Voluntary National Review (VNR) Clinic for 2023 VNR countries

Caitlin Porter is the senior Voluntary National Review (VNR) advisor at ESCAP where she provides technical and strategic support to countries developing their VNR.  Caitlin has a background in governance, strategic planning and intergovernmental processes. Prior to working with ESCAP she worked with the government of Timor-Leste as the strategic team leader and lead writer for the 2019 Timor-Leste VNR. She has also worked with UNDP, European Commission, and international NGOs.  She holds a master’s in governance from the Institute of Development Studies at the University of Sussex.

Dr. Huraini joined the civil service in 1999, beginning her career at the  Ministry  of  Education  with  working  with  Special  Educational Needs children. Throughout her career, she has had a variety of experiences  within  the  policy  space,  in  particular  bridging aspirations on the policy level into practice. In 2015, she joined the Prime  Minister's  Office to transition into coordinating efforts and monitoring the progress of the National  Vision  (Wawasan  Brunei 2035);  futures work including building futures capabilities across the civil service and the Sustainable Development Goals.  
 

Dr. Huraini holds a DPhil. from the University of Oxford and is the Director of Office for Wawasan Brunei 2035  at the Prime Minister’s Office as well as the Head of the Secretariat for the Special National Coordination Committee on the Brunei Darussalam.
 

Mr. Poch Sovanndy started working in Ministry of Planning in early 1994. He is involved in the preparation processes of National Strategic Development Plans and its Monitoring and Evaluation. In the Era of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), he is the focal point of Line Ministries/Line Agencies (LMs/LAs), Development Partners (DPs), Civil Society Organization (CSOs) in SDGs localization into national Context and Monitoring and Evaluation the its achievement. In addition, Mr. Poch Sovanndy also involve with poverty measurement in Cambodia based on data gathering via Cambodia Socio-economic Survey (CSES).

Mr. Sovanndy will involve in and assist in the process of VRN 2023 preparation that will be started very early, 4th quarter 2022.

From 2008, HE. Poch Sovanndy was promoted as a Deputy Director General of Planning, Ministry of Planning (MOP). Beside the above said position, he was also promoted as an advisor of the Ministry of Planning in January 2015.

HE. Poch Sovanndy graduated his master degree on Population Studies from Australian National University, Australia in 2002, and holds a Bachelor degree on Economic from a local University in 1993.

Bachelor degree in development studies from the National University of Timor-Leste (UNTL) and a Master degree in development studies from Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand. 15 years of work experiences, including working in with Government agencies, NGOs and UN Agencies. 

In August 2015, joined the Unit of Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation “UPMA” in the Prime-Minister Office as a Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation Analyst/Officer. In July 2017, was promoted to become the Coordinator of UPMA where I lead 32 (national and international) staff in developing Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation reform across the whole of government. Since this unit upgrade to a national agency, I hold the position as the general technical coordinator of planning, monitoring and evaluation in National Agency for Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation, under the Office of Prime-Minister.

Ms. Nguyen Thi Thanh Nga is a senior official of the Department of Science, Education, Natural Resources and Environment in the Ministry of Planning and Investment, Viet Nam. She has nearly 15 years of experience in the field of sustainable development. Her main tasks are developing the policies on sustainable development and SDG's monitoring.

Prof. Datuk Dr Denison Jayasooria is also Senior Fellow (Social Policy and National Integration) at Institute of Strategic and International Studies (ISIS Malaysia) since September 2021. He  was  the  Head  of  the  secretariat  for  the  All  Party  Parliamentary Group Malaysia on Sustainable Development Goals (APPGM-SDG), appointed by Malaysian Parliament House on Oct 17, 2019 till Parliament was dissolved on Oct 9, 2022 to make way for the 15th General Elections. He was Appointed  by  the  Malaysian  Foreign  Minister  as  member  of  the  Consultative  Council  on Foreign Policy (CCFP) from Sept 2021.
Prof. Datuk Dr Denison Jayasooria was also appointed by the Prime Minister to the National Science Council from 2022 to 2024. The United Nations Office in Malaysia awarded him the UN Award for special contributions for the promotions of SDGs on Oct 24, 2017 

Michael Williamson is Section Chief in the Energy Division of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP). Michael works on regional cooperation for sustainable energy across ESCAP’s 53 member countries, spanning intergovernmental dialogue, technical assistance and research. Prior to this, Michael was the acting Director of ESCAP’s Subregional Office for South and South West Asia overseeing 10 countries of South and South West Asia. He was previously Chief of Staff and Senior Adviser to the Executive Secretary of ESCAP. He began his UN career in 2013 as the Head of the Asian and Pacific Centre for Transfer of Technology, ESCAP’s regional institution based in India.

Michael’s experience over the last 20 years covers the private sector, government and international organisations with a focus on sustainable development, energy, technology and climate change.  He worked for Australian governments at state and federal level in climate change, sustainability and energy policy and in humanitarian assignments with the International Committee of the Red Cross.

Michael holds a Master of Science in Renewable Energy Technology from Loughborough University, UK, an honours degree in Civil Engineering from Monash University, Australia and a post graduate diploma in management from the Australian Institute of Management. He is a graduate of the UN leadership course at the United Nations Staff College.