MASHOM Graduation 24 Nov 2017

On Friday 24 Nov 2017 in the executive center on the Lugano campus, eleven Master of Advanced Studies in Humanitarian Operations Management degrees were conferred upon graduates from nine different countries.

Diana Corica, Program Manager, opened the ceremony with heartfelt congratulations for the students who she guided through the last year of their studies. Most of the graduates were visiting Lugano for the first time – all previous sessions of the MASHOM program took place at the IHC, the International Humanitarian City in Dubai.

Professor Paulo Gonçalves, Program Founder and Director, discussed how UN member states and international organizations have worked together to make significant progress towards achieving the millennium goals that were put in place in 2000. He went on to review the UN sustainable development goals agenda and the major challenges it poses.

Professor Patrick Gagliardini, Dean of the Faculty of Economics, welcomed the graduates to the USI alumni network, with words of encouragement and an overview of the university and its strengths.

“People at the Center” was the theme of keynote speaker Jacques Forster’s address. He began, “we acknowledge that we need to move from the present supply-driven model dominated by aid providers to a demand-driven model more responsive to the people we are assisting.” Forster is professor emeritus at the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies in Geneva and President of the Humanitarian Quality Assurance Initiative. 

The award for the Best Master Thesis for Impact went to Omer Gaffer Ali ABDON and Elmouez Ibrahim MOHAMMED SULIMAN for their work entitled, Enhancing UNICEF Sudan Field Data Collection and Analysis Methods. To implement their project, they developed a mobile app which they have launched in two provinces in South Sudan.

Throughout the ceremony, Cecilia Zacchi, an accomplished musician at the Conservatorio della Svizzera Italiana (CSI) provided soft music on the harp.

Presenting USI’s newest MASHOM graduates:

• Mr. Omer Gaffer Ali ABDON
  Senior ICT Officer, UNICEF Khartoum Sudan
• Mr. Ali Abdulrahman ALSHEIKH ALI
  Logistic Officer, UNICEF Khartoum Sudan
• Mr. Luta ARIFONZO
  Administrative Officer, UNICEF Zimbabwe
• Mr. Archibald CHIKAVANGA
  Program  Manager, Care International Zimbabwe
• Ms. Nirmala Magdeline DECOSTA
  Logistic Officer WFP Dubai UAE / UNHRD Deputy for the UNHRD Dubai
• Mr. Ahamada DRABO
  Regional ICT Officer, IOM Kenya
• Mr. Morris Ebenezer GARGAR
  Project Officer External Relations, World Health Organization South Sudan
• Ms. Esther Reine BAYALA HACQUIN
  Logistics Specialist, UNICEF DRC
• Mr. Elmouez Ibrahim MOHAMMED SULIMAN
  ICT Assistant, UNICEF Khartoum Sudan
• Mr. Bwato N'SINDI
  National Program Officer, UNFPA Congo
• Mr. Aschalew Abate TEFERA
  Monitoring Assistant, WFP Ethiopia