The activities of the Expert Groups are managed on a daily basis from Skopje by an international Programme Manager, as well as by a national Project Manager and a national Secretarial/Project Assistant drawn from Macedonia’s Romani population. All three were hired specifically for the purposes of this project through an open competition. |
Gordana Rodić (Netherlands)
Programme Manager
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Holding an MA in English language and literature from the University of Utrecht, where she specialized in American studies, Ms Rodić
has considerable work experience in the NGO sector in various regions of the former Yugoslavia as well as in the Netherlands. In recent years, she has been employed by UNPROFOR, the Department of Women’s Studies at the University of Utrecht, and the Dutch NGO Pharos (Centre of Expertise on Refugees and Health), where she served as Officer of International Affairs. Through her work with another Dutch NGO, Admira, Ms Rodić previously had the opportunity to work with Romani NGOs from Macedonia and Serbia on issues of discrimination and its reflection in domestic violence. |
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Ibrahim Ibrahimi (Macedonia)
Project Manager
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With a degree in economics, Mr Ibrahimi is currently enrolled in the MA programme at the Faculty of Economics in Skopje. Before joining ECMI, Mr Ibrahimi was employed as Programme Manager in Romaversitas, the Romani higher education programme of the Foundation “Open Society Institute Macedonia” . Having previously worked as a consultant to the Council of Europe on Roms and employment, Mr Ibrahimi currently serves as a member of Macedonia’s Romani delegation to the Decade of Roma Inclusion and on the board of the Macedonian Helsinki Committee . |
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Sait Demir (Macedonia)
Secretarial/Project Assistant
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A graduate of the University of Saints Cyril and Methodius in Skopje, Mr Demir holds a degree in mechanical engineering. Maintaining interests in computers and engineering, Mr Demir also has three years of work experience in the NGO sector as an accountant for projects with Roms
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ECMI has operated a Regional Office in Skopje since early 2001. The Regional Office Team, which has taken an active role at all phases of the project, was led until November 2004 by:
Sunoor Verma (India)
Project Advisor
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A cardiac surgeon by training, Dr. Verma is also an expert on project management, proposal writing, fundraising, negotiation, and organizational sustainability. After serving as medical advisor to the UN High Commissioner on Refugees (UNHCR) Humanitarian Evacuation Program during the 1999 Kosovo refugee crisis, he worked as a project management consultant to the Center for Refugees and Forced Migration Studies in Skopje. Since joining ECMI in January 2001, he has led the formation of the ECMI NGO Network for the Improvement of Interethnic Relations in the Republic of Macedonia and the development of the Network into a resource for other national and regional initiatives.
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Within the Regional Office Team, this project also draws on the skills, local contacts, and experience of an Office/Finance Manager and an Outreach Manager.
Implementation of this project is supervised by:
Eben Friedman (USA)
Project Leader
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Regional Representative. After spending two years conducting fieldwork in Macedonia and Slovakia, he completed his PhD in political science at the University of California, San Diego in September of 2002. The title of his dissertation was “Explaining the Political Integration of Minorities: Roms as a Hard Case.” He also holds an MA in political science from the Johns Hopkins University. At ECMI, Friedman is responsible for the development and imple-mentation of project initiatives with Roms.
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