Search 

Contact      Links

We Welcome Two New Colleagues

09-01-2007 ICDI is very happy to welcome two new colleagues; Esther Miedema and Mathijs Euwema. Both joined ICDI in January 2007. Esther's educational background is in educational sciences and she has extensive international work experience in child issues. Her early experience in working with street children in Kenya inspired her to focus her studies and career on education in developing countries. Since December 2004 she has worked as a consultant for various organisations, concentrating on Sexual and Reproductive Health, HIV/AIDS and education. Prior to this she worked as Associate expert for education for UNESCO in Indonesia, the Philippines and Mozambique. Whilst with UNESCO she managed projects aimed at strengthening governmental and non-governmental partners in, among others, providing (vocational) education to out of school youth, community development in post-conflict areas, early childhood education, and tackling issues relating to gender inequality in education. In Mozambique one of Esther's main tasks was to serve as the UNESCO focal point for HIV/AIDS. Besides working with ICDI, Esther has embarked on a PhD research programme at the Institute of Education, University of London. Her research will focus on the relationships between international discourse relating to poverty, HIV and AIDS, national policy making and classroom teaching. In her spare time she enjoys running and mountain climbing. Mathijs (1968) has started working as senior programme manager with ICDI as of 1 January 2007. Mathijs has a university degree in developmental psychology. The last eleven years he has been working in different settings, both in The Netherlands and abroad. He worked for five years a coordinator with Refugee Work in the north of Holland, providing services for asylum seekers and refugees in two rural areas. He also worked as a child psychologist at two special schools for mentally and physically disabled children. From 2000 Mathijs worked for the Dutch INGO War Child Holland, both as manager (he was for example the Country Director for War Child’s programme in Kosovo and worked at Head Quarters as programme manager Europe), and in the last year as programme adviser. In the latter position he (amongst other things) developed a basic training in child development, and was involved in strategic development and monitoring and evaluation of different programmes. In his private life Mathijs enjoys playing tennis and chess, reading, hanging around with friends, and …watching television