In this section
In this sectionFind below the team members and their functions in the GPA Coordination Unit. If you need any support, feel free to send us an email at energy@unitar.org, we will find the best person to help you.
Aimee Jenks
About
Aimee works with the GPA Secretariat as a Desk Officer and assistant coordinator of the Global Platform for Action on Humanitarian Energy (GPA). Her responsibilities include leading the collective work under GPA Working Area on Technical Expertise, Training and Capacity Building and supporting wider GPA Knowledge Management for the partnership network. This includes project management of the Energy Delivery Models training programme which equips humanitarian staff with the analysis and design skills to develop sustainable energy programmes, support to humanitarian partners and clusters on integrating sustainable energy into their institutional and operational work, webinar series development and delivery, support to the Humanitarian Energy Exchange Network and ad hoc technical support to partners on new project development. She is undertaking an MSc in International Development from the University of Edinburgh and holds a Bachelors in Energy Engineering from Texas A&M University.
Elif Gül Demir
About
Elif is working on the coordination and capacity-building areas of the GPA. Elif is leading the SAFE/Humanitarian Energy Exchange Network which is the central platform for coordination and collaboration between humanitarian and development agencies working on sustainable energy projects in displacement settings. Before joining the GPA, Elif worked for Energy for Refugees to fund, design, and install a solar PV system for the Moria refugee camp in Greece.
Elif holds a bachelor's degree in Industrial Engineering at Bilkent University in Turkey and a master's degree in Complex Systems Engineering and Management at the Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands. Elif wrote her thesis on the potential of community-based approaches for governing solar mini-grids in refugee camps through a case study of the Kigeme refugee camp in Rwanda to examine how energy access is provided within the camp and how humanitarian organizations, local government, funders, and private sector actors interact with each other.
Epa Ndahimana
About
Epa Ndahimana is an energy economist with a passion for research in the fields of energy transition, energy poverty, energy economics, and refugee development. With a background in harnessing the power of renewable energy for improved smallholder farmers' value addition for increased incomes and better livelihoods. Epa also has a proven track record in producing, distributing, and marketing eco-friendly cook stoves in humanitarian settings in Uganda, demonstrating his commitment to sustainable energy solutions.
As a Research Associate at the GPA, Epa is leading the research and writing of the Roadmaps for Energy Access in Displacement Settings (READS) Report in Uganda. This comprehensive report aims at analysing the current status of energy access, usage, challenges, and potential opportunities in displacement settings in Uganda. With his expertise and dedication, Epa is playing a crucial role in advancing energy access and usage in this critical area.
Joelle Hangi
About
Joelle Hangi joined the GPA team in September 2022. Her background is in research on displacement and communication. Her work focuses on supporting the Transforming Energy Access Project to emphasize the work of the GPA- INCLUDE Program. She also supports the Roadmaps for Energy Access in Displacement Settings (READS) program. Before joining the GPA, Joelle worked in different research capacities with UNHCR Africa Office, Oxford’s Refugee Studies Centre, University of Geneva’s Human Rights Department, among other humanitarian organizations.
Jonathan Archimi
About
Jonathan is the programme manager of the Transforming Humanitarian Energy Access (THEA) programme. The programme provides inclusionary analysis and evidence on the energy needs of all displaced people, specifically by delivering high-quality research and knowledge to support policy and decision-making on humanitarian energy investments.
Before joining the GPA, Jonathan engaged with local implementing partners and cooperation agencies to fund and deliver solar systems in the Middle Eastern region with five projects on twelve sites. The projects empowered the beneficiaries with the ownership of clean and affordable energy sources through the establishment of a revolving fund.
Jonathan also worked twelve years in the private sector as a financial analyst and senior accountant. He completed his Master’s degree in Global Affairs at New York University, with a thesis addressing the role of innovative finance in the development of distributed power generation.
Leslie Sligh
About
Leslie supports the implementation of the Decarbonising Humanitarian Energy Multi-Partner Trust Fund as a Desk Officer for the DHE MPTF Secretariat. Prior to joining the Secretariat in February 2023 she spent a year at the United States Institute of Peace (USIP) as a Research Assistant on the Learning, Evaluation, and Research (LER) Team. Leslie found her way to the humanitarian energy space through her graduate capstone project where she supported Energy Peace Partners (EPP) in mapping opportunities for Peace Renewable Energy Credit (P-REC) introduction in South Sudan and Democratic Republic of the Congo, and developed strategic recommendations for facilitating renewable energy transitions in humanitarian settings. Additional experience includes an impact evaluation consultancy at the World Bank’s Gender Innovation Lab (GIL) and two years as a Peace Corps Volunteer in the Kavango region of Namibia. Leslie holds a master’s degree from Georgetown’s University’s School of Foreign Service in Global Human Development with a focus on climate change, refugees, and humanitarian crises.
Mariana Soto
About
Mariana holds a bachelor's degree in International Business from Tecnlógico de Monterrey in Mexico and a master's degree in International Development with a major in Mobilities, Spaces & Cities from the Graduate Institute in Geneva and an exchange studies at the American Univeristy in Washingotn D.C. Before joining the GPA, Mariana worked as an intern at UNCTAD and the Mexican Mission of Mexico to the UN and WTO.
Mariana Soto
Job Title
Communications
Mark Gibson
About
Mark is the Operational Lead of the Coordination Unit for the Global Platform for Action (GPA) on Sustainable Energy in Displacement Settings at UNITAR. Mark joined the GPA in August 2018 and has been managing the GPA’s work on decarbonising the humanitarian response, including the development of standard lease and power purchase agreements and de-risking long term agreements. Prior to joining the GPA, Mark spent 18 months with UNHCR Tanzania where, among other things, he developed the Energy and Environmental Strategy for the countries three refugee camps. Before which, Mark spent 20 years providing private sector support to a broad spectrum of projects in Europe, Africa, North America, Latin America, Asia and the Middle East. Mark holds a degree in Environmental Studies and masters degrees in Environmental Law and Marine Resource Management.
Megan Taeuber
About
Megan is the programme manager of the GPA’s Roadmaps for Energy Access in Displacement Settings (READS) programme. The programme is developing ten country-specific roadmap reports which assess the current energy situation as well as identify gaps and viable project opportunities to increase sustainable energy access in displacement settings. Before joining the GPA, Megan worked on other humanitarian energy projects with GIZ and Practical Action. She has also previously worked on the topics of microfinance and digital financial services with other organisations including Kiva.
Megan holds a Master’s degree in Environment and Development from the London School of Economics and Political Sciences (LSE) and wrote her thesis on rural electrification strategies in Myanmar and Bangladesh.
Paola Acevedo
About
Paola is a data analysis trainee in the Coordination Unit since February 2022. She is supporting the GPA with the data sharing process, by working on data analysis and visualization. She has been part of the data analysis team for the modelling of humanitarian energy access to sustainable cooking and lighting sources with Chatman House, for the State of the Humanitarian Energy Sector Report.
Paola is originally from Honduras, and is specialized in energy decarbonization research. She holds an engineering degree in Electronics and Automation from the Autonomous University of Nuevo Leon in Mexico.
Philip Sandwell
About
Dr Philip Sandwell is a Research Associate at the GPA Coordination Unit providing support on data analysis, research, and sustainable energy policymaking in situations of displacement. His responsibilities include assessing energy access for households, businesses and community facilities in displacement settings, and quantifying the cost and GHG emissions savings from decarbonising the humanitarian response via sustainable energy solutions.
Prior to joining the GPA Coordination Unit Philip was a postdoctoral researcher at Imperial College London. His work focused on techno-economic modelling and optimisation of community-scale electricity systems, typically solar minigrids, in rural areas of developing countries and refugee camps. He holds a PhD in Physics and MSci in Theoretical Physics, both from Imperial College London.
Sadiq Zafrullah
About
Sadiq Zafrullah has been working for GPA at the UNITAR since August 2020 and supporting GPA's work in policy, advocacy and outreach including macroeconomic analysis, database management, data visualization, and research. Sadiq holds a bachelor's and a master's degree in Economics, and second master's degree in Rural Development and Natural Resource Management.
Sarah Rosenberg-Jansen
About
Dr Sarah Rosenberg-Jansen, GPA Research Lead. Sarah is an expert adviser on humanitarian energy, with experience leading sustainable energy work with displaced communities in several countries including Rwanda, Kenya, Burkina Faso, Jordan, India, Bangladesh, and Nepal. Sarah leads the research and evidence work of the GPA and is a published academic as well as senior practitioner. She co-chairs the GPA Research and Evidence Group and provides strategic advice to the UN on inclusive energy programming, support to academics and students wishing to work on humanitarian energy, and leads intellectual work on definitions within the energy for forced displacement sector. Sarah has worked across a range of renewable energy and regulatory technical issues for the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), the University of Oxford, Imperial College London, the Climate Policy Initiative, and the University of Cambridge. Her Twitter handle is: @SarahLRosenberg
Yanal ALMADANAT
About
Yanal is the Decarbonisation Lead of the Coordination Unit for the Global Platform for Action on Sustainable Energy in Displacement Settings (GPA) at UNITAR.
He is a NORCAP Energy Expert, and his work is focused on streamlining sustainable energy in humanitarian organizations, collaborating with the GPA’s Steering Group, and coordinating all activities related to the Decarbonising Humanitarian Energy Multi-Partner Trust Fund (DHE MPTF) including monitoring, evaluation, and reporting.
Before joining the GPA, Yanal worked with NRC on decarbonization of offices as well as training & capacity building of staff in Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, and Iraq. Before that, he worked with UNHCR for eight years on energy access, electrification, and clean cooking fuel alternatives for refugee camps in Jordan, Bangladesh, and Brazil. His experience also includes working in the private sector in the Middle East. Yanal holds a bachelor's degree in Electrical Power & Machines Engineering from Yarmouk University in Jordan.
