Samdani Consulting provides expert advisory services for global development and humanitarian efforts.
Workshop at the University Saint Joseph, Beirut, Lebanon. Discussion in courtyard during conference on National Evaluation Capacity Decelopment. Participants included all public and private stakeholders including local government representatives, academia and evaluation experts.
I am a father of two wonderful children; one still in the nest and the other exploring his own future at university. My entire adult life has been in pursuit of learning about and acting towards the promotion and protection of human rights and human dignity. From the lecture halls of Cambridge, to the foothills of the Himalayas; from war torn Yemen to the financial collapse of Lebanon; my goal has always been to help the most vulnerable cope with their circumstances, and to provide them some space for hope for the future.
I have been working in the development and humanitarian sectors for over 26 years now, of which 20 years were with the United Nations and the last six years with UNICEF in Lebanon. My experience includes senior leadership roles in humanitarian and development management and strategic planning; from working with all parties and to a civil war in Yemen to developing a triple nexus plan for action to help maintain key public functions and capacities, to helping partners in Lebanon protect the rights of children in a country facing multiple crisis and total collapse of its public sector. I have negotiated key paragraphs with government representatives for critical GA resolutions, and I have developed programmes to strengthen collapsing national systems.
I have led large senior groups towards a common strategy and operational plans with strong government and UN buy-in for implementation in the most complex of programmatic environments. I have led and coordinated organizational and interagency interventions and large teams, communicating and advocating for key priorities with donors, government partners as well as within the UN System. I have always been recognized as a superior strategic thinker with innovative thinking and exceptional leadership and coordination skills. My ability to advocate for change in the face of significant political opposition from stakeholders, my very strong management and leadership skills in delivering quality results are at the core of my behavioral competencies.
Dedicated Development and Humanitarian professional with over 26 years of experience in leading macro-level initiatives for the UN in complex political environments. Proven expertise in the areas of Strategic Planning, Monitoring & Evaluation, Institutional Development & Organisational Change, Knowledge Management and Innovation; with normative experience most recently in Triple Nexus Planning and programming which includes Humanitarian Assistance, Resilience, Early Recovery, Stabilisation and Peace Building programming; National & UN Statistical Systems, strengthening Local Government, Community Based Development and Micro Finance.
Consistently recognised for superior leadership, strategic planning, analytical, organisational and communication skills as well as very strong interpersonal and management skills.
Samdani Consulting is a small organization by design. We do not have a large staff or team of core consultants. We function by establishing working relationships with some of the top experts in their respective fields whom we can draw upon if the needs of our clients warrant their contribution. This allows us to be flexible in our approach, proposing only those capacities that are absolutely necessary for solution development. This also allows us to access the best and most relevant capacities internationally if and when required without adding unnecessary costs to the client. We have very little core costs and therefore we do not need to generate revenue to maintain our size or structure. This need-based model allows us to customize solutions and minimize costs while maintaining the highest quality support.
From our years of experience in the development and humanitarian sector, we believe that an organization’s values, and the culture it creates, are as important to its success as any technical capacity or financial resource. This culture can encourage the best in human behavior or bring out the worst which then affects every aspect of the organization including its effectiveness, its partnerships and its results. After many years of observing and reflecting upon the values adopted by various international organizations and the ways in which they sought to apply them, we have concluded that the most essential for our success and that of our clients are Integrity, Justice and Courage. By adhering to these values, Samdani Consulting hopes to build strong partnerships based on shared purpose with a constant commitment to human rights. Volumes could be written on each value, but we hope to be able to demonstrate these values in our work, our lives, and in the results that we deliver for our clients.
As an organization, we felt that to be effective in our work, we would need to be true to our values and commitments. Unfortunately, many developing and humanitarian country contexts do not allow for the full expression of these values. In Singapore, we have the opportunity to live these values in full and express them in our work and our partnerships. It allows us to operate with full transparency and accountability and provides a world class administrative and logistical environment from which we can operate anywhere in the world.
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