International Fellows Alumni

Issam Yahyaoui holds a Bachelor's in Law from the University of Legal and Political Sciences in Tunis, Tunisia and a Master’s of Civil and Criminal Law from the Higher Institute of the Judiciary in Megrine, Tunisia. Judge Yahyaoui has worked for the Ministry of Justice in Tunisia for over 14 years working with cases ranging from taxes and bankruptcy, to civil and commercial disputes. In 2017, he was appointed as a vice president of the Tunis Trial Court in charge of the Commercial Division. He is also a member of the Chamber of the First President of the Court of Appeal of Tunis, which hears the proceedings for the annulment of international arbitral awards. During his Fellowship year, Judge Yahyaoui plans to gain more knowledge and skills to reform the judicial system in Tunisia, especially the business courts.

Mr. Adopo is a development practitioner with over 12 years of experience in program development and implementation, training and project management. He holds a Specialized Higher Studies Diploma (DESS) degree in Economic Regulation and Project Management from Felix Houphouet Boigny National University in Côte d’Ivoire. Over the course of his career Mr. Adopo has participated in developing national, sectoral and local development plans in his country. His efforts have contributed to an increase in the capacity of the government and other organizations to mobilize internal and external resources, and improve the living conditions of the population. In 2014 Mr. Adopo developed procedures for creating sector development plans and these procedures continue to be used by all the ministries in this field. He is currently Officer in Charge of Survey at the Ministry of Planning and Development. During his Fellowship year Mr. Adopo would like to collaborate with academics and international development practitioners to bolster his monitoring and evaluation skills through the exploration of theory and experiential learning with the overall goal of improving the impact of the implementation of policies, programs and projects in his country.

Ms. Ariza Ramírez is an economist at the National University of Colombia (NUC). She holds a master's degree in Economics Science from NUC with an emphasis on theory and economic policy. Ms. Ariza Ramírez is an expert in the design, execution, monitoring and evaluation of public policies, especially in the education sector, training for work, and employment. She has led the construction of the regulatory and public policy framework of the sectors of work and education over the past 12 years. Ms. Ariza Ramírez served as an independent consultant and Deputy Minister of Higher Education from 2014 to 2016. She has also held management positions in public institutions in Colombia, including the National Apprenticeship Service, Ministry of Labor, Ministry of Social Protection and the National Planning Department. Ms. Ariza Ramírez believes that access to quality education for children and young people is the only way to achieve social cohesion.

Mr. Banda graduated as a Second Lieutenant at the Carabineros Officers School in 1994. After three years working in different positions, he specialized as an expert in traffic accident investigation, working for eight years in the metropolitan region and then in the Antofagasta region of Chile. In 2006 he obtained his bachelor's degree in Engineering and Business Administration and later a Master of Business Administration at Universidad Católica del Norte. He then worked as a professor at two universities in human resources and administration. Mr. Banda has worked in administration and management control as a lieutenant, captain, major and lieutenant colonel of the Carabineros, the Chilean national police, and has been recognized for his work in the development of social and institutional projects. During his Fellowship year Mr. Banda wants to focus on improving his skills in English and human resource management with a focus on anti-corruption.

Mr. Chattha serves as a District Police Officer with the Punjab Police in Gujrat, Pakistan and has over fourteen years of experience in policing. He has served as Police Chief of eleven major districts with populations ranging from 3 to 5 million. As District Police Office, he is responsible for maintaining law and order, protecting public and private property, as well as human rights and human lives within his jurisdiction. Mr. Chattha also handles human resource duties within the organization, including financial management and training. He is particularly interested in counter-terrorism issues and would like to use his Fellowship year learning how to leverage HRM tools to build the capacity of the Punjab Police in the area of counter-terrorism. Mr. Chattha holds a bachelor’s degree in European History and Political Science from the Government College of Lahore and an M.Sc. in History from Quaid e Azam University in Islamabad.

Ms. Chhom has been working in development research for several years with a particular interest in the nexus of water, land, energy, and economic and political issues. She is currently a Research Associate in the Governance Unit at Cambodia Development Resource Institute (CDRI). Ms. Chhom leads a research project, Mekong Water Governance, focusing on a hydropower dam project and resultant resettlement of affected residents. She holds a bachelor’s degree in Environmental Sciences from the Royal University of Phnom Penh (RUPP), Cambodia and a master’s degree in Sustainable Development from Chiang Mai University, Thailand. During her academic year she was awarded an Asian Graduate Student Fellowship with the Asia Research Institute at the National University of Singapore. Ms. Chhom has extensive field experience conducting social research in community development, resource rights and use, and local governance. During her Fellowship year she plans to sharpen her academic writing skills and spend time studying policy concepts, economic theory and approaches, and to gain practical experience that she can apply to her home country context.

Mr. Hierro Sánchez received his law degree from the University of Havana in 2014. Since then he has worked as a professor at the University of Havana, and was appointed as a judge to the Provincial Court of Havana in 2016. Prior to starting his career in academia Mr. Hierro Sánchez worked as a community organizer for partial elections in the province of Havana. He was appointed by the National Electoral Commission to manage grassroots advocacy efforts and worked as a community speaker on the Cuban electoral system. In addition he worked as an Assistant to the Commission on Reform of the Cuban Law of Civil, Administrative, Labor and Economic Procedure. Mr. Hierro Sánchez’s areas of focus are public policy implementation and leadership for change. He hopes that the Hubert H. Humphrey Fellowship Program will help him improve Cuba's social and economic development.

Ms. Hlaing is an advocate and social worker with over 15 years of experience in organizational development, advocacy, project management, humanitarian work and women empowerment. She has experience organizing campaigns, publishing resource materials and documentary films, and leading a network-based local organization. Ms. Hlaing holds an Master of Science in Gender and Development Studies from the Asian Institute of Technology in Thailand. Ms. Hlaing consistently promotes diversity, mutual respect, trust and constructive communication. She has led and organized the “Vote for Women Campaign” and advocated for and promoted ethnic women politicians in the 2015 General Election in Myanmar. She has produced several documentaries to highlight women’s rights. Her documentary film “History of International Women’s Day” aired on state-owned channels in Myanmar and was also shown and distributed to policy makers, NGOs, libraries, and Institutes of Liberal Arts and Theology. Her second documentary, “Just a Woman,” highlights the challenges faced by female politicians in Myanmar and was screened with other selected films at the Human Rights and Human Dignity Film Festival in June 2017. During her Fellowship year Ms. Hlaing would like to engage with academic and professional practitioners, policy makers and legislators to enhance her understanding of the formulation, analysis and implementation of policy and law, effective campaigning strategies for social change, and leadership and advocacy skills through the exploration of theory and experiential learning. She also plans to study the US education system and refugee resettlement program.

Ms. Kandri is a project manager for Partnerë për Fëmijët (Partners for Children) with over eight years of experience in managing and monitoring child focused, human trafficking and gender-based violence projects, training, capacity building, community mobilization, monitoring, evaluation, research and advocacy. She holds a degree in Social Work from the University of Tirana. Ms. Kandri has managed EU funded projects and others addressing inclusion for ethnic minority children and children with disabilities in education, child rights, gender discrimination and the challenges of Meeting Interests prevention and reintegration of school dropouts. She also manages an internship program that mentors and guides students who have recently graduated to undertake the role of teaching assistants to children with disabilities in mainstream schools. Ms. Kandri is a competent training developer and facilitator and uses participatory and practical methods to enable participants to learn through experience and practice and reflection on their daily work. During her Fellowship year, she would like to strengthen her capacity and skills in human rights advocacy, lobbying, public speaking and leadership skills.

Ms. Karapetyan is the Deputy Head of the Public Defender’s Office in Yerevan, Armenia, and has over 15 years of experience in the fields of criminal justice, research and training, human rights and administrating indigent legal aid delivery systems. She holds a PhD in Jurisprudence from Yerevan State University (Armenia), and a master’s degree in Jewish Civilizations from the University of Heidelberg (Germany). In her current role, she supervises the work of public defenders and makes high-level policy decisions for the Office of the Public Defender. Over the course of her career, she has led and participated in initiatives that have helped further the development of state-guaranteed legal aid in Armenia. Among her many achievements is the major role she recently played in launching a software program that enables centralized and uniform administration of indigent legal aid cases in Armenia. Ms. Karapetyan has conducted training on human rights for the armed forces of Armenia and has worked as a Council of Europe expert providing expert opinion on the Judicial Code of the Republic of Armenia, bringing it in line with international and European standards. During her fellowship year, she would like to collaborate with academics, lawyers and human rights activists to bolster her advocacy and leadership skills through the exploration of theory and case study.

Mr. Khan is a police officer with over 12 years of experience in watch and ward, investigation, and counter-terrorism. He holds a bachelor’s degree of Medicine and Surgery from King Edward Medical College, Lahore, Pakistan, as well as a bachelor’s degree in Law from Islamia University, Bahawalpur. Mr. Khan started his career in the volatile Swat region bordering Afghanistan as a member of the core committee that looked after the affairs of the region during counter-insurgency operations in 2007. His major contribution has been his active involvement in the introduction of information technology initiatives to the Punjab Police, the second largest police force in the world. This has resulted in the digitalization of business processes and service delivery enhancement, thus transforming a 150 year-old manual system of record keeping into a robust, modern one. During his Fellowship year, Mr. Khan would like to collaborate with academics, practitioners and organizations to bolster his policy formulation skills.

Mr. Khetran is Senior Superintendent of Police in Balochistan and has over 10 years of experience in police investigations, operations and counterterrorism. He has served as Superintendent of Police in terrorism-affected and volatile districts in various parts of Balochistan. Mr. Khetran hails from the local ethnic Baloch community of one of the most isolated areas of Balochistan. During his tenure in Balochistan he successfully dealt with cases of ethnic violence, human rights violations, Baloch insurgency and religious terrorism. In terrorism affected areas, routine development projects and polio campaigns are impossible without the active participation and protection of police. Mr. Khetran has helped implement initiatives to improve police responses to these unique challenges and to develop standard operating procedures for responses to various incidents of terrorism. In his capacity as Assistant Inspector of General Operations, he supervised all law and order, and terrorism-related issues throughout Balochistan. Mr. Khetran plans to learn more about responses to police violations of human rights in the United States during his Fellowship year.

Mr. Lutenco is a senior executive manager with over 12 years of experience in design, coordination, implementation, monitoring, and evaluation of migration-related programs. He has worked with government entities, international organizations, and NGOs in Moldova, his home country. Mr. Lutenco founded the Diaspora Relations Bureau as the first government agency to tackle the development cooperation dialogue with migrants and the Institute for European Policies and Reforms, which rapidly became one of the most influential think-tanks in Moldova. He also advised two Prime Ministers on social and development policies. He developed the Diaspora 2025 Strategy, conceptualized and implemented the DOR Program for second-generation migrants, made key contributions to the liberalization of the visa regime with the EU and supervised the development of more than 15 strategic policy documents of the government of Moldova in the social policy sector. During his career, Mr. Lutenco has had extensive experience designing and delivering capacity building training for over 3,000 public servants, migrants, mayors, priests, police officers, judges, prosecutors, social assistants, and students. He is a versatile quadrilingual (English, Russian, Italian, Romanian) communicator and a skillful negotiator. While serving in the municipal council of Chisinau, Mr. Lutenco created and started the very successful implementation of the participatory budgeting. During his fellowship year, He would like to cooperate with governmental, non-governmental, and international institutions to further explore best practices in the field of migration and development, strengthen practical and theoretical knowledge in institutional management, and contribute to better immigration-related policies. Mr. Lutenco also wants to experience political life in the United States and is ready to participate in electoral campaigns, and work with local governance offices bringing enthusiasm, experience, and innovation.

Mr. Ndayisenga is a senior police officer and United Nations (UN) Peacekeeping professional. He has 11 years of experience in planning and supervising police operations, judicial policing and training in human rights within the Burundian National Police. Mr. Ndayisenga holds a Bachelor of Law degree from the Burundian Police Academy. Over the course of his career he has held multiple senior posts from Police Station Chief to Regional Commander. Between 2013 and 2016 he worked as a UN Peacekeeper within the UN Stabilization Mission in Haiti where he was in charge of mentoring and monitoring local police and officials to execute police duties in accordance with the International Human Rights Standards for Law Enforcement. During his Fellowship year Mr. Ndayisenga would like to focus on the study of human rights and learn more about the investigative work of the Human Rights Investigations Unit of the FBI. He would also like to network with specialists and organizations defending human rights in the United States and around the world to bolster his advocacy and training skills. Mr. Ndayisenga is particularly interested in the work of Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International.

Ms. Sarmah joined the Assam Police Service in 2010 as Deputy Superintendent of Police and presently serves as Assistant Commissioner of Police in the Police Commission of Guwahati. She was born and raised in rural Assam and thus fully understands and has experienced the plight of women in a patriarchal society. Ms. Sarmah fights to stop re-victimization of women in police stations and fights against domestic violence against women. She has worked in the conflict zone of the insurgency-prone state of Assam. When violence broke out in the Bodoland Territorial Area District (BTAD) in Assam, she took commendable steps to stop communal violence between ethnic Bodos and minority Muslims. Due to her experience in the area of conflict, she was selected as a 2016 Peace Fellow by Rotary International and participated in a three-month course at Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok, Thailand. Ms. Sarmah has written a storybook in Assamese and translated a Hindi children’s novel into Assamese. During her Fellowship year she plans to learn more about how police and civil society organizations respond to cases of domestic violence against women and learn best practices in the United States through collaboration with professors, activists, NGOs and police. Ms. Sarmah hopes that she will gain tools to implement positive changes in the policing of women in Assam.

Ms. Tekeşin ıs a lawyer from Turkey who specializes in human rights and family law issues. After obtaining her law degree from Marmara University she worked as a junior partner in Baktiaya Law Firm. Ms. Tekeşin holds a Master in Law and Human Rights from Istanbul Bilgi University. After graduation she founded her own law firm in 2009. She teaches family law at Istanbul Bilgi University. Ms. Tekeşin is an activist lawyer and defends women’s rights. Since 2012 she has served as Director of the KAHUDEV Foundation, which mainly supports female lawyers and law students. She hopes that the Humphrey Fellowship program improves her knowledge of human rights advocacy and provides her with additional tools to help her improve women's rights in Turkey.

Ms. Tetteh is a development professional and a Deputy Director at the Ministry of Trade and Industry with over 12 years of experience in trade and industry policy. She has expertise in the promotion of development initiatives, providing innovative input for policy decisions and choices, conceptualizing, designing and implementing trade and industry projects, and supporting the growth and development of small- and medium-scale enterprises through business advisory services. Ms. Tetteh holds a joint master's degree in Development Studies and Public Policy from the International Institute of Social Studies, The Hague and Central European University, Budapest, respectively. Ms. Tetteh has contributed to the formulation of Ghana's Trade and Industry policies, which have had a significant impact on Ghana’s economy. In the last five years she has led the consultative processes for Ghana's Consumer Policy and the drafting of a Consumer Protection Bill. During her Fellowship year Ms. Tetteh intends to collaborate with academics and development practitioners to strengthen her skills on trade policy, enterprise development, leadership, strategic management and online redress systems so she can continue to empower and sustain businesses.

Ms. Afifa has over 10 years of experience working in law enforcement with the Bangladesh Police. She currently serves as the Additional Deputy Commissioner for the Dhaka Metropolitan Police. In this position she is responsible for coordinating the activities of various divisions, criminal investigations and code enforcement, overseeing performance of the department, development and training, and ensuring observance of human rights standards in police work.  In 2013 she led the Bangladesh Police UNPOL team in South Sudan as the Deputy Contingent Commander and was responsible for the Protection of Civilian duty, investigating violations of human rights, and providing humanitarian assistance to internally displaced persons.  Ms. Afifa was awarded the United Nations Medal in 2015 in recognition of her contribution to the Protection of Civilians during that mission. She has worked as a detective on high-profile cases concerning domestic and international terrorism and countering violent extremism.

 Ms. Afifa earned a Bachelor of Science in mathematics and a Master of Science in applied mathematics from the University of Dhaka. During her Humphrey Fellowship she plans to focus on law and human rights, specifically on the processes by which U.S. police departments seek to protect human rights.

Mr. Aybar has served in several positions at the National Social Security Administration of Argentina. Prior to accepting the Humphrey Fellowship he served as General Director of Benefits, authorizing pensions for millions of beneficiaries in his country. During the last 13 years he served in public management positions in three levels of government. He is currently Vice President of Contemporanea Foundation, a nongovernmental organization aimed at training young social and political leaders, and a member of Political Action Network, a civil organization that promotes dialogue among politicians and to strengthen the relationship between civil society and political leaders.  Mr. Aybar earned a Bachelor of Arts in political science from the Catholic University of Argentina in Buenos Aires, studied Portuguese language at University of Brasilia (Brazil), and then completed an intensive course on public administration at Georgetown University in Washington DC. During his year at the Humphrey School Mr. Aybar aims to learn analytical and executive tools in public policies, particularly in social policies focused on young people who neither work nor study. He believes that sharing with people from other cultures will be invaluable to learn about other experiences that could be applied in his country.

Ms. Bahgat has over nine years of experience in the field of socioeconomic development, humanitarian work and refugee services. Prior to the start of her fellowship year she worked with Save the Children-Egypt, focusing on child protection and youth and adolescent development. Ms. Bahgat is also an emerging short story author and blogger. Her work has appeared in various publications, including The Huffington Post and Arab Spring Dreams: The Next Generation Speaks out for Freedom and Justice. In 2009, Ms. Bahgat was awarded The European Institute of the Mediterranean Writing Award. She was also awarded American University's Madalyn Lamont Literary Award in 2016. Ms. Bahgat’s writing explores issues of identity, spirituality, mythologies and gender.  She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in business from Cairo University, and a Master of Arts degree in political science from American University in Cairo. While in the United States Ms. Bahgat will focus on learning strategies of youth development and explore new ways of advancing human rights through her writing.