Angelo Baglio

Head of Unit, Relations with Civil Society and Local Authorities, Direction Development and Cooperation, European Commission 

Angelo Baglio is graduated in social sciences. During his career he has worked in different functions in coordination, analysis, strategic reflexions and operation in various Directorate-Generals of the European Commission, particularly in employment and regional policies

At The General Direction of Development and cooperation DEVCO/EuropeAid since 2001, he has successively been in charge of social development in the MEDA programme. Successively head of the sector ‘Mashreq’ and assistant to the Deputy Director General, his multi-sectorial experience as well as his expertise in politics of economic and social cohesion, territorial development and budget support, allow him to understand the impact of global development issues and the necessity to implicate the whole spectrum of actors, in particular the civil society.

Currently, he is Head of Unit ‘Civil Society and Local Authorities’ in the "Human and Society Development" Directorate in DG DEVCO.

Antonio Vigilante

Director of the United Nations Office and the UNDP Representation Office in Brussels

Mr. Antonio Vigilante (Italy) is the Director of the United Nations Office and of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Representation Office in Brussels. 

He holds a Diploma in business Administration and a master degree in Political Sciences and international relations, from the University Orientale of Naples, Italy.

Mr Vigilante has been working for the United Nations Development Programme since 1981, serving in recent years as the UN Resident Coordinator and UNDP Resident Representative in Egypt and, chairman of the Donors Assistance Group; UN Resident Coordinator and UNDP Resident Representative, in Bulgaria (1996-2001).

From May 1999 to August 2000 he was the UNDP Special Representative for Post-Conflict Development in South Eastern Europe.  From 1991 to 1996 he served as Deputy Resident Representative and as Resident Representative (a.i.) in Bolivia.

Before he held UN positions in Bolivia, Honduras, Ethiopia, Barbados and New York.

Mr. Vigilante is the author of many publications related to development issues in specialized reviews, books and newspaper articles.  He has directed in 1995/96 a UNDP bi-monthly Human Development Review. He is visiting lecturer to a number of post-graduate courses on international relations and development and a member of the Jury of the International documentary film Millennium Festival (on Millennium Development Goals).

Berry Vrbanovic

Emeritus Past President, Federation of Canadian Municipalities, Councillor of Kitchener

Berry Vrbanovic was first elected as a Councillor in 1994, and is now serving his fifth term as a Councillor with the City of Kitchener, Ontario, Canada.  Prior to serving on Council, Mr. Vrbanovic had 8 years of experience in municipal administration working in the Clerk's, Fire, Licensing, Planning and Information Technology Departments.
 
In 2000, Mr. Vrbanovic was first elected to the Board of Directors of the Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM). From 2005-2007, he served as Chair of FCM's Standing Committee on International Relations which oversees the work FCM does in 20 developing countries in Asia, Africa, the Middle East and Latin America.  In 2007, he was elected by his colleagues as the Chair of the Ontario Caucus and as Third Vice-President at Large.  The same year he served on the FCM Governance Committee which revised the FCM bylaws, and the code of ethical conduct, and the Finance and Human Resources Committee.
 
Currently, Mr. Vrbanovic is serving as FCM's Third Vice-President.  He is also FCM's governance representative  on post-tsunami programs in Sri Lanka and Indonesia, both of which address the question of local government strengthening in conflict and post-conflict contexts. Mr. Vrbanovic also represents Canada on the World Council of UCLG.

Boubacar Alpha Bah

President of the Association of Municipalities of Mali (AMM), Mayor of the Commune V of Bamako

M. Bah est diplômé d’Études Supérieures (DES) en économie du développement de l’Université de Paris I et Paris II Sorbonne, et possède une maîtrise en Sciences économiques /économétrie /micro-économie des universités de Paris IX Nanterre et de Caen.

À son retour au Mali, après ses études en France, il travaille en tant qu'économiste indépendant. En 1992, il est nommé Ministre Délégué auprès du Premier ministre en charge de la promotion du secteur privé. En 1994, il devient membre du Comité exécutif en tant que Secrétaire au Développement adjoint, Secrétaire aux Questions Économiques et Secrétaire aux Relations Extérieures.

En 1998, il est élu Conseiller communal. Il devient maire de la commune V en 2009.  L’année suivante, il est nommé Président de l’Association des municipalités du Mali (AMM). En 2012, il devient le Vice-président du Conseil des Collectivités Territoriales de l’Union économique et monétaire ouest-africaine (UEMOA). 

Au cours de sa carrière, M. Bah a aussi assumé différents mandats pour les organisations internationales suivantes : la Banque Mondiale ; la Banque Ouest Africaine de Développement (BOAD), le PNUD, la FAO, le PAM, le Comité permanent Inter-États de Lutte contre la Sécheresse dans le Sahel (CILSS), l’Union européenne, USAID, l’Agence Canadienne de Développement International (ACDI), etc.

Hannah Ryder

Secretary of State of the Busan GP, DFID

Hannah Ryder leads a team to support the UK’s Secretary of State for International Development, Justine Greening, to co-chair the Global Partnership for Effective Development Cooperation, alongside Ministers from Nigeria and Indonesia. The Global Partnership aims to help nations, businesses and organisations work better together to end poverty.  It helps ensure funding, knowledge and policy deliver as much poverty reduction as possible. Hannah is an economist by training, an award winning blogger, and brings to the Partnership prior experience as a UK Climate Change Negotiator and co-authorship of the seminal Stern Review on the Economics of Climate Change.

Isam Akel

Association of Palestinian Local Authorities (APLA)

Specialised in public administration and local government, Mr Akel has held various functions related to capacity building of local government in the Middle East region.

Actively involved in local government reform in Palestine, Mr Akel is member of the National Local Government Reform Team and of the Working committee and Technical committee for developing the strategy and the structure of the National Local Government Training Center.

Mr Akel was Chief Advisor and Regional Coordinator Gold 2 for United Cities and Local Government-Middle East and West Asia (UCLG-MEWA) from December 2008 until March 2012.

Jantine Kriens

President of the Board of Directors of Association of Municipalities of the Netherlands (VNG)

Ms. Jantine Kriens has been active in the public sector since 1977, as civil servant for the municipality of Rotterdam and within the ministry of Education, Culture and Science. Between 2002 and 2006, she was elected councilor for the Labour Party in the city of Rotterdam.

In 2006 she became the first vice-mayor of Rotterdam and alderman in the field of Social Care, Health and Wellbeing. Additionally, between 2010 and 2013 she was responsible for municipal finances and for the restructuring of the municipal organisation. In that period, she was also member of the presidency of the Association of Netherlands Municipalities (VNG) and chair of the Board for Labour Affairs of the VNG.

Since June 2013, Ms. Kriens fulfills the position of Chairman of the Board of Directors of the VNG.

Johannes Krassnitzer

ART Programme Specialist, UNDP

Mr Krassnitzer is Programme Specialist of the UNDP ART Initiative, an international cooperation program promoting a territorial approach to development based on multi-level and multi-actor partnerships to attain Sustainable Human Development. He has previously coordinated the UNDP ART programmes in Sri Lanka and Senegal. Previous to UNDP, he worked with UNOPS on area-based rehabilitation programmes in the Balkans, Eastern Europe and Central Asia and Latin America, and with various NGOs in Guatemala and Colombia.

Mr. Krassnitzer holds a degree from the London School of Economics, Development Management, as well as a degree from the Vienna University in International Relations and Anthropology. 

Philippe Cichowlaz

Deputy General Director in charge of International Relations and European Affairs, PACA