Protection of Children and Adolescents in Disaster Situations in Belize. Daniel also developed a Climate Resilience Curriculum Training Program for the Construction Sector for the Belize Chamber of Commerce and Industry. As a commissioned officer in the Belize Defence Force, he serves as the Belize Regional Coordinator for the University of Leicester’s Avoidable Deaths Network, and holds the position of National Emergency Coordinator in Belize since June 2023.

Sandra Milkovic
Sandra is an international professional with over 13 years of focused expertise in EP&R, especially in extremely fragile and conflict heavy environments like Palestine and Israel, Iraq, Mali among others. Sandra worked for WFP actively contributing to various EP&R initiatives, supporting the organization's global crisis management efforts. Her deployments to crisis contexts in Ghana, Mali, and Palestine have showcased her ability to navigate complex humanitarian situations effectively. Previously, Sandra worked at the United Nations Resident Coordinator's office in Jerusalem, where she supported humanitarian access efforts across the region. Her career began as a Middle East Correspondent for a Croatian daily newspaper, providing her with a unique blend of media experience and fieldwork. Sandra holds an MA in International Relations from Hebrew University of Jerusalem and a BA in Political Science.

Roger Valberg
Roger Valberg is a highly experienced fire expert and professional firefighter of 35+ years, leader of the Stockholm Fire & Rescue, and Team Leader for the former Swedish INSARAG Swift team. He is among the most senior trainers of the EU Civil Protection Mechanism and a highly experienced USAR expert and has supported numerous missions in disaster regions. Mr. Valberg has trained firefighters globally to take on new topics like CBRN and USAR and been a senior trainer for large scale disasters training exercises like the Professional Dialogue Exercise (Jordan/Palestine/Israel) and in Southeast Europe (ResponSEE).
Projects/Missions (select): Team leader, HCP, Sweden for wildfires (current); EU instructor in Montenegro, HNS for wildfires (2022/23) (EU); 2022: Evacuation from Afghanistan; 2019: Croatia, Modex, Wildfires Trainer; 2018 deployment of international helicopters for wildfire support (EU); 2016: Bangladesh technical advisor for UN; 2012/13: Palestine, Lead Trainer, development of USAR capacity (MSB)

Fernanda Lammoglia
Fernanda is a Mexican engineer, consultant and researcher who works as a Research Associate on Systemic and Transition Risks at the Cambridge Centre for Risk Studies. With a background in Biotechnology Engineering and Information & Communication Technologies (ICT) for Development & Social Good, she has previously worked in Technology Innovation, Disaster Risk Management (DRM) and Emergency Preparedness & Response (EP&R) consulting. She is interested in the application of Geospatial Technologies (remote sensing, GEOINT), Open-Source Investigations and Intelligence for emergencies, search-and-rescue (SAR), humanitarian action and conflict.

Rade Rajkovchevski
Dr. Rade Rajkovchevski holds the position of Full Professor in Policing and Disaster Management in the St. Kliment Ohridski University (N.Macedonia). Commencing his academic journey in 2006, he transitioned from a background encompassing service in the military, civil protection, and private security within Southeast Europe and France. He earned his military officer credentials at the Military Academy in Skopje (2002), master's thesis in national security policy and conflict prevention (2010) and PhD in European police cooperation (2013).
His extensive expertise extends to roles as a researcher, exercise evaluator, and expert in numerous projects and initiatives funded by the EU, World Bank, Council of Europe, UN agencies, GIZ, MARRI Regional Center and other organizations. Recently, he was appointed as the Head of the DPPI SEE Secretariat, to lead it for the next three years (2024-2027).

Samban Seng
Samban is an esteemed expert in DRR, CCA, and Emergency Management with over 23 years of experience across a spectrum of high-profile organizations and roles, from grassroots to international levels such as IFRC, Plan International, Save the Children International, UNDP, Caritas UK, World Bank, AIMF, and many more development and humanitarian organizations, including government NDMOs. His expertise encompasses preparedness, response, recovery, and resilience strategies, with a strong focus on gender and inclusion mainstreaming, child-centered approaches, and multi-stakeholder coordination. Samban's significant contributions include developing guidelines, leading emergency simulations, and supporting policy and plan development, leading humanitarian operation management, and Organizational Capacity Development. In recent years, Samban has also entered into urban resilience and emergency management, establishing himself as a key player in enhancing disaster resilience and management capacities in Southeast Asia and beyond.

Gonzalo Velasco
Gonzalo Velasco has 15 years of experience working in the fire services. He holds a bachelor’s degree in international relations and is currently pursuing a Master's degree in Business Economics. In the international arena, he has been deployed with the Spanish EMT to Mozambique (2019) and Turkiye (2023) as a logistician. Gonzalo is part of the EUCPT and has worked as an expert evaluator in the H2020 program within the European Research Executive Agency. He is a member of UNDAC, and he has complemented his involvement with OCHA through his work as an intern and consultant within the Emergency Response Section in the UNDAC global team.

Tom Harbour
Tom is a recognized expert in wildland fire and aviation management policy and operations. His over fifty year career spans public service and private industry. He has engaged with varied organizations before, during, and after crises.
Tom offers trusted counsel and advice on wildland fire issues as well as policy and organizational issues. He has engaged with wildland fire problems in many areas around the world.

Maria Katajisko
Maria is a humanitarian affairs and disaster management specialist with a wide range of UN, EU, International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement (RCRC), governmental and non-governmental experience in Europe, Asia, Africa and the Middle East.
She’s a UNDAC and UCPM member and her areas of expertise include humanitarian coordination, emergency preparedness and response, disaster risk reduction (DRR), resilience building, food security and livelihoods (FSL).

Ben Sims
Ben Sims has 13 years of experience advising governments across Asia and the Pacific on addressing climate change. His work has included designing institutional frameworks and strategies for improving climate finance access and utilization, undertaking climate risk and adaptation assessments, developing guidelines and building capacity, and providing support to achieve disaster risk reduction and loss and damage action. He has been engaged as a consultant for the World Bank, ADB, UN agencies, Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI), Government of New Zealand, Commonwealth Secretariat and SPREP, and previously worked as a staff member for GGGI.

Magnus Eriksson
Magnus has been working with flood related matters for many years both in national and international context, for instance as an expert in several of the flood related IPA projects in the Balkan countries and Turkey. Magnus is part of Swedish Civil Contingencies Agency ́s (MSB) roster as a Team Leader for MSB flood containment and high-capacity pumping modules. He is also an experienced expert on Host Nation Support and trained as an expert for EU Civil Protection Teams. In his daily job Magnus works as a fire protection engineer and regional incident commander at a fire & rescue service, focusing on flood emergency response and prevention measures at municipal level. He is currently involved with adaption to climate changes due to sea level rise, storm surges, and torrential rain.

Alexander Skinner
Alexander Skinner is a crisis management specialist with ten years’ experience. He has enhanced the crisis preparedness of governments and organizations across the UK, Canada, the Middle East, and North and East Africa through training, exercising, crisis planning and programming. Most recently, Alexander has focused on preparedness and risk reduction in climate change and terrorism.
During crises, Alexander has led multiple teams delivering frontline responses and teams at headquarter offices in the UK and Canada.
Alexander designed the Canadian Government's After Action Review process for international emergency responses, with a focus on isomorphic learning and embedding knowledge.

Dr. Albrecht A. Beck
Abrecht Beck is a Disaster Management and Preparedness Expert who has been working hands-on in the field for the last 13 years as a UNDAC team member.
The organisations and institutions that have benefited from Albrecht's expertise are, inter alia, IOM, UN-DPKO and the Competence Center for Disaster Risk Diplomacy.
In response to the 2015 Nepal earthquake, Albrecht identified the need to strengthen the preparedness of states and territories, cities, corporations and communities to prevent or mitigate the impact of calamities and thus, founded Prepared International.

Marc Arnold
Marc Arnold is a Climate Change Adaptation Expert with a long-standing experience in Small Island Developing States (SIDS).
He gained hands-on experience in disaster response and international relief coordination in the aftermath of Hurricane Irma and during EU funded regional programs in the field of coastal protection and Disaster Risk Reduction Initiatives beyond the Caribbean Region.
For more than 20 years, Marc worked in the public sector as both manager and senior advisor on ministerial level for the governments of the Netherlands and Sint Maarten.

Antonia Vignolo
With an academic background in climate change and migration management and 4 years of experience in this field, Antonia has successfully managed projects on climate change adaptation, nature-based conservation solutions, forced displacement and protection, as well as broader disaster risk management (DRM) and emergency preparedness and response (EP&R). Antonia initially worked at UN OCHA in the EP&R section on the UNDAC team before joining Prepared International as a project consultant. She then took on various project management roles, including an EP&R capacities assessment in Belize addressing key challenges facing SIDS, cross-border contingency planning in Ghana, developing a capacity development plan for DRR and CCA in Bulgaria, and creating a Host Nation Support system in Iceland, while delivering related training sessions.
Antonia gained experience in Asia working on community preparedness in remote Himalayan areas of Nepal, and in the Middle East contributing to the Professional Dialogue full-scale exercise in Jordan, Israel, and Palestine. She has also worked on the Pacific region, specifically on Vanuatu and Tuvalu. Her passion lies in supporting vulnerable communities and countries to become more resilient in the face of climate change. In her free time, Antonia enjoys discovering hidden gems in her current home of Portugal's Algarve region, volunteering for Safe Communities Portugal, and playing padel.

Vlatko Jovanovski
Vlatko Jovanovski is a senior disaster management expert. He started as a military officer in North Macedonia but acomplished himself professionally in the civil protection arena. He brings relevant working experience in both working for the government of North Macedonia where he covered various positions starting from local inspector for rescue and protection and ending up as Head of department for international relations. In 2016 he moved to the UNICEF office in North Macedonia as a emergency field coordinator overseeing the response activities in relation to the refugee crisis. During the time with UNICEF he supported the Regional office for Europe and Central Asia in promoting the new policy guidance on Emergency Preparedness. In that context he designed and delivered trainings to all UNICEF offices in Europe and Central Asia on the new policy. One additional task with UNICEF office that he directly supported was drafting of the Climate Landscape Analysis for Children in North Macedonia. During his second short term consultancy period with UNICEF during the COVID-19 response in 2020, he supported the analysis of the schools in North Macedonia in terms of their WASH facilities ans supported the project on infrastructure improvements of the schools and Early Childhood Development centers. He holds a masters in disaster management from the University of Copenhagen and Diploma on Business Continuity Planing from the New Buckinghamshire University in the UK. His last post before joining Prepared International was with Disaster Preparedness and Prevention Initiative for South Eastern Europe (DPPI SEE) located in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina where he was heading the Secretariat of this regional initiative for 6 years.

Gudrun Van Pottelbergh
Gudrun Van Pottelberg has wide expertise on Crisis Management, Emergency Preparedness and Response.
For the last fifteen years, she has been providing both research, training and evaluation to a broad range of crisis management actors, such as the UN or OSCE, governmental agencies, civil societies and academic institutions.

Dr. Robert Spiegel
Robert Spiegel is an expert in Disaster Management and Emergency Health.
For the last 14 years, Robert has been working with UNDAC teams around the world and is the medicine man of SARUV-International Search and Rescue Vorarlberg.
Robert has enormous expertise in emergency medicine and his hardwork in ensuring access to basic medical care to rural areas in, inter alia, Southeastern Africa.

Jakob (Sjaak) Seen
Jacob Seen was one of the disaster managers in charge of the COVID-19 response in the Rotterdam- Rijnmond region, as well as within the National Operational Coordination Center in Zeist, the Netherlands.
In addition, "Sjaak" has more than 40 years of experience as Emergency Manager in Disaster and Crisis and he has designed Emergency Operations Centers of the latest technology.
"Sjaak" is a team member of UNDAC and has long-time experience in facilitating and training at UN/UNDAC/OCHA Environmental Emergency courses.

Verena Lahousen
Verena Lahousen has a background in law and international relations, and she is both consulting, and teaching conflict management at university level.
She is a passionate mediator, trainer and coach, who believes in attitudinal change through experiential learning.
Verena has served with the UN in-country missions in Sub-Saharan Africa, the Balkans, The South Caucasus, and the Middle East.

Gert Teder
Gerd Teder is an expert in Search and Rescue (SAR), Urban Search and Rescue (USAR), as well as newest technology for first response and Fire Rescue Systems.
Gerd is the Team Leader of the Estonian Search and Rescue Team and a renowned member of UNDAC and EU Civil Protection Teams.

Dr. Odeda Benin-Goren
Odeda Benin-Goren is our Senior Consultant for Emergency Preparedness, Assessment and Coordination in Disasters (Emergency Medical Systems).
Odeda is the Academic Coordinator at the Center for Emergency Response Research (PREPARED) at the Ben Gurion University in Beer Sheva, Israel.

Louis Boshoff
Louis Boshoff has worked for the WFP in the Global Logistics Cluster in various conflict-affected and fragile states, developing and implementing large and high-profile emergency logistics and supply chain programs.
Louis is an Emergency Response and Operations manager who works with emergency actors to get supply chain, inter-agency coordination and service delivery projects done.

Franklin Babila Doh
Franklin Babila Doh has a broad experience on human security topics, with a focus on disaster risk management and humanitarian assistance.
Frank has been working for the Pan African Institute for Development in the last 5 years and is currently employed within the West Africa Division as Deputy Center Coordinator.

Marc Devalckeneer
Marc Devalckeneer spent his life with the famous B-Fast Team and the Belgium military.
In missions around the whole world, Marc was a key element in the response to both natural and man-made disasters and was therefore selected to support the NATO Emergency Response Missions.
Marc is a certified Logistic Instructor who has been working for, inter alia, the International Humanitarian Partnership, the Global Logistic Cluster, EU, CP Mechanism and in the Camp Coordination structures of the United Nations.

Michael Halwachs
Michael Halwachs is an expert on critical infrastructure management and communication technologies.
Michael has long standing expertise in local and community level capacity building for disaster resilience. He is also an experienced HSSE Manager.

Harshita Bisht
Harshita Bisht is an Environment and Public Policy professional with expertise in project management, research and knowledge development in DRR, climate adaptation and resilience sector
Harshita is an expert in institutional reforms, capacity building, knowledge sharing, peer to peer learning & evaluation as well as learning across developing countries.

Suresh Raj Pandit
Suresh Raj Pandit is an expert in Emergency Management and Coordination.
Suresh is specialised in Emergency program planning, including preparedness, multi-sector response, recovery, coordination and capacity building of humanitarian partners and government agencies

Marla Nykyri
Marla Nykyri is an expert in Emergency Medicine with long-standing hands-on field experience with infectious diseases.
She is also a renowned trainer with years of experience in conducting courses, exercises and activities for, inter alia, European Civil Protection Mechanism, Red Cross, WHO and ICP.
Marla has been working also with the COVID-19 Emergency Response as Human Resources Coordinator in Kuala Lumpur.

Ólafur Loftsson
Olafur Loftson is an expert in USAR and a renowned trainer in search and rescue. He is specialised in International Mountain Rescue and Ice Climbing.
Olafur is also a Harvard-certified Negotiation and Mediation Expert.

Andrew Bradley
Our expert in, inter alia, Crisis Planning and Humanitarian Emergency Response, Andrew is also a Certified Emergency Manager within the International Association of Emergency Managers.
Andrew has long-standing expertise in emergency response across Africa, Asia, Europe and the Middle East, within the private sector (operational and corporate), national governments and international non-governmental humanitarian response entities.
Andrew is also part in capacity teams for international organisations as both an Emergency Specialist and Humanitarian Affairs Officer. In addition, he is on duty-call for the Swedish Civil Contingencies Agency, the Canadian International Civilian Response Corps, the Norwegian Refugee Council and ShelterBox International.

James Ritchie
James Ritchie has diverse senior leadership experience from the public, private and not-for-profit sectors. He worked with, inter alia, international development, environment, water, Australian State Government Public Service, community mental health and mining sectors.
James has held various Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management responsibilities throughout his career, in particular executive accountability for fire and flood response, counter terrorism planning and emergency evacuation.

Esther Barbara Kanini Njiru
Esther Barbara Kanini Njiru is an expert in Urban Development Research and Data Analysis with key skills in, inter alia, Spatial and Land Use planning, GIS and Remote Sensing Data Collection, integration of Climate Information into National Adaptation Plans, etc.
Esther has a long-lasting experience in Database Support for UN-Habitat and is specialized in using a range of image interpretation software such as ArcGis, TerrSet, Erdas Imagine for geospatial data analysis and modelling.
Esther is a highly experienced expert on urban planning for disaster risk reduction, with a focus on data management, capacity building and urban development.

Raman Madan
Disaster Technology
Raman Madan is an expert in Emergency, Crisis and Disaster Management since 2001.
Raman is also a trainer and has conducted over 300 courses, exercises and table-tops at all levels: operational, tactical and strategic.
Raman has international expertise, gained through his work as a coordination and assessment expert for the European Civil Protection Mechanism, and as project manager of the European Modular Field Hospital.
Raman has developed the Emergency Management App & Platform, aimed at supporting organisations with a software tool for their operational staff.

Martin Fisher
Martin has a wide range of experience within humanitarian affairs, working with the United Nations and the International Red Cross Red Crescent Movement in different countries around the world.
Martin has been working in leading positions in fragile context, preparing local structures for emergencies as well as responding to immediate needs in a strategic way. His expertise extends from developing key partnerships with donors and ensuring information exchange for a coordinated implementation of humanitarian action as well as the possibility of establishment of structures in fragile context.
He has been working in Europe, Central Asia, Middle East and North Africa, not only as Humanitarian Affairs Officer, but also as Operations Manager, Trainer and Course Facilitator.

Andra I. Covaciu
Andra Covaciu is an expert in Human Rights, with a specific focus on vulnerable groups and international peace and security aspects.
Andra has strong expertise in the use of vulnerability research methods and offers a regional expertise in the Pacific.
She holds a MSc in Disaster Risk Management and Climate Change Adaption.

Aurelio Escobar
Aurelio is a technical architect who focuses on urban regeneration and sustainable territorial development, merging new technologies with integral and holistic project management.
He has expertise in the Latin American area, where he supported public institutions in disaster risk management and worked on a wide range of projects aimed at reducing the impact of disasters in urban areas.
Aurelio is a member of various working groups for sustainable urban regeneration, as well as in the group of specialist technicians for damage assessment after disastrous events in Spain.

Tarek Tawil
Tarek Tawil is a humanitarian practitioner specialising in the protection and support of refugees and internally displaced persons in conflict settings. He worked with the Syrian Arab Red Crescent (SARC) and the UNHCR during the conflict in Syria between 2014 and 2019 assuming various responsibilities.
Tarek also worked in Humanitarian Affairs at the Headquarters of OCHA, and at the Global Level of Camp Coordination and Camp Management Cluster. He is an expert in child protection response and humanitarian negotiations with non-state armed groups.

Claudia Pereira
Claudia Pereira is a landscape architect holding a masters in geographic information systems (GIS), with ten years of international work experience in the field of data and information management, GIS, humanitarian emergency responses, environment and climate change, in countries such as East-Timor, Iraq, Nigeria, Mozambique and Egypt.
After spending four years in East-Timor working closely with local communities in several climate-related and local development projects as an environmental consultant, she joined the UN Migration Agency (IOM) for the last seven years as a field data collection expert and project manager on internal displacement in natural disaster and conflict settings.

Arina Bešlagić
Arina has a wide experience in Coordinating humanitarian assistance during major crisis in Bosnia and Herzegovina and in the neighboring countries.
She is also an expert in the execution of international obligations and cooperation in civil protection. She worked as coordinator of activities of Civil Protection Administrations of Entities and Department for Public Safety of Brcko District in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Arina is a highly experienced expert in preparing simulations and trainings, organizaton of table top exercises, field exercises, conferences, workshops both with national institutions and international organizations.

Jorge Terrones
Jorge Terrones is a Systems Engineer with a Master's Degree in Risk, Disasters and Resilience from University College London, specializing in disaster risk reduction and operational continuity.
Jorge has 15 years of experience in the private sector and in the UN system leading projects, risk management strategies, and emergency/disaster preparedness and response policies.
In the last 7 years, Jorge has focused on the Continuity of Operations/Governance and Disaster Preparedness in Conflict Zones.
Overall, he has worked in Latin America and Caribbean, Africa, and Europe.

Julius Kaut
Julius is specialized in food and nutrition security in protracted crises and food system resilience, with a special focus on Somalia and South Sudan, and the wider Horn of Africa. He comes from a background in disaster risk management and conflict management.
Julius has previously studied and worked in Israel, Myanmar, the Philippines, the Netherlands, and Norway.
Julius is currently researching at the Zero Hunger Lab of Tilburg University on the impact of humanitarian aid on conflict dynamics in protracted crisis settings.

Anders Laukvik
Anders Laukvik is an expert in on-site disaster coordination and especially the technical side of operations management.
For 20 years, Anders was key in developing the IM and ICT support of the International Humanitarian Partnership (IHP) for UNDAC. In his daily work, Anders has, for over 20 years, been working with the Fire Department in Norway in Response including Incident Command, Dispatch and Coordination, and Fire Prevention.
As a highly experienced trainer, Anders has worked with organizations around the world. He has a specific personality as a «Peoples person», one who sees those around him, utilizes their strengths and brings calm.

Harm Bastian
As a senior civil protection expert, Harm Bastian has been the exercise director for the European Commission's EU MODEX field exercises for medical capacities and USAR modules since 2015 and has successfully led 29 of these exercises with up to 2,500 participants.
In the rescEU EMT project, he coordinates the cooperation between the consortium, which consists of eight Member and Participating States of the UCPM, and the Commission. The project comprises the development of 21 new medical rescEU capacities. In addition to project management tasks, he is responsible for the training and exercise programme for around 3,000 medical, technical and logistical experts.
From 2006 to 2020, he was deputy course director for the Assessment Mission Courses of the UCPM training programme. In addition, he has participated in numerous international missions in a leading role as a disaster management expert.

Ina Kubbe
Ina Kubbe is an Adjunct Professor at Tel Aviv University, in the Department of Political Science, Government, and International Relations, where she primarily researches and teaches in the fields of corruption, disaster and crisis management, conflict resolution and gender politics. She has more than 15 years of experience in these fields and has established herself as a recognized expert and academic specialist. She conducts extensive research and offers consultancy services to organizations such as the European Union, NATO, OECD, OSCE or UNODC. Ina is also a professor at the International Anti-Corruption Academy in Austria. She has published several books, special issues, and articles in the field and is also one of the founding members of the Interdisciplinary Corruption Research Network (ICRN) as well as the Chair of the ECPR Standing Group on "(Anti)Corruption and Integrity".

Annabella Skof
Annabella is an experienced team leader and senior expert in socio-economic crisis response specialising in market systems solutions for economic recovery in general and economic inclusion of forcibly displaced persons in general. She brings ample experience from around the world working in crisis and post-crisis settings with a focus on adopting market-based approaches. Since becoming an independent consultant, Annabella has delivered consultancy assignments for numerous multilateral organisations, INGOs and donors, typically working the humanitarian-development-peace nexus. Prior, Annabella served as Policy Advisor on Economic Recovery with the United National Development Programme’s Crisis Bureau and as the resident Socio-Economic Recovery Expert of the International Labour Organization’s Regional Office for Arab States, as part of which she led the ILO’s Syrian refugee crisis response in Lebanon. Annabella is fluent in English, German, Spanish, Italian and French and holds Master degrees in International Relations and Economics from the Johns Hopkins University, School of Advanced International Studies and in International Economic and Business Studies from the Leopold Franzens Universität Innsbruck.

Lindon Pronto
Lindon Pronto - M.Sc. (Environmental Governance) offers 20+ years of experience and expertise in wildfire management with employment, research, deployments, and remote support to/in over 30 countries in the Americas, Europe, Asia, Africa, and the Middle East. Mr. Pronto has years of operational experience as a federal wildland firefighter in California and 7 other states. In addition to working in many European projects, he has been commissioned by government agencies, NGOs, international organizations, and consulting firms, serves on national and international expert panels, and provides thematic expertise to the European Parliament, Commission, government agencies, and the private sector. As a subject matter expert with extensive communication experience, he has contributed to more than 150 international print, radio and television publications and broadcasts.

Gianluca Pescaroli
Dr. Gianluca Pescaroli is an Associate Professor in Operational Continuity and Organisational Resilience at University College London (UCL). His research focuses on improving operational continuity during disruptive events and increasing resilience in public and private sectors. He co-founded UCL's Research Group on Cascading Disasters in 2016 and has contributed to strategic documents for the UN and European Commission. In 2024, he became a scientific advisor for the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction. Dr. Pescaroli leads the EU Horizon Europe project "AGILE" and is involved in international consortia funded by organizations like the European Space Agency and UK Research and Innovation. His work bridges academia and practice, addressing complex challenges such as cascading risks and critical infrastructure failures.

Martin Bjerregaard
Martin is a debris and solid waste management expert with more than 30 years’ experience in post-conflict and post-disaster programmes as well as preparedness planning. Martin has supported governments in debris preparedness planning in Bangladesh, Gaza, Iraq, USA, EU countries, among others. Latest initiatives include methane reduction works within solid waste management systems to reduce negative impact of waste on climate by reducing open burning and improving landfill/dumpsite management.
Martin is co-author on the OCHA/UNEP “Disaster Waste Management Guidelines” and has delivered numerous training packages and guidelines for disaster debris and waste management on behalf of UNDAC, UNDP, MSB, UNEP, UNOPS, UNMIK and the EU.

Alexander Held
Alexander Held (M.Sc. in Forest Science), started as a fire ecologist in the Fire Ecology Group of the Max Planck Society in 2001 and gained a number of operational qualifications in the USA and South Africa. He switched from fire ecology to fire management and worked with the Global Fire Monitoring Centre GFMC in Europe and Southern Africa. Held later worked with the South African Working on Fire program from its inception until 2012 when he moved to the European Forest Institute (EFI). Alexander Held is active as a subject matter expert in a number of national and international expert committees and fire missions.

Adrian Butnaru
Adrian is a specialist in ICTs and the maritime sector. He founded and managed Smart Vision since 2020, a networking platform that unites diverse actors in the maritime transportation value chain, including corporates, startups, universities, and vocational education organizations, to promote technology adoption and innovation. He worked with Prepared International (PPI) since 2020 as an Expert in Resilience through Technology, offering critical advice on leveraging technology to enhance the resilience of the maritime sector. His expertise has been instrumental in the Global Maritime Preparedness Program (GMPP) and technical assistance projects, such as ICT utilization for road transport network vulnerability assessment in Serbia. Work focuses on maintaining port functionality despite disasters, ensuring the continuity of critical infrastructure, and preparing maritime sectors for various disruptions.

Renta Sanxhaku
Renta graduated as a medical doctor from the University of Tirana in 2012, and later specialized in endocrinology and diabetes, completing her residency in 2019. She now works as an endocrinologist, focusing on thyroid disease, diabetes, and metabolic disorders. Additionally, since 2018, she has been a part-time lecturer at the University of Medicine in Tirana, teaching Pathophysiology. She actively participates in health projects, both domestically and internationally, aimed at preventing and treating endocrine diseases.

Daniel Mendez
Daniel is a risk and crisis expert with over 15 years of experience in security, crisis, and disaster management, focusing on Belize, the Caribbean region, and more broadly on SIDS. With a BSc in Management Studies from the University of the West Indies, he worked on various initiatives; Daniel co-authored the Belize Joint Sexual Violence Prevention and Response Programme in the Belize Security Forces context, and contributed to UNICEF's Protocol for the Integrated Protection of Children and Adolescents in Disaster Situations in Belize. Daniel also developed a Climate Resilience Curriculum Training Program for the Construction Sector for the Belize Chamber of Commerce and Industry. As a commissioned officer in the Belize Defence Force, he serves as the Belize Regional Coordinator for the University of Leicester’s Avoidable Deaths Network, and holds the position of National Emergency Coordinator in Belize since June 2023.

Sandra Milkovic
Sandra is an international professional with over 13 years of focused expertise in EP&R, especially in extremely fragile and conflict heavy environments like Palestine and Israel, Iraq, Mali among others. Sandra worked for WFP actively contributing to various EP&R initiatives, supporting the organization's global crisis management efforts. Her deployments to crisis contexts in Ghana, Mali, and Palestine have showcased her ability to navigate complex humanitarian situations effectively. Previously, Sandra worked at the United Nations Resident Coordinator's office in Jerusalem, where she supported humanitarian access efforts across the region. Her career began as a Middle East Correspondent for a Croatian daily newspaper, providing her with a unique blend of media experience and fieldwork. Sandra holds an MA in International Relations from Hebrew University of Jerusalem and a BA in Political Science.

Roger Valberg
Roger Valberg is a highly experienced fire expert and professional firefighter of 35+ years, leader of the Stockholm Fire & Rescue, and Team Leader for the former Swedish INSARAG Swift team. He is among the most senior trainers of the EU Civil Protection Mechanism and a highly experienced USAR expert and has supported numerous missions in disaster regions. Mr. Valberg has trained firefighters globally to take on new topics like CBRN and USAR and been a senior trainer for large scale disasters training exercises like the Professional Dialogue Exercise (Jordan/Palestine/Israel) and in Southeast Europe (ResponSEE).
Projects/Missions (select): Team leader, HCP, Sweden for wildfires (current); EU instructor in Montenegro, HNS for wildfires (2022/23) (EU); 2022: Evacuation from Afghanistan; 2019: Croatia, Modex, Wildfires Trainer; 2018 deployment of international helicopters for wildfire support (EU); 2016: Bangladesh technical advisor for UN; 2012/13: Palestine, Lead Trainer, development of USAR capacity (MSB)

Fernanda Lammoglia
Fernanda is a Mexican engineer, consultant and researcher who works as a Research Associate on Systemic and Transition Risks at the Cambridge Centre for Risk Studies. With a background in Biotechnology Engineering and Information & Communication Technologies (ICT) for Development & Social Good, she has previously worked in Technology Innovation, Disaster Risk Management (DRM) and Emergency Preparedness & Response (EP&R) consulting. She is interested in the application of Geospatial Technologies (remote sensing, GEOINT), Open-Source Investigations and Intelligence for emergencies, search-and-rescue (SAR), humanitarian action and conflict.

Rade Rajkovchevski
Dr. Rade Rajkovchevski holds the position of Full Professor in Policing and Disaster Management in the St. Kliment Ohridski University (N.Macedonia). Commencing his academic journey in 2006, he transitioned from a background encompassing service in the military, civil protection, and private security within Southeast Europe and France. He earned his military officer credentials at the Military Academy in Skopje (2002), master's thesis in national security policy and conflict prevention (2010) and PhD in European police cooperation (2013).
His extensive expertise extends to roles as a researcher, exercise evaluator, and expert in numerous projects and initiatives funded by the EU, World Bank, Council of Europe, UN agencies, GIZ, MARRI Regional Center and other organizations. Recently, he was appointed as the Head of the DPPI SEE Secretariat, to lead it for the next three years (2024-2027).

Samban Seng
Samban is an esteemed expert in DRR, CCA, and Emergency Management with over 23 years of experience across a spectrum of high-profile organizations and roles, from grassroots to international levels such as IFRC, Plan International, Save the Children International, UNDP, Caritas UK, World Bank, AIMF, and many more development and humanitarian organizations, including government NDMOs. His expertise encompasses preparedness, response, recovery, and resilience strategies, with a strong focus on gender and inclusion mainstreaming, child-centered approaches, and multi-stakeholder coordination. Samban's significant contributions include developing guidelines, leading emergency simulations, and supporting policy and plan development, leading humanitarian operation management, and Organizational Capacity Development. In recent years, Samban has also entered into urban resilience and emergency management, establishing himself as a key player in enhancing disaster resilience and management capacities in Southeast Asia and beyond.

Gonzalo Velasco
Gonzalo Velasco has 15 years of experience working in the fire services. He holds a bachelor’s degree in international relations and is currently pursuing a Master's degree in Business Economics. In the international arena, he has been deployed with the Spanish EMT to Mozambique (2019) and Turkiye (2023) as a logistician. Gonzalo is part of the EUCPT and has worked as an expert evaluator in the H2020 program within the European Research Executive Agency. He is a member of UNDAC, and he has complemented his involvement with OCHA through his work as an intern and consultant within the Emergency Response Section in the UNDAC global team.

Tom Harbour
Tom is a recognized expert in wildland fire and aviation management policy and operations. His over fifty year career spans public service and private industry. He has engaged with varied organizations before, during, and after crises.
Tom offers trusted counsel and advice on wildland fire issues as well as policy and organizational issues. He has engaged with wildland fire problems in many areas around the world.

Maria Katajisko
Maria is a humanitarian affairs and disaster management specialist with a wide range of UN, EU, International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement (RCRC), governmental and non-governmental experience in Europe, Asia, Africa and the Middle East.
She’s a UNDAC and UCPM member and her areas of expertise include humanitarian coordination, emergency preparedness and response, disaster risk reduction (DRR), resilience building, food security and livelihoods (FSL).

Ben Sims
Ben Sims has 13 years of experience advising governments across Asia and the Pacific on addressing climate change. His work has included designing institutional frameworks and strategies for improving climate finance access and utilization, undertaking climate risk and adaptation assessments, developing guidelines and building capacity, and providing support to achieve disaster risk reduction and loss and damage action. He has been engaged as a consultant for the World Bank, ADB, UN agencies, Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI), Government of New Zealand, Commonwealth Secretariat and SPREP, and previously worked as a staff member for GGGI.

Magnus Eriksson
Magnus has been working with flood related matters for many years both in national and international context, for instance as an expert in several of the flood related IPA projects in the Balkan countries and Turkey. Magnus is part of Swedish Civil Contingencies Agency ́s (MSB) roster as a Team Leader for MSB flood containment and high-capacity pumping modules. He is also an experienced expert on Host Nation Support and trained as an expert for EU Civil Protection Teams. In his daily job Magnus works as a fire protection engineer and regional incident commander at a fire & rescue service, focusing on flood emergency response and prevention measures at municipal level. He is currently involved with adaption to climate changes due to sea level rise, storm surges, and torrential rain.

Alexander Skinner
Alexander Skinner is a crisis management specialist with ten years’ experience. He has enhanced the crisis preparedness of governments and organizations across the UK, Canada, the Middle East, and North and East Africa through training, exercising, crisis planning and programming. Most recently, Alexander has focused on preparedness and risk reduction in climate change and terrorism.
During crises, Alexander has led multiple teams delivering frontline responses and teams at headquarter offices in the UK and Canada.
Alexander designed the Canadian Government's After Action Review process for international emergency responses, with a focus on isomorphic learning and embedding knowledge.

Dr. Albrecht A. Beck
Abrecht Beck is a Disaster Management and Preparedness Expert who has been working hands-on in the field for the last 13 years as a UNDAC team member.
The organisations and institutions that have benefited from Albrecht's expertise are, inter alia, IOM, UN-DPKO and the Competence Center for Disaster Risk Diplomacy.
In response to the 2015 Nepal earthquake, Albrecht identified the need to strengthen the preparedness of states and territories, cities, corporations and communities to prevent or mitigate the impact of calamities and thus, founded Prepared International.

Marc Arnold
Marc Arnold is a Climate Change Adaptation Expert with a long-standing experience in Small Island Developing States (SIDS).
He gained hands-on experience in disaster response and international relief coordination in the aftermath of Hurricane Irma and during EU funded regional programs in the field of coastal protection and Disaster Risk Reduction Initiatives beyond the Caribbean Region.
For more than 20 years, Marc worked in the public sector as both manager and senior advisor on ministerial level for the governments of the Netherlands and Sint Maarten.

Antonia Vignolo
With an academic background in climate change and migration management and 4 years of experience in this field, Antonia has successfully managed projects on climate change adaptation, nature-based conservation solutions, forced displacement and protection, as well as broader disaster risk management (DRM) and emergency preparedness and response (EP&R). Antonia initially worked at UN OCHA in the EP&R section on the UNDAC team before joining Prepared International as a project consultant. She then took on various project management roles, including an EP&R capacities assessment in Belize addressing key challenges facing SIDS, cross-border contingency planning in Ghana, developing a capacity development plan for DRR and CCA in Bulgaria, and creating a Host Nation Support system in Iceland, while delivering related training sessions.
Antonia gained experience in Asia working on community preparedness in remote Himalayan areas of Nepal, and in the Middle East contributing to the Professional Dialogue full-scale exercise in Jordan, Israel, and Palestine. She has also worked on the Pacific region, specifically on Vanuatu and Tuvalu. Her passion lies in supporting vulnerable communities and countries to become more resilient in the face of climate change. In her free time, Antonia enjoys discovering hidden gems in her current home of Portugal's Algarve region, volunteering for Safe Communities Portugal, and playing padel.

Vlatko Jovanovski
Vlatko Jovanovski is a senior disaster management expert. He started as a military officer in North Macedonia but acomplished himself professionally in the civil protection arena. He brings relevant working experience in both working for the government of North Macedonia where he covered various positions starting from local inspector for rescue and protection and ending up as Head of department for international relations. In 2016 he moved to the UNICEF office in North Macedonia as a emergency field coordinator overseeing the response activities in relation to the refugee crisis. During the time with UNICEF he supported the Regional office for Europe and Central Asia in promoting the new policy guidance on Emergency Preparedness. In that context he designed and delivered trainings to all UNICEF offices in Europe and Central Asia on the new policy. One additional task with UNICEF office that he directly supported was drafting of the Climate Landscape Analysis for Children in North Macedonia. During his second short term consultancy period with UNICEF during the COVID-19 response in 2020, he supported the analysis of the schools in North Macedonia in terms of their WASH facilities ans supported the project on infrastructure improvements of the schools and Early Childhood Development centers. He holds a masters in disaster management from the University of Copenhagen and Diploma on Business Continuity Planing from the New Buckinghamshire University in the UK. His last post before joining Prepared International was with Disaster Preparedness and Prevention Initiative for South Eastern Europe (DPPI SEE) located in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina where he was heading the Secretariat of this regional initiative for 6 years.

Gudrun Van Pottelbergh
Gudrun Van Pottelberg has wide expertise on Crisis Management, Emergency Preparedness and Response.
For the last fifteen years, she has been providing both research, training and evaluation to a broad range of crisis management actors, such as the UN or OSCE, governmental agencies, civil societies and academic institutions.

Dr. Robert Spiegel
Robert Spiegel is an expert in Disaster Management and Emergency Health.
For the last 14 years, Robert has been working with UNDAC teams around the world and is the medicine man of SARUV-International Search and Rescue Vorarlberg.
Robert has enormous expertise in emergency medicine and his hardwork in ensuring access to basic medical care to rural areas in, inter alia, Southeastern Africa.

Jakob (Sjaak) Seen
Jacob Seen was one of the disaster managers in charge of the COVID-19 response in the Rotterdam- Rijnmond region, as well as within the National Operational Coordination Center in Zeist, the Netherlands.
In addition, "Sjaak" has more than 40 years of experience as Emergency Manager in Disaster and Crisis and he has designed Emergency Operations Centers of the latest technology.
"Sjaak" is a team member of UNDAC and has long-time experience in facilitating and training at UN/UNDAC/OCHA Environmental Emergency courses.

Verena Lahousen
Verena Lahousen has a background in law and international relations, and she is both consulting, and teaching conflict management at university level.
She is a passionate mediator, trainer and coach, who believes in attitudinal change through experiential learning.
Verena has served with the UN in-country missions in Sub-Saharan Africa, the Balkans, The South Caucasus, and the Middle East.

Gert Teder
Gerd Teder is an expert in Search and Rescue (SAR), Urban Search and Rescue (USAR), as well as newest technology for first response and Fire Rescue Systems.
Gerd is the Team Leader of the Estonian Search and Rescue Team and a renowned member of UNDAC and EU Civil Protection Teams.

Dr. Odeda Benin-Goren
Odeda Benin-Goren is our Senior Consultant for Emergency Preparedness, Assessment and Coordination in Disasters (Emergency Medical Systems).
Odeda is the Academic Coordinator at the Center for Emergency Response Research (PREPARED) at the Ben Gurion University in Beer Sheva, Israel.

Louis Boshoff
Louis Boshoff has worked for the WFP in the Global Logistics Cluster in various conflict-affected and fragile states, developing and implementing large and high-profile emergency logistics and supply chain programs.
Louis is an Emergency Response and Operations manager who works with emergency actors to get supply chain, inter-agency coordination and service delivery projects done.

Franklin Babila Doh
Franklin Babila Doh has a broad experience on human security topics, with a focus on disaster risk management and humanitarian assistance.
Frank has been working for the Pan African Institute for Development in the last 5 years and is currently employed within the West Africa Division as Deputy Center Coordinator.

Marc Devalckeneer
Marc Devalckeneer spent his life with the famous B-Fast Team and the Belgium military.
In missions around the whole world, Marc was a key element in the response to both natural and man-made disasters and was therefore selected to support the NATO Emergency Response Missions.
Marc is a certified Logistic Instructor who has been working for, inter alia, the International Humanitarian Partnership, the Global Logistic Cluster, EU, CP Mechanism and in the Camp Coordination structures of the United Nations.

Michael Halwachs
Michael Halwachs is an expert on critical infrastructure management and communication technologies.
Michael has long standing expertise in local and community level capacity building for disaster resilience. He is also an experienced HSSE Manager.

Harshita Bisht
Harshita Bisht is an Environment and Public Policy professional with expertise in project management, research and knowledge development in DRR, climate adaptation and resilience sector
Harshita is an expert in institutional reforms, capacity building, knowledge sharing, peer to peer learning & evaluation as well as learning across developing countries.

Suresh Raj Pandit
Suresh Raj Pandit is an expert in Emergency Management and Coordination.
Suresh is specialised in Emergency program planning, including preparedness, multi-sector response, recovery, coordination and capacity building of humanitarian partners and government agencies

Marla Nykyri
Marla Nykyri is an expert in Emergency Medicine with long-standing hands-on field experience with infectious diseases.
She is also a renowned trainer with years of experience in conducting courses, exercises and activities for, inter alia, European Civil Protection Mechanism, Red Cross, WHO and ICP.
Marla has been working also with the COVID-19 Emergency Response as Human Resources Coordinator in Kuala Lumpur.

Ólafur Loftsson
Olafur Loftson is an expert in USAR and a renowned trainer in search and rescue. He is specialised in International Mountain Rescue and Ice Climbing.
Olafur is also a Harvard-certified Negotiation and Mediation Expert.

Andrew Bradley
Our expert in, inter alia, Crisis Planning and Humanitarian Emergency Response, Andrew is also a Certified Emergency Manager within the International Association of Emergency Managers.
Andrew has long-standing expertise in emergency response across Africa, Asia, Europe and the Middle East, within the private sector (operational and corporate), national governments and international non-governmental humanitarian response entities.
Andrew is also part in capacity teams for international organisations as both an Emergency Specialist and Humanitarian Affairs Officer. In addition, he is on duty-call for the Swedish Civil Contingencies Agency, the Canadian International Civilian Response Corps, the Norwegian Refugee Council and ShelterBox International.

James Ritchie
James Ritchie has diverse senior leadership experience from the public, private and not-for-profit sectors. He worked with, inter alia, international development, environment, water, Australian State Government Public Service, community mental health and mining sectors.
James has held various Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management responsibilities throughout his career, in particular executive accountability for fire and flood response, counter terrorism planning and emergency evacuation.

Esther Barbara Kanini Njiru
Esther Barbara Kanini Njiru is an expert in Urban Development Research and Data Analysis with key skills in, inter alia, Spatial and Land Use planning, GIS and Remote Sensing Data Collection, integration of Climate Information into National Adaptation Plans, etc.
Esther has a long-lasting experience in Database Support for UN-Habitat and is specialized in using a range of image interpretation software such as ArcGis, TerrSet, Erdas Imagine for geospatial data analysis and modelling.
Esther is a highly experienced expert on urban planning for disaster risk reduction, with a focus on data management, capacity building and urban development.

Raman Madan
Disaster Technology
Raman Madan is an expert in Emergency, Crisis and Disaster Management since 2001.
Raman is also a trainer and has conducted over 300 courses, exercises and table-tops at all levels: operational, tactical and strategic.
Raman has international expertise, gained through his work as a coordination and assessment expert for the European Civil Protection Mechanism, and as project manager of the European Modular Field Hospital.
Raman has developed the Emergency Management App & Platform, aimed at supporting organisations with a software tool for their operational staff.

Martin Fisher
Martin has a wide range of experience within humanitarian affairs, working with the United Nations and the International Red Cross Red Crescent Movement in different countries around the world.
Martin has been working in leading positions in fragile context, preparing local structures for emergencies as well as responding to immediate needs in a strategic way. His expertise extends from developing key partnerships with donors and ensuring information exchange for a coordinated implementation of humanitarian action as well as the possibility of establishment of structures in fragile context.
He has been working in Europe, Central Asia, Middle East and North Africa, not only as Humanitarian Affairs Officer, but also as Operations Manager, Trainer and Course Facilitator.

Andra I. Covaciu
Andra Covaciu is an expert in Human Rights, with a specific focus on vulnerable groups and international peace and security aspects.
Andra has strong expertise in the use of vulnerability research methods and offers a regional expertise in the Pacific.
She holds a MSc in Disaster Risk Management and Climate Change Adaption.

Aurelio Escobar
Aurelio is a technical architect who focuses on urban regeneration and sustainable territorial development, merging new technologies with integral and holistic project management.
He has expertise in the Latin American area, where he supported public institutions in disaster risk management and worked on a wide range of projects aimed at reducing the impact of disasters in urban areas.
Aurelio is a member of various working groups for sustainable urban regeneration, as well as in the group of specialist technicians for damage assessment after disastrous events in Spain.

Tarek Tawil
Tarek Tawil is a humanitarian practitioner specialising in the protection and support of refugees and internally displaced persons in conflict settings. He worked with the Syrian Arab Red Crescent (SARC) and the UNHCR during the conflict in Syria between 2014 and 2019 assuming various responsibilities.
Tarek also worked in Humanitarian Affairs at the Headquarters of OCHA, and at the Global Level of Camp Coordination and Camp Management Cluster. He is an expert in child protection response and humanitarian negotiations with non-state armed groups.

Claudia Pereira
Claudia Pereira is a landscape architect holding a masters in geographic information systems (GIS), with ten years of international work experience in the field of data and information management, GIS, humanitarian emergency responses, environment and climate change, in countries such as East-Timor, Iraq, Nigeria, Mozambique and Egypt.
After spending four years in East-Timor working closely with local communities in several climate-related and local development projects as an environmental consultant, she joined the UN Migration Agency (IOM) for the last seven years as a field data collection expert and project manager on internal displacement in natural disaster and conflict settings.

Arina Bešlagić
Arina has a wide experience in Coordinating humanitarian assistance during major crisis in Bosnia and Herzegovina and in the neighboring countries.
She is also an expert in the execution of international obligations and cooperation in civil protection. She worked as coordinator of activities of Civil Protection Administrations of Entities and Department for Public Safety of Brcko District in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Arina is a highly experienced expert in preparing simulations and trainings, organizaton of table top exercises, field exercises, conferences, workshops both with national institutions and international organizations.

Jorge Terrones
Jorge Terrones is a Systems Engineer with a Master's Degree in Risk, Disasters and Resilience from University College London, specializing in disaster risk reduction and operational continuity.
Jorge has 15 years of experience in the private sector and in the UN system leading projects, risk management strategies, and emergency/disaster preparedness and response policies.
In the last 7 years, Jorge has focused on the Continuity of Operations/Governance and Disaster Preparedness in Conflict Zones.
Overall, he has worked in Latin America and Caribbean, Africa, and Europe.

Julius Kaut
Julius is specialized in food and nutrition security in protracted crises and food system resilience, with a special focus on Somalia and South Sudan, and the wider Horn of Africa. He comes from a background in disaster risk management and conflict management.
Julius has previously studied and worked in Israel, Myanmar, the Philippines, the Netherlands, and Norway.
Julius is currently researching at the Zero Hunger Lab of Tilburg University on the impact of humanitarian aid on conflict dynamics in protracted crisis settings.

Anders Laukvik
Anders Laukvik is an expert in on-site disaster coordination and especially the technical side of operations management.
For 20 years, Anders was key in developing the IM and ICT support of the International Humanitarian Partnership (IHP) for UNDAC. In his daily work, Anders has, for over 20 years, been working with the Fire Department in Norway in Response including Incident Command, Dispatch and Coordination, and Fire Prevention.
As a highly experienced trainer, Anders has worked with organizations around the world. He has a specific personality as a «Peoples person», one who sees those around him, utilizes their strengths and brings calm.

Harm Bastian
As a senior civil protection expert, Harm Bastian has been the exercise director for the European Commission's EU MODEX field exercises for medical capacities and USAR modules since 2015 and has successfully led 29 of these exercises with up to 2,500 participants.
In the rescEU EMT project, he coordinates the cooperation between the consortium, which consists of eight Member and Participating States of the UCPM, and the Commission. The project comprises the development of 21 new medical rescEU capacities. In addition to project management tasks, he is responsible for the training and exercise programme for around 3,000 medical, technical and logistical experts.
From 2006 to 2020, he was deputy course director for the Assessment Mission Courses of the UCPM training programme. In addition, he has participated in numerous international missions in a leading role as a disaster management expert.

Ina Kubbe
Ina Kubbe is an Adjunct Professor at Tel Aviv University, in the Department of Political Science, Government, and International Relations, where she primarily researches and teaches in the fields of corruption, disaster and crisis management, conflict resolution and gender politics. She has more than 15 years of experience in these fields and has established herself as a recognized expert and academic specialist. She conducts extensive research and offers consultancy services to organizations such as the European Union, NATO, OECD, OSCE or UNODC. Ina is also a professor at the International Anti-Corruption Academy in Austria. She has published several books, special issues, and articles in the field and is also one of the founding members of the Interdisciplinary Corruption Research Network (ICRN) as well as the Chair of the ECPR Standing Group on "(Anti)Corruption and Integrity".

Annabella Skof
Annabella is an experienced team leader and senior expert in socio-economic crisis response specialising in market systems solutions for economic recovery in general and economic inclusion of forcibly displaced persons in general. She brings ample experience from around the world working in crisis and post-crisis settings with a focus on adopting market-based approaches. Since becoming an independent consultant, Annabella has delivered consultancy assignments for numerous multilateral organisations, INGOs and donors, typically working the humanitarian-development-peace nexus. Prior, Annabella served as Policy Advisor on Economic Recovery with the United National Development Programme’s Crisis Bureau and as the resident Socio-Economic Recovery Expert of the International Labour Organization’s Regional Office for Arab States, as part of which she led the ILO’s Syrian refugee crisis response in Lebanon. Annabella is fluent in English, German, Spanish, Italian and French and holds Master degrees in International Relations and Economics from the Johns Hopkins University, School of Advanced International Studies and in International Economic and Business Studies from the Leopold Franzens Universität Innsbruck.

Lindon Pronto
Lindon Pronto - M.Sc. (Environmental Governance) offers 20+ years of experience and expertise in wildfire management with employment, research, deployments, and remote support to/in over 30 countries in the Americas, Europe, Asia, Africa, and the Middle East. Mr. Pronto has years of operational experience as a federal wildland firefighter in California and 7 other states. In addition to working in many European projects, he has been commissioned by government agencies, NGOs, international organizations, and consulting firms, serves on national and international expert panels, and provides thematic expertise to the European Parliament, Commission, government agencies, and the private sector. As a subject matter expert with extensive communication experience, he has contributed to more than 150 international print, radio and television publications and broadcasts.

Gianluca Pescaroli
Dr. Gianluca Pescaroli is an Associate Professor in Operational Continuity and Organisational Resilience at University College London (UCL). His research focuses on improving operational continuity during disruptive events and increasing resilience in public and private sectors. He co-founded UCL's Research Group on Cascading Disasters in 2016 and has contributed to strategic documents for the UN and European Commission. In 2024, he became a scientific advisor for the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction. Dr. Pescaroli leads the EU Horizon Europe project "AGILE" and is involved in international consortia funded by organizations like the European Space Agency and UK Research and Innovation. His work bridges academia and practice, addressing complex challenges such as cascading risks and critical infrastructure failures.

Martin Bjerregaard
Martin is a debris and solid waste management expert with more than 30 years’ experience in post-conflict and post-disaster programmes as well as preparedness planning. Martin has supported governments in debris preparedness planning in Bangladesh, Gaza, Iraq, USA, EU countries, among others. Latest initiatives include methane reduction works within solid waste management systems to reduce negative impact of waste on climate by reducing open burning and improving landfill/dumpsite management.
Martin is co-author on the OCHA/UNEP “Disaster Waste Management Guidelines” and has delivered numerous training packages and guidelines for disaster debris and waste management on behalf of UNDAC, UNDP, MSB, UNEP, UNOPS, UNMIK and the EU.

Alexander Held
Alexander Held (M.Sc. in Forest Science), started as a fire ecologist in the Fire Ecology Group of the Max Planck Society in 2001 and gained a number of operational qualifications in the USA and South Africa. He switched from fire ecology to fire management and worked with the Global Fire Monitoring Centre GFMC in Europe and Southern Africa. Held later worked with the South African Working on Fire program from its inception until 2012 when he moved to the European Forest Institute (EFI). Alexander Held is active as a subject matter expert in a number of national and international expert committees and fire missions.

Adrian Butnaru
Adrian is a specialist in ICTs and the maritime sector. He founded and managed Smart Vision since 2020, a networking platform that unites diverse actors in the maritime transportation value chain, including corporates, startups, universities, and vocational education organizations, to promote technology adoption and innovation. He worked with Prepared International (PPI) since 2020 as an Expert in Resilience through Technology, offering critical advice on leveraging technology to enhance the resilience of the maritime sector. His expertise has been instrumental in the Global Maritime Preparedness Program (GMPP) and technical assistance projects, such as ICT utilization for road transport network vulnerability assessment in Serbia. Work focuses on maintaining port functionality despite disasters, ensuring the continuity of critical infrastructure, and preparing maritime sectors for various disruptions.

Renta Sanxhaku
Renta graduated as a medical doctor from the University of Tirana in 2012, and later specialized in endocrinology and diabetes, completing her residency in 2019. She now works as an endocrinologist, focusing on thyroid disease, diabetes, and metabolic disorders. Additionally, since 2018, she has been a part-time lecturer at the University of Medicine in Tirana, teaching Pathophysiology. She actively participates in health projects, both domestically and internationally, aimed at preventing and treating endocrine diseases.

Daniel Mendez
Daniel is a risk and crisis expert with over 15 years of experience in security, crisis, and disaster management, focusing on Belize, the Caribbean region, and more broadly on SIDS. With a BSc in Management Studies from the University of the West Indies, he worked on various initiatives; Daniel co-authored the Belize Joint Sexual Violence Prevention and Response Programme in the Belize Security Forces context, and contributed to UNICEF's Protocol for the Integrated Protection of Children and Adolescents in Disaster Situations in Belize. Daniel also developed a Climate Resilience Curriculum Training Program for the Construction Sector for the Belize Chamber of Commerce and Industry. As a commissioned officer in the Belize Defence Force, he serves as the Belize Regional Coordinator for the University of Leicester’s Avoidable Deaths Network, and holds the position of National Emergency Coordinator in Belize since June 2023.

Sandra Milkovic
Sandra is an international professional with over 13 years of focused expertise in EP&R, especially in extremely fragile and conflict heavy environments like Palestine and Israel, Iraq, Mali among others. Sandra worked for WFP actively contributing to various EP&R initiatives, supporting the organization's global crisis management efforts. Her deployments to crisis contexts in Ghana, Mali, and Palestine have showcased her ability to navigate complex humanitarian situations effectively. Previously, Sandra worked at the United Nations Resident Coordinator's office in Jerusalem, where she supported humanitarian access efforts across the region. Her career began as a Middle East Correspondent for a Croatian daily newspaper, providing her with a unique blend of media experience and fieldwork. Sandra holds an MA in International Relations from Hebrew University of Jerusalem and a BA in Political Science.

Roger Valberg
Roger Valberg is a highly experienced fire expert and professional firefighter of 35+ years, leader of the Stockholm Fire & Rescue, and Team Leader for the former Swedish INSARAG Swift team. He is among the most senior trainers of the EU Civil Protection Mechanism and a highly experienced USAR expert and has supported numerous missions in disaster regions. Mr. Valberg has trained firefighters globally to take on new topics like CBRN and USAR and been a senior trainer for large scale disasters training exercises like the Professional Dialogue Exercise (Jordan/Palestine/Israel) and in Southeast Europe (ResponSEE).
Projects/Missions (select): Team leader, HCP, Sweden for wildfires (current); EU instructor in Montenegro, HNS for wildfires (2022/23) (EU); 2022: Evacuation from Afghanistan; 2019: Croatia, Modex, Wildfires Trainer; 2018 deployment of international helicopters for wildfire support (EU); 2016: Bangladesh technical advisor for UN; 2012/13: Palestine, Lead Trainer, development of USAR capacity (MSB)

Fernanda Lammoglia
Fernanda is a Mexican engineer, consultant and researcher who works as a Research Associate on Systemic and Transition Risks at the Cambridge Centre for Risk Studies. With a background in Biotechnology Engineering and Information & Communication Technologies (ICT) for Development & Social Good, she has previously worked in Technology Innovation, Disaster Risk Management (DRM) and Emergency Preparedness & Response (EP&R) consulting. She is interested in the application of Geospatial Technologies (remote sensing, GEOINT), Open-Source Investigations and Intelligence for emergencies, search-and-rescue (SAR), humanitarian action and conflict.

Rade Rajkovchevski
Dr. Rade Rajkovchevski holds the position of Full Professor in Policing and Disaster Management in the St. Kliment Ohridski University (N.Macedonia). Commencing his academic journey in 2006, he transitioned from a background encompassing service in the military, civil protection, and private security within Southeast Europe and France. He earned his military officer credentials at the Military Academy in Skopje (2002), master's thesis in national security policy and conflict prevention (2010) and PhD in European police cooperation (2013).
His extensive expertise extends to roles as a researcher, exercise evaluator, and expert in numerous projects and initiatives funded by the EU, World Bank, Council of Europe, UN agencies, GIZ, MARRI Regional Center and other organizations. Recently, he was appointed as the Head of the DPPI SEE Secretariat, to lead it for the next three years (2024-2027).

Samban Seng
Samban is an esteemed expert in DRR, CCA, and Emergency Management with over 23 years of experience across a spectrum of high-profile organizations and roles, from grassroots to international levels such as IFRC, Plan International, Save the Children International, UNDP, Caritas UK, World Bank, AIMF, and many more development and humanitarian organizations, including government NDMOs. His expertise encompasses preparedness, response, recovery, and resilience strategies, with a strong focus on gender and inclusion mainstreaming, child-centered approaches, and multi-stakeholder coordination. Samban's significant contributions include developing guidelines, leading emergency simulations, and supporting policy and plan development, leading humanitarian operation management, and Organizational Capacity Development. In recent years, Samban has also entered into urban resilience and emergency management, establishing himself as a key player in enhancing disaster resilience and management capacities in Southeast Asia and beyond.

Gonzalo Velasco
Gonzalo Velasco has 15 years of experience working in the fire services. He holds a bachelor’s degree in international relations and is currently pursuing a Master's degree in Business Economics. In the international arena, he has been deployed with the Spanish EMT to Mozambique (2019) and Turkiye (2023) as a logistician. Gonzalo is part of the EUCPT and has worked as an expert evaluator in the H2020 program within the European Research Executive Agency. He is a member of UNDAC, and he has complemented his involvement with OCHA through his work as an intern and consultant within the Emergency Response Section in the UNDAC global team.

Tom Harbour
Tom is a recognized expert in wildland fire and aviation management policy and operations. His over fifty year career spans public service and private industry. He has engaged with varied organizations before, during, and after crises.
Tom offers trusted counsel and advice on wildland fire issues as well as policy and organizational issues. He has engaged with wildland fire problems in many areas around the world.

Maria Katajisko
Maria is a humanitarian affairs and disaster management specialist with a wide range of UN, EU, International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement (RCRC), governmental and non-governmental experience in Europe, Asia, Africa and the Middle East.
She’s a UNDAC and UCPM member and her areas of expertise include humanitarian coordination, emergency preparedness and response, disaster risk reduction (DRR), resilience building, food security and livelihoods (FSL).

Ben Sims
Ben Sims has 13 years of experience advising governments across Asia and the Pacific on addressing climate change. His work has included designing institutional frameworks and strategies for improving climate finance access and utilization, undertaking climate risk and adaptation assessments, developing guidelines and building capacity, and providing support to achieve disaster risk reduction and loss and damage action. He has been engaged as a consultant for the World Bank, ADB, UN agencies, Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI), Government of New Zealand, Commonwealth Secretariat and SPREP, and previously worked as a staff member for GGGI.

Magnus Eriksson
Magnus has been working with flood related matters for many years both in national and international context, for instance as an expert in several of the flood related IPA projects in the Balkan countries and Turkey. Magnus is part of Swedish Civil Contingencies Agency ́s (MSB) roster as a Team Leader for MSB flood containment and high-capacity pumping modules. He is also an experienced expert on Host Nation Support and trained as an expert for EU Civil Protection Teams. In his daily job Magnus works as a fire protection engineer and regional incident commander at a fire & rescue service, focusing on flood emergency response and prevention measures at municipal level. He is currently involved with adaption to climate changes due to sea level rise, storm surges, and torrential rain.

Alexander Skinner
Alexander Skinner is a crisis management specialist with ten years’ experience. He has enhanced the crisis preparedness of governments and organizations across the UK, Canada, the Middle East, and North and East Africa through training, exercising, crisis planning and programming. Most recently, Alexander has focused on preparedness and risk reduction in climate change and terrorism.
During crises, Alexander has led multiple teams delivering frontline responses and teams at headquarter offices in the UK and Canada.
Alexander designed the Canadian Government's After Action Review process for international emergency responses, with a focus on isomorphic learning and embedding knowledge.
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