Staff and Coordination Team
Cyrie Sendashonga, PhD Regional Coordinator CIFOR (Center for International Forestry Research) Central Africa Regional Office Yaounde, Cameroon A Rwandan by birth and Canadian by citizenship, Mrs. Sendashonga is a biologist by training, holder of a Master of Science (M.Sc, 1978) and a Doctorat ès Sciences (PhD, 1983) degrees from the Free University of Brussels, Belgium. She has had a long career in the field of natural resources management, encompassing both research and development perspectives, which she started in 1979 as a Research Fellow at the International Livestock Research Center (ILRI, formerly ILRAD) in Nairobi, Kenya. Her work at ILRAD centered on researching new approaches to controlling parasitic infections in livestock, focusing more specifically on trypanosomiasis – commonly known as sleeping sickness – using tools of molecular biology and biotechnology. In 1992, she joined the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) where she worked on biodiversity and biotechnology issues in the framework of activities linked to the implementation of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD). In 1996, she was tasked to coordinate the development and implementation of the UNEP/GEF biodiversity project portfolio, i.e., projects implemented by UNEP with funding from the Global Environment Facility in support of the CBD’s objectives. In 1998, she moved from UNEP Headquarters in Nairobi to Montreal, Canada, to head the Biosafety Programme of the Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity. She joined CIFOR (Center for International Forestry Research) in February 2006 as Regional Coordinator for the Central Africa Regional Office based in Yaounde, Cameroon. Fully fluent in English and French, Mrs. Sendashonga is the author/co-author of several publications on environmental issues and she is a Fellow of the World Academy of Art and Science. She has served on a number of prestigious international scientific panels, committees and initiatives, including but not limited to: i) UNESCO’s Diversitas programme; ii) UNEP/IUCN/ICSU-SCOPE Global Programme on Alien Invasive Species; iii) Advisory Panel for the Pew Fellows Programme in Marine Conservation; iv) African Union/NEPAD High Level African Panel on Biotechnology. The latter initiative (AU/NEPAD High Level African Panel on Biotechnology) is of particular relevance to the biosafety capacity building initiative in Sub-Saharan African about to be undertaken by ICGEB with funding from the Gates Foundation. The panel had a mandate to provide the African Union and NEPAD with independent and strategic advice on developments in modern biotechnology and its implications for agriculture, health and the environment, taking into account current and emerging issues associated with the development and
Jane Tarh Takang: Development Professional with bias for gender equality since 1997 Jane is a Cameroonian. Graduated from the University of Yaoundé in 1990 and later trained at the Pan- African Institute for Development- West Africa in Buea, Cameroon, where she obtained a Certificate in Women in Development and Micro-Enterprise Management and later a Diploma Integrated Rural Development specializing in project planning and management in 1997 As a child Jane had always believed in fairness. Discovering later on in life that her society found something not right with any woman who strived to compete with men, awoke in her the passion to stand up for women as well as other disadvantaged groups. This ambition was further enhanced, when as a development agent she got to identify one of the main causes of poverty in Africa, the issue of limited access and control over resources, unequal power relations between men and women and limited access to decision making for women, etc … Currently she is the Coordinator for WOCAN West and Central Africa Region. Prior to now she had worked as Gender Consultant for Heifer International Cameroon, Gender Lenses, and carried out other consultancies as trainer and facilitator for many other international, national and Community based organizations. In her early years as a development professional she worked for SNV (Netherlands development Organization as Technical Assistant for gender from 1997 to 2001, and then as a freelance Consultant with various CBOs, National and International organizations (SNV, WWF, Gender Lenses, etc.) She is affiliated to many organizations: Help Out (a local human rights sensitization NGO), CAMAUW (Cameroon Association of University Women) working for the empowerment of disadvantaged women and girl child, (USATF) U. S Embassy AIDS Task Force Cameroon and WOCAN and founded EFOKHOYU a local women’s network which is contributing in making women’s voices heard within her area of origin.
Beatrice Eyong Enegue, Gender Specialist Canadian Cooperation Support office Yaounde-Cameroon Eyong Beatrice is a Cameroon Development Consultant, with more than 20 years of professional experience. She is a holder of an MSc in Agricultural Extension from the University of Reading in the United Kingdom. Her areas of specialization are: gender equality, professional training programme development, micro finance, agricultural extension and the management of extension staff. In addition to the above mentioned educational qualification, she has attended many short courses on different topics over the years nationally and internationally. Beatrice joined the Canadian Cooperation Support Office in Cameroon in 1997 as the Gender specialist responsible to manage the gender equality action plan set up by the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) to influence the Cameroon Government to integrate gender in its policies, programmes, projects and budget so as to increase women’s representation and reduce inequalities existing between women and men. Prior to that, she worked as a consultant on micro finance with the National Micro Finance Support Project (PPMF) financed by IFAD and the Cameroon government. Beatrice Eyong is billengual (Fully fluent in English and French). She is a WOCAN member and a member of the WOCAN’s West and Central Africa Regional Office.
Pr. Elisabeth Ardayfio-Schandorf Geographer – University of Ghana, Legon. Accra - Ghana Elizabeth Ardayfio-Schandorf is a Geographer, holder of a Ph D. obtained in 1974 at the University of Birmingham. She is a Professor at the Department of Geography of the University of Ghana (Legon) where she also coordinate the Family and Development Programme. With the great interest she has in gender issues related to NRM, Elisabeth has gained a huge experience in gender issues through various consultations and research in Africa. Her areas of expertise include energy, forestry and natural resource management in Africa. Elisabeth is actually the Deputy Coordinator of the Gender and Forestry Group, of the International Union of Forest Research Organizations (IUFRO). She is the West African Representative of the Commonwealth Geographical Association. Elizabeth is based in Accra and is a Member of the Western/Central Africa Steering Committee of WOCAN.
Related Files
Jane Webpic (1.9 MB)
