Yara Lourenco
Yara Fernandes (MSc.), holds a Master of Social Sciences in Development Studies from the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) in London. With over twenty years of work experience in social development in Angola and Africa, Yara has worked primarily with rights-based approaches, gender and women’s empowerment, civil society capacity-building, youth, teaching and research, partaking in projects in Angola, Uganda, South Africa and Mozambique. Her experience with governmental actors is reflected in her efforts to establish the first Justice Ombudsman in post-conflict Angola. Her expertise also includes developing and implementing organisational monitoring and evaluation frameworks, conducting baseline surveys, and developing qualitative and quantitative data analysis. As a development practitioner she has established mechanisms for social programmes and participated in joint reviews and problem-solving sessions in the Southern Africa region key players, like the Graça Machel Institute in Mozambique, and Department of International Relations and Cooperation (DIRCO) in South Africa, and relevant stakeholders in Angola. Yara has served as both advisor and Director General at the Institute of International Relations and Social Sciences (CIS – Instituto de Ciências Sociais e Relações Internacionais) in Luanda, Angola, and has ample experience with institutional development and reviewing policies. She has actively implemented strategic and operational plans that ensured long-term education relevance for young students. Her expertise also includes drafting curriculum and training manuals, assessments of pre-designed work, and advising/analyzing project delivery methods. She has been active in implementing strategic and operational plans that has ensured long-term education relevance for young students. Her expertise also includes drafting curriculum and training manuals, assessing pre-designed work, and advising/analysing project delivery methods. Yara has conducted impact evaluation assignments for international organisations, bilateral actors, national and regional Southern Africa organizations, such as UNICEF, UNDP and the Embassy of Norway in Angola on human rights, gender equality and women’s rights, land rights, peace and security, Civil Society Organizations’ capacity building, education and children’s rights. Moreover, she has carried out qualitative research on issues pertaining indigenous communities and access to land and natural resources, social norms, gender inequality and women’s economic empowerment. She is a lecturer in International Relations and fluent and English.
Email: yara.f.lourenco@tnc.org
