Team
Michael Meyer-Resende Executive Director
German, fully qualified lawyer, twelve years work experience, specialist in legal and political aspects of democratisation. Works in the Middle East, Africa, Eastern Europe and Asia. Professional experience includes two years legal practice in Berlin, four years with the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) of the OSCE (Warsaw); adviser on ODIHR Election Observation Missions; almost three years with the election team of the European Commission (leading exploratory missions to Mozambique, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, West Bank/Gaza, Lebanon, Egypt); journalistic experience (BBC, Print Media). Co-authored numerous DRI reports and media pieces. Based in Lisbon and Berlin.
m.meyer@democracy-reporting.org
Nils Meyer-Ohlendorf Executive Director
German, PhD in public international law, twelve years of professional experience including: four years co-founder and managing director of Democracy Reporting International; six years project leader and Coordinator of International Governance with the Ecologic Institute (a think tank in international environmental policies, based in Berlin, Germany); two years desk officer with the German Federal Government (EU Co-ordination); two years with the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) and the EU as Legal and Election Expert of various Election Observation Missions; two years legal practice in Berlin and Frankfurt.
n.ohlendorf@democracy-reporting.org
Paul O’Grady Co-Director, Programme Director EC Framework Contracts
British, holds degrees in Social Anthropology and Development Studies. Specialist in elections, democratisation and human rights. Since 1994, he has participated in various assignments for the United Nations, the OSCE and the European Commission, during which he worked in twenty three countries and territories in Africa, Asia and Europe. He served as Deputy Head on numerous high-profile international election observation missions (EOMs) for the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (OSCE/ODIHR) including Armenia (2008), Kazakhstan (2007), Belarus (2006), Albania (2005), Ukraine (2004) and Georgia (2003). Paul was appointed Head of Mission for the OSCE/ODIHR EOM to Montenegro in 2003. He is co-author of the Democracy Reporting reports on Egypt, Kuwait and Yemen and has contributed to a number of publications on election observation for the OSCE and the European Union. Currently lives in Lebanon and Europe.
p.ogrady@democracy-reporting.org
Richard Chambers Co-Director
British. Over thirteen years of experience in law, democratisation and elections. He was Team Leader of the EU Democracy and Election Support Mission to the Afghanistan Presidential Elections 2004 and has also observed numerous elections for the EU and OSCE/ODIHR, including recently as Deputy Chief Observer for the 2006 parliamentary elections in Palestine and presidential elections in Yemen. With wide experience of conflict resolution in the Balkans and Caucasus, Richard has also acted as an independent technical adviser to the National Election Board of Ethiopia. He previously worked as a barrister. Currently Chief of Party/IFES in Lebanon.
r.chambers@democracy-reporting.org
Michaela Küfner Co-Director
German, holds masters degrees in International Human Rights Law (M.St. Oxford) and European Studies (M.A.). Eight years experience as election observer and core team member in various missions of the OSCE and the EU including the United States, Indonesia, Kenya and Georgia. Television journalist presenting daily news and the current affairs programme “Global 3000“ on DWTV, Germany’s foreign broadcaster.
m.kuefner@democracy-reporting.org
Michel Paternotre Co-Director
Belgian, some 20 years’ work experience including four years at the European Commission Secretariat General (institutional affairs), three years as consultant in European political and social affairs for European trade union research centres and 10 years in electoral technical assistance and observation missions with the OSCE (Bosnia), the UN (Kosovo, East Timor, Comoros), the EU (Benin, East Timor, Ivory Coast, Pakistan, Indonesia, Kenya, Nigeria, Haiti, Togo) and the Carter Center (Ivory Coast). Michel has also worked as political officer at the European Commission Technical Assistance Office in Jerusalem from 2005-2006. He has co-authored Democracy Reporting International reports on Lebanon, Morocco and Algeria. He is based in Brussels, Belgium.
m.paternotre@democracy-reporting.org
Geoffrey Weichselbaum Co-Director
Belgian, with some ten years work experience in the fields of conflict resolution, political analysis and democratisation, in the Middle East, Maghreb, Africa and Asia. Geoffrey’s professional experience includes four years as Programme Manager in Brussels and later Director of Media Programme in Jerusalem for the conflict resolution NGO ‘Search for Common Ground’. Geoffrey was editor of the ‘Common Ground News Service – Middle East’ and the ‘Bulletin of Regional Cooperation in the Middle East’. In 2007/2008, he became Political Affairs Officer in the joint United Nations/African Union mediation team in charge of the peace process in Darfur. Geoffrey has observed numerous elections for the European Union, the National Democratic Institute and The Carter Center and co-authored Democracy Reporting International reports on Morocco, Sudan and Pakistan. He is based in Brussels, Belgium.
g.weichselbaum@democracy-reporting.org
Hannah Roberts Associate
British, more than ten years experience in electoral observation and support. Has recently been Deputy Head of Mission for the the OSCE in Afghanistan 2009 and the EU in Pakistan 2008. She has designed technical assistance programmes for the UN and EU for electoral and parliamentary support. Hannah has conducted strategic planning, implemented donor projects in the field and been Director of the EU NEEDS II programme to improve standards in electoral observation. She has also written and produced observation materials for the EU, including on the use of international standards for elections. Hannah was the Deputy Head of Country for the 2005 Iraqi Out-of-Country Voting in Syria. She has conducted training and produced election related materials including polling manuals and voter education materials.
h.roberts@democracy-reporting.org
Ammar Abboud Associate
Lebanese, M.A. (Political Science), specialist in elections, human rights and development. Twenty years of experience and activism in various Lebanese NGOs. For the past ten years internationally active, mainly in the Arab region on global trade, capacity building with Iraqi NGOs and election monitoring. A founding member and former Deputy Secretary General of the Lebanese Association for Democratic Elections (LADE). Co-authored DRI reports on Lebanon and Yemen and has contributed to a number of publications on electoral reform. He is based in Beirut, Lebanon.
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