International Fellows Alumni

Mr. Bandara is currently the Deputy Solicitor General in the Attorney General’s Office and has conducted prosecutions in many prominent criminal trials. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Law and a master’s degree in Public International Law from the University of Colombo. He also holds a master’s degree in Commercial and Corporate Law from the University of London King’s College. Mr. Bandara has investigated and prosecuted the assassinations of Defense Minister Athulathmudali, General Kobbekaduwa, and the arms and military hardware procurements to the military forces during the regime of the previous government. During his fellowship year, he will focus on establishing professional contacts with prosecutorial and investigating authorities in order to gain insight on the U.S. systems for combating terrorism and related offenses like money laundering.

Bhanu Bhaskar is an officer of the Indian Police Service with a special interest in the investigation of socio-economic crimes and works in India’s Central Bureau of Investigation. He holds a bachelor’s and master’s degree in Political Science and International Relations, and a master’s of Philosophy on Policy Analysis. In 2006, he was the Chevening British Council Fellow, working on wildlife crime and other enforcement issues. During his fellowship year, he will concentrate on enforcement issues including strategies to combat human trafficking and wildlife crime.

Ms. Zarina Juraeva is currently working as a Child Protection Project Officer in Save the Children in Dushanbe, Tajikistan. Ms. Juraeva holds a bachelor’s degree in Foreign Languages from Tajik State University. She has extensive experience coordinating projects of child protection and development, has worked with displaced Afghan children in Tajikistan, and initiated a project to eliminate the exploitation of child labor. During her fellowship year, Ms. Juraeva will focus on HIV/AIDS prevention amongst marginalized children and youth providing social services.

Gela Kvashilava, Ph.D., is Deputy Director of the Department of Information and Analysis at the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Georgia. Mr. Kvashilava holds a master’s degree in Economics and a Ph.D. in Information Technology Development from Tbilisi State University. He is founder of a non-profit organization, Partnership for Road Safety, which implements strategies that address road safety in Georgia. During his fellowship year, Mr. Kvashilava will focus on public management, and transportation safety and policies.

Mr. Lee is the Deputy Director of the Fair Trade Commission, which is an anti-trust, consumer protection, and regulation reform department. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration and a master’s degree in Public Administration. He was an anti-trust case handler in the Competition Bureau. In 2005, he transferred and worked in the Conglomerate Division in charge of reforming holding companies’ regulatory systems. In 2005, Mr. Lee was awarded ‘man of the year’ in the Fair Trade Commission with two other colleagues. During his fellowship year, Mr. Lee will focus on competition policy especially in the intellectual property rights arena.

Mr. Muñoz Portugal is currently the Departmental Coordinator for the Municipality of Lima, where he prepares and organizes plans to transfer communications, resources, and funds from the National Government to the Municipality of Lima. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Industrial Engineering and a master’s degree in Business Administration. During his fellowship year, Mr. Muñoz Portugal will focus on fiscal and administrative decentralization and public resource management, as well as practical applications in administering public services managed by local governments.

Ms. Christina Popivanova is currently the Project Officer on Children and Young People’s Development and Protection in the UNICEF office in Bulgaria. She has addressed a variety of social issues such as HIV/AIDS, child protection, child poverty, education, and policy evaluation at different forums. Christina has received a master’s degree in Economics from the University of Sofia and a master’s degree in International Relations and European Studies from the Central European University, as well as a Joint European master’s degree in European Integration and International Trade. She has extensive experience managing programs and projects within the UNDP, UNICEF and UNAIDS in the Southeast Europe region and has been a recipient of scholarships from Open Society Foundation, French Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and U.S. Department of State. During her fellowship year, Ms. Popivanova will focus her efforts on public policy analysis, the macroeconomics of education, and social policy for children and families.

Mr. Shaikh is the Senior Superintendent of Police serving with the Inspector General of Police in Karachi, Pakistan. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Civil Engineering, a master’s degree in Economics, and a master’s degree in Criminology and Criminal Justice. During his fellowship year, he will focus on Human Rights and Criminal Law, especially in cases of violations against women. He will also focus on transitional justice and on democratic policing and his professional goals include developing human rights ethics amongst young police officers in the Pakistan Police Service.

Mr. Sing’Oei is the executive Director of the Centre for Minority Rights Development (Cemiride), a non-profit organization that seeks the legal and political recognition of minorities and indigenous communities in Kenya and Greater Africa through strategic litigation, research, and frontline advocacy. Mr. Sing’Oei, an advocate of the High Court of Kenya, holds an LL.B degree and is an LL.M candidate at the University of Pretoria, South Africa. He has extensive experience in using international and regional human rights mechanisms to secure group rights for communities in Africa. During his fellowship year, he will focus on international human rights law, citizenship and migration issues, and will also study models on the promotion of diversity and inclusion of minorities in political processes.

Ms. Sousa Silva is Director of the Department of Integration and Community at the University of Rio de Janeiro. She holds a bachelor’s degree in Portuguese Literature a master’s degree in Education, and a doctorate in Social Services. Ms. Sousa Silva co-founded two non-profit organizations in Rio de Janeiro called the Center for Studies and Solidarity Action of Mare and the Development Network of Mare. Both organizations implement social projects of education, community participation, development, and empowerment. During her fellowship year, she will focus on extending her professional experience in the areas of enhancing and connecting communications between schools, urban poor communities, and public policies.

Mr. Todorov is the Head of the Department for European Union law in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Macedonia. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Law and a masters’ degrees in Civil and International Human Rights Law. For the last 10 years, he has worked at and headed the Department of Human Rights in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. During his fellowship year, Mr. Todorov will focus on International Human Rights Law and understanding the main principles of U.S. foreign policy. 

Ms. Tsedev has worked for the ministry of Social Welfare and Labor in the field of Population. Development for the last fifteen years. She holds a bachelor’s degree in Philology and Labor Economy and Management, and a master’s degree in Pedagogy. Ms. Tsedev has experience in policy and strategy development and its implementation and coordination. She is also involved with the adoption process of international treaties and preparation of periodic reports on the rights of women and children. Ms. Tsedev is one of the leading experts on human trafficking in Mongolia. During her fellowship year, Ms. Tsedev will focus on policy analysis and human trafficking and commercial sexual exploitation of children in order to improve effectiveness in trafficking prevention, law enforcement, and victim protection.

Mr. Win is currently the Associate General of the YMCA of Mandalay, where he is responsible for over 50 staff members engaged in a variety of humanitarian causes, including youth leadership training, managing preschool centers, and overseeing programs to install hand pump wells and hygienic latrines in villages. He holds a bachelor’s degree of Science in Chemistry and Religious Education. During his fellowship year, he will focus on studying community development in order to organize and lead trainings for local NGOs, community-based welfare associations, and citizens in both urban and rural areas.

Dr. Altuntas has a bachelor’s degree in law, a master’s degree in civil law, and a doctorate in private international law. She is currently an investigative judge in the General Directorate of International Law and Foreign Relations of the Ministry of Justice in Turkey. During her Humphrey year, she will focus on the prevention of trafficking of persons.

Mr. Baek is currently an officer of the Korea National Police Agency (KNPA) and serves as a senior inspector in the Innovation Planning division of the headquarters of KNPA where he is in charge of evaluating operations and managing police statistics. He has degrees in public administration and criminal justice and as a Humphrey fellow, will research how to create a successful network for sharing intelligence between his country and the United States.

Ms. Bag-ao is the executive director of BALAOD Mindanau, an alternative legal resource organization working towards the advancement and protection of the rights of farmers, fisher folks, and indigenous peoples’ organizations through the creative and developmental use of the law.  She is the convener of the Alternative Law Groups, a coalition of 18 developmental law organizations working toward justice reform in her country.  During her Humphrey year, she will focus on public interest law and human rights.

Ms. Borg has been a probation officer for the past seven years, within the Ministry for Justice and Home Affairs.  She has also served as a guest lecturer within the Institute of Forensic Studies at the University of Malta.  Ms. Borg holds a master’s degree in criminal justice studies and a bachelor’s degree in psychology.  During her Humphrey year, she will focus on human resource management within the criminal justice system.

Ms. Ishaku has a bachelor’s degree in law. She started in private law practice, but has worked with the Kaduna state government for the past 20 years, serving as the director of public prosecutions.  She is also the solicitor general of the state and is currently the director of civil litigation. She is interested in setting up and maintaining government funded alternative dispute resolution centers throughout Nigeria.

Ms. Jifon has a bachelor’s degree in English, a master’s degree in public administration, and teaches management courses at the National Advanced School of Post and Telecommunications.  She is in charge of the budget department of the Cameroon Postal Services.  Also, she is an active member of both SISTERSHARE and NSOBAHTI women associations, which are both women’s economic empowerment NGOs.  During her Humphrey year, she will focus on human resources management strategies in public, private and non-governmental sectors.

Mr. Kapur is an officer of the Indian Police Service and serves as deputy inspector general in the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).  In his policing career of 15 years, he has held several important positions in the state police as well as the CBI.  He holds a bachelor’s degree in engineering and a master’s degree in industrial management.  During this Humphrey year, Mr. Kapur will focus on the theoretical and practical aspects of the investigation of cyber crimes.