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Contributors - Jobs – Aid at work

Ib Petersen has been Danish State Secretary for Development since 2009. Before that he was State Secretary for Development Cooperation, Middle East, Africa, Asia, Latin America and the United Nations. Ib Petersen has worked for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs since 1985, both in Denmark and on missions abroad.
 

Finn Tarp is the Director of UN University's World Institute for Development Economics Research (UNU-WIDER), Helsinki, Finland. He is also a professor of development economics at the Department of Economics at the University of Copenhagen. He founded the Development Economics Research Group (DERG) in 1996, and since then has co-ordinated DERG’s extensive academic research and teaching activities alongside a large portfolio of externally funded development economics research and capacity-building projects. Professor Tarp has recently been appointed member of the Council of Eminent Persons (CEP) advising the Chief Economist of the World Bank.

Gary Fields is Professor of Economics and International and Comparative Labor at Cornell University in the United States. Professor Fields is one of the world’s leading specialists on problems of poverty and low earnings in the developing world. He has lived in Africa, Asia, and Latin America, consulted for the World Bank and many other international organizations, and advised the governments of the United States, Canada, Great Britain, Germany, and South Korea. His books have been published by the Cambridge, MIT, Stanford, and Oxford University Presses.

Martin Rama is the Director of the 2013 World Development Report on jobs. His previous assignments include a one-year spell with the Chief Economist office in South Asia region, and from July to December 2010 he served as the acting regional Chief Economist. Prior to moving to operations, Martin spent ten years with the research department of the Bank. The main focus of his work was on labour issues. He was also responsible for a major research initiative on public sector downsizing and served as a member of the Social Protection Board of the Bank.

Dr Abebe Shimeles works with the African Development Bank. Currently his research interest focuses on labour market integration in the context of improving Africa’s competitiveness in the global economy and others such as growth diagnostics in West Africa, migration and remittances in Africa. He has worked for United Nations Economic Commission for Africa and the World Bank before taking up his current position at African Development Bank.

Dr John Page is a Senior Fellow in the Global Economy and Development Program at the Brookings Institution in Washington, DC and a Director in the International Growth Centre of the London School of Economics and Oxford University. Page obtained his Doctorate from Oxford University, where he was a Rhodes Scholar. He is the author of myriad of published articles, books and chapters on the economics of developing countries.

Morten Elkjær is the Ambassador of Denmark to Bolivia. Previously he has been an employment and development adviser to the Africa Commission, which was established by the Danish Prime Minister. Morten Elkjær has had a long career with the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, as well as with diplomatic missions in Ghana and Tanzania.

Johnny Flentø is the Ambassador of Denmark to Tanzania. Previously he was Ambassador to Mozambique, and head of the Africa Department at the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Johnny Flentø joined the Foreign Ministry in 1984 and has held numerous positions within the Ministry as well as in Africa and Asia.
 

Carin Norberg is the Director of the Nordic Africa Institute. She has been associated with Sida since 1971, of which the last 12 years from 1990 until 2002 as Assistant Director General with responsibility for the Department for East and West Africa, Department for Humanitarian Assistance and Co-operation with NGOs and Department for Democracy and Social Development. From 2002 until 2005 she worked for the International Secretariat of Transparency International in Berlin, Global Programmes Department.

Måns Söderbom is Professor of Economics at University of Gothenburg. Söderbom is an economist specializing in development economics and applied econometrics. Most of his work focuses on the decisions and performance of firms.

 

Keijiro Otsuka is Professor at National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies (GRIPS) in Tokyo. His current research interests include cluster-based industrial development, green revolution, and land reform, in both Asia and Africa. Otsuka holds a Ph.D. in economics from University of Chicago.
 

Tetsushi Sonobe is Professor at National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies, Tokyo. Sonobe is also Director for the joint graduate program at FASIS, Foundation for Advanced Studies on International Development. His current research is focused on industrial development in developing economies. Sonobe holds a Ph.D. in economics from Yale University.

Sam Jones is Assistant Professor at University of Copenhagen. He has formerly worked with the Ministry of Finance and Planning in Mozambique (2003-2007). His research interests include financing instruments for African development, foreign aid and economic growth as well as economic aspects of tourism.
 

Christian Friis Bach (Danish Social-Liberal Party) was appointed Minister for Development Cooperation on October 3rd 2011. Since 2009 he is an affiliated professor in International Economics and Development at the University of Copenhagen. He has also assisted EU Commissioner Connie Hedegaard as a Special Advisor on the UN Global Sustainability Panel. Christian Friis Bach holds a PhD in International Economics from the Royal Danish Agricultural University, Copenhagen.

Hilary Bowker uses the skills honed by moderating and designing high level international events to help organisations make their conferences, seminars and meetings interactive and engaging. She also brings to the table the experience of twenty years in journalism: interviewing and chairing debates between world leaders in politics, diplomacy, business, the arts, academia, industry, the military and science.  Before becoming a communications consultant and professional moderator, she was CNN's Senior European Anchor.