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Governance and Structure

The International Association of Professionals in Humanitarian Assistance and Protection (PHAP) is an independent professional organization. It is governed by the General Assembly of its members which meets at least once a year. The General Assembly has all the powers to achieve the mission of the Association. Among other responsibilities, it appoints the members of the Board of Directors and adopts the PHAP budget and annual accounts. There are two categories of members of the General Assembly: 1) regular members who participate in the General Assembly and have a consultative voice; and 2) governing members who participate in the General Assembly and have voting rights. Governing members are selected among the membership of PHAP by the General Assembly on a proposal from the Board of Directors. Governing members meet regularly in working committees to discuss the policy objectives and standards of the Association, to be adopted by the Board of Directors. The Board of Directors supervises the work of the Association. Its daily management responsibilities are delegated to the PHAP Executive Director, in charge of the Secretariat of the Association. All statutory positions within PHAP are fulfilled on a voluntary basis by members of the Association. All members participate into PHAP governance and activities on a strictly personal basis.

Bylaws

Official bylaws of PHAP aisbl, in French, as adopted by the General Assembly on 25 May 2010

Unofficial English translation of the PHAP bylaws

Board of Directors*


Karen Koning AbuZayd
Karen AbuZaydKaren AbuZayd was United Nations Under-Secretary-General as the Gaza-based Commissioner-General for UNRWA from 2005-2010 and Assistant Secretary-General and Deputy Commissioner-General from 2000-2005. Prior to that, she worked for 19 years with UNHCR in Sudan, Namibia, Sierra Leone, and Bosnia – as well as Geneva and Washington. Currently (since 2011) she is a Commissioner for the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic.

 

 

Bruno Demeyere
Bruno Demeyere, a Belgian lawyer, has served the Program on Humanitarian Policy and Conflict Research (HPCR) at Harvard University and HPCR International for several years as Advisor in International Humanitarian Law, most recently assisting with the coordination of the “HPCR Manual on International Law Applicable to Air and Missile Warfare”-project. In this capacity, he was a member of the Drafting Committee convened to draft the article-by-article Commentary associated with the Manual. Mr. Demeyere has lectured on international humanitarian law for a wide variety of professional audiences throughout the world, and has published widely in this and related fields of public international law. He is a Ph.D.-Candidate at Katholieke Universiteit Leuven (Belgium) on the topic of "Armed Conflict-Related Trade in International Law". Mr. Demeyere holds a J.D. from Katholieke Universiteit Leuven (part of his law studies were pursued at City University of Hong Kong), a diploma in International Nuclear Law from the University of Montpellier (France), and a Master of Laws (LL.M) from Harvard Law School (USA).


Michael Fark
Michael FarkMichael Fark has a Masters degree in Violence, Conflict and Development (Political Economics) from the University of London and more than 10 years of international emergency relief field work experience. He has worked with Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) in the Middle east and North and East Africa, including, Iraq, Afghanistan, Sudan, Somalia, Kenya and Chad. Starting in 2009 as the Executive Director and now as Board Chairman, Michael manages the Canadian based renewable energy development organization Light up The World, which promotes social and economic development in developing countries through the implementation of sustainable technologies. Having recently finished his engagement with MSF, Michael is currently the Director of the Southern Alberta Human Rights Commission.

Pamela F. Husain
Pamela Husain is a post-conflict/early recovery professional with nearly three decades of experience working with both NGOs and the United Nations in Iraq, Afghanistan, Somalia, Rwanda, Bangladesh, Tajikistan, Azerbaijan, Ethiopia, and Niger.  She served briefly as Humanitarian Advisor to the Prime Minister’s Office in Baghdad and is currently the Deputy Country Representative for UN Women in Afghanistan.

 Lucio Melandri
Lucio MelandriLucio Melandri is the former Director General of INTERSOS Humanitarian Aid Organization and has been working for the last 20 years in the main humanitarian complex emergencies, from the Balkan wars and the Rwanda Genocide to more recent crises in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and now Syria, working for the Red Cross Movement, NGOs, Government institutions (Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs) and the UN humanitarian agencies.

 

 

Ross Mountain
Ross MountainRoss Mountain is former DSRSG/RC/HC/UNDP RR in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Director General of DARA. He has over 35 years experience working with the UN and NGOs in the management of complex humanitarian, reconstruction, development, and peacekeeping operations, including as UN Assistant Emergency Relief Coordinator, in Africa, Asia, the Middle East, and the Caribbean, including in Iraq, Afghanistan, Haiti, Lebanon, Liberia, Timor-Leste, Mozambique, and Sudan.

 

 

Ahmad Faizal Perdaus
Faizal PerdausFaizal Perdaus is a qualified medical doctor, appointed as President of the Malaysian Medical Relief Society (MERCY Malaysia) in 2009, after having joined the organization in 2003. Since becoming President, he has provided leadership for humanitarian responses in Southeast Asia (Cambodia, Indonesia, Myanmar, and the Philippines) and beyond (Afghanistan, Chile, Haiti, North Korea, Pakistan, Somalia, Sudan (Darfur), Syria, and Turkey). He is also currently Vice Chair of ICVA, Board Member of the Humanitarian Innovation Fund, member of the Steering Committee for the SCHR Certification Project, and member of the IASC Principals.

 

 

 

Governing Members*

  • Mohammed Abbas, most recently, Deputy Head of Mission, Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), Jordan
  • Nicola Bennett, UN OCHA, Protection of Civilians and Displacement Section, Policy Development & Studies Branch, New York
  • Pascal Bongard, Programme Director for Africa and Policy Advisor, Geneva Call
  • Laura Boschi, Head of Secretariat, EUNIDA
  • Claude Bruderlein, Strategic Advisor to the President, International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC)
  • Fernando de la Mora, Associate of the Mexican Council on Foreign Relations (COMEXI) 
  • Phillip Drew, Adjunct Professor, Queen's University Faculty of Law
  • Francesca Fraccaroli, Head of Office Province Orientale, UNOCHA DRC
  • Fritz Froehlich, Coordinator, UNRWA at 60
  • Elizabeth Holland, Program Associate, HPCR
  • Natascha Hryckow, Head Political & Head Kenya and Somalia teams, EUCAP NESTOR, Horn of Africa
  • Cecilia Jimenez, National Director of the IDP Project, Commission on Human Rights of the Philippines
  • Olivia Kalis, DRC Policy and Advocacy Coordinator, Oxfam Great Britain, Kinshasa
  • Dragan Markovic, Emergency Officer, UNICEF, Georgia
  • Naz Modirzadeh, Senior Fellow at Harvard Law School, HLS-Brookings Project on Law and Security
  • Tiarnach Mooney, Emergency Program Coordinator, Norwegian Refugee Council,  Afghanistan, active member of the Child Protection Working Group
  • Michael Møller, Acting Head, United Nations Office at Geneva
  • Joanna Radziukiewicz, Policy and Advocacy Specialist, Humanitarian Policy Section, Office of Emergency Programmes, UNICEF
  • Fotini Rantsiou, Head of OCHA Sub-Office, Kilinochchi, Northern Sri Lanka
  • Cornelia Schneider, Head of Rule of Law Reform, EUPOL, Afghanistan
  • Patrick Schneider, Head of North Africa / Middle East Unit, German Foundation for International Legal Cooperation
  • Andrew Shaver, Regional Program Manager, AECOM International Development, South Sudan
  • Daniel Sherman, International Relations Director, B'Tselem, Israel
  • Mark Simmons, Country Director, FAR Sudan
  • Eva Smets, Director, Watchlist on Children and Armed Conflict
  • Daniel Toole, Regional Director for East Asia and the Pacific, UNICEF

*Participation of all Governing Members of PHAP is undertaken strictly in a personal capacity and does not form part of their official duties and responsibilities with any other organization, including their employer (whether they are employed by the United Nations, a goverment agency, an non-governmental organization, academic or policy program, or other entity). The views expressed by Governing Members in connection with their service to PHAP do not reflect the views of their employers or any other organization on any matter.