Team Bios
© UNHCR/Antwan Chnkdji
Aissatou Maisha Dicko – Head
Aisha has over 15 years of operational experience with the World Bank in international development across the Middle East and North Africa, Sub-Saharan Africa, and Latin America. In her different roles she led dialogues with government officials and partners, helping operationalize development policy. Prior to joining the JDC, Aisha was supporting and overseeing the delivery and implementation of World Bank operations in Niger, the second largest World Bank portfolio in West and Central Africa.
Maja Lazić – Deputy Head
Maja brings over two decades of experience of working in conflict, post-conflict areas and in emergency settings in the Balkans, South East Asia and Central Asia with UNHCR, UN Human Rights (OHCHR) and non-governmental organizations. From 2018 to 2020, she was the Deputy Representative for UNHCR in Malaysia where she worked towards the objectives of the Global Compact for Refugees and the UN Sustainable Development Goals. She has further served in UNHCR’s Headquarters in different policy and management capacities. While Maja’s professional experience is anchored in protection of the forcibly displaced and stateless populations, she also has experienced in education, programme oversight, public engagement, donor and partner relations in humanitarian and development contexts.
Felix Schmieding – Senior Statistician
Felix’s earlier work includes assignments with UNHCR, UNDP, and the UN Statistics Division. He has implemented or provided technical assistance to numerous statistical activities in Asia, Africa, and the Caribbean–including living conditions surveys, labour force surveys, population censuses, and administrative registers. He has worked closely with the National Statistical Offices and National Statistical Systems of a number of countries building technical and institutional capacity. Felix has also held key roles in the development of international statistical standards under the auspices of the UN Statistical Commission. Felix holds an M.Sc degree from the University of Oxford.
Harriet Mugera – Senior Data Scientist
Harriet joined the World Bank in 2015 as an Economist with the Development Data Group and was the focal person on migration and forced displaced-data related issues. As a member of the Living Standards Measurement Study team, she has expertise in survey instrument development, field operations, data quality control and analysis of household and survey data. Harriet was also one of the World Bank experts who drafted the International Recommendations on Refugee Statistics (IRRS) and the Manual on Refugees and Internally Displaced Persons, working closely with UNHCR, International Organization for Migration (IOM), among others. She holds a Ph.D. in Economics from the University of Trento (Italy) and was a visiting fellow at Cornell University (USA). She also holds a Master’s (MSc.) degree in Finance and a Bachelor’s Degree (B.Sc.) in Commerce.
Domenico Tabasso – Senior Economist
Before joining the JDC, Domenico worked with the Policy Evaluation Unit of the International Labour Organization (ILO) Research Department, where he analyzed the effects of labor market policies in emerging and developing countries. He has also contributed to the work of the ILO within the IFC-ILO-UNHCR-UNICEF-WB and Government of Netherlands partnership on Inclusive Jobs and Education for Forcibly Displaced Persons. Domenico has held academic positions at the universities of Essex, Geneva, and Melbourne, publishing several policy reports and academic articles. He holds a B.Sc in Economics from Bocconi University, and an M.Sc and a Ph.D in Economics from the University of Essex.
Paddy Brock – Senior Data Scientist
Paddy joined the JDC from the UK Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) where he worked as a Senior Statistician, leading a cross-divisional team of analysts in a number of policy areas including the UN Sustainable Development Goals, working closely with the UK Office for National Statistics. Previously, he was the statistics, results and evaluation lead for the UK Department for International Development (DFID) office and programmes in the Democratic Republic of Congo. As a Data Scientist at DFID he helped build the organisation’s data handling and analytical capability. Paddy holds a PhD from the University of Leeds, an MRes from Imperial College London, and a BSc from the University of Oxford.
Wendy Karamba – Senior Economist
Wendy Karamba is a Senior Economist with the World Bank’s Poverty and Equity Global Practice. Karamba actively contributes to statistical development and policy-focused analysis, advisory work, and policy dialogue on development issues such as poverty and inequality and human development in Africa. Her research experience includes the study of poverty, agricultural program evaluation, maternal and child health outcomes, labor, and gender. Her research is published articles in peer-reviewed scholarly journals and World Bank reports. She recently co-led the Poverty Assessments for Somalia and Tanzania. Karamba holds a Ph.D. in Economics from the American University.
Adriano Belisario – Data journalist
Adriano Belisario has over ten years of experience combining expertise in communication and data to address critical human rights concerns. He spearheaded the School of Data program at Open Knowledge Brasil and contributed to organizations like Witness, UNESCO, and Agência Pública. Belisario taught data journalism in Brazilian postgraduate courses and holds an MSc in Social Data Science from the Oxford Internet Institute and an MA in Communication and Culture from the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ).
Charlotte Persson – Management Support Consultant
Charlotte previously worked on projects such as ‘Scaling Fences’ (UNDP), a large-scale empirical study on irregular migration from Africa to Europe and the ‘SDG Accelerator’ (UNDP), an innovation journey for small and medium sized enterprises to contribute to the Sustainable Development Goals. She has broad experience in operational processes from other international organizations and research experience from in rural Tanzania and Ghana. Charlotte holds a B.Sc in International Business from Copenhagen Business School and a M.Sc. in Global Development from Copenhagen University.
Katherine Perkins – Program Associate
Katherine joined UNHCR in January 2020 after working as Executive Assistant for the American Medical Association Foundation in Chicago and, prior to that, as the Programme Coordinator for OECD in Paris. Her professional expertise centers around event coordination and planning, office management, as well as administrative and budget oversight. Katherine holds a B.A Hons degree in Latin American Studies from the University of Liverpool.
Marie Gertz Schlundt – Administrative Associate
Marie previously worked with UNHCR’s Partnership and Coordination Service in inter-agency coordination, research and analysis, information collection, reporting and administration. She joined UNHCR in 2016, in Myanmar, focusing on the return and reintegration of Myanmar refugees from Thailand and IDPs within Myanmar. She has previously held positions with the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Danish Embassy in Uganda, OHCHR and the International Dalit Solidarity Network. Marie holds a BSc in International Development Studies and a MSc in Global Studies from Roskilde University, Denmark.
Ruth Cejas Eugercios – Administrative Associate
Ruth previously worked in the Supporter Engagement Section, part of the Private Sector Partnership (Fundraising) division in UNHCR. In this role, she focused on managing queries from UNHCR donors, as well as other digital initiatives aimed at increasing donations and raising awareness of UNHCR’s mission on social media and other digital platforms. Ruth holds a BSc in Economics from Universidad Carlos III de Madrid and completed an Erasmus exchange at Aalto University in Helsinki. She also holds an MSc in Sustainable Tourism and Hospitality Management from Copenhagen Business School.
Arnold Musung – JDC Fellow
Arnold Musungu is a PhD candidate in Development and Agricultural Economics at the Center for Development Research, University of Bonn, where his research examines the impacts and adaptation to climate change in Africa. He is a former fellow at the Center for Effective Global Action (CEGA), UC Berkeley. Prior to his doctoral studies, he worked as a socio-economics research analyst at the International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology (ICIPE) and served as an Open Data and Public Policy Fellow at Kenya’s Ministry of Agriculture, where he developed frameworks for monitoring food security initiatives. Arnold’s research interests span education, labor, agriculture, and climate change, with a particular emphasis on sub-Saharan Africa.
Mbithe Nzomo – JDC Fellow
Mbithe Nzomo is a Computer Scientist and AI researcher with interests in using technology to inform data-driven health decision-making and policy. As a PhD candidate in Computer Science at the University of Cape Town, Mbithe researches explainable, human-centred, and hybrid AI approaches for personalised disease prediction and decision support. As a JDC Fellow, she is investigating the dynamics of climate change on health outcomes among forcibly displaced people, applying data science and AI methodologies to enhance understanding and response strategies. Prior to her PhD, she worked as a senior technology consultant at EY and a software engineer at Andela. Mbithe holds an MSc in Advanced Computer Science with Distinction from the University of Manchester, and a BSc in Informatics from Strathmore University.
Sofia Leopold – Economic and Data Analysis Intern
Sofia Leopold holds a BA in International Business from the University of Augsburg and an MA in Economics from the University of Victoria, focusing her research on Development Economics. Her research interests include the impact of forced displacement on electoral preferences and social cohesion in host countries as well as climate-induced displacement. Prior to joining the JDC, she held positions at the German central bank and the University of Victoria.
Diana Manucharian – Communication Intern
Diana Manucharian holds an MSc in War Studies from the University of Glasgow (UK). She has experience as a Research Assistant at the Center for European Policy Analysis and as a Junior Fellow at the United Nations University HQ. Diana has also served as a UN Volunteer with UN Women and as a Programme Associate at the Hiroshima Peacebuilders Center and the Peacebuilding School at the European University Viadrina.
Before completing her MSc, Diana worked as a journalist with nationwide Ukrainian media outlets, the Russian outlet Meduza, and the German television channel Offener Kanal Magdeburg.