Board Members
MRS. Dr. FLORENCE IHEME
REGIONAL BOARD CHAIR
Mrs. Florence Nwawuihe Iheme is presently an Independent Consultant in the peace and development sector. She has previously served as Director, Humanitarian and Social Affairs (2017-2018); Ag. Director, Mediation & Facilitation Directorate, ECOWAS Commission (2015-2016); Ag. Director, Early Warning Directorate, ECOWAS Commission (2011-2014); Programme Manager, Early Warning Directorate, ECOWAS Commission (2001- 2011); Director General and CEO, National Centre for Women Development (NCWD) and in other relevant professional capacities since 1993. A British Chevening Fellow, she holds a Master of Arts degree in Gender and Development from the Institute for Development Studies, University of Sussex, England (1998- 1999); Master of Arts Degree in Business Administration from Henley- The Management College/ Brunel University, England (1991-1996); and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics/ Public Administration from Bedford College, University of London, England (1982 -1985). Mrs. Iheme’s areas of expertise include strategic planning, capacity building/training, policy influencing and development, Gender and Development, community engagement and development; conflict management and resolution, Early Warning and other relevant peace and security thematic areas. Mrs. Iheme is also a member of a number of professional organisations and associations including the UN Expert Mediation Roster, New York (Member); Women’s Reference Group (Humanitarian Dialogue Centre), Geneva (Member); Nigerian Institute of Management (Member); Business and Professional Women’s Association (Member) and the African Center for Strategic Studies Nigeria Alumni Association (Vice President. |
Mr. GAYE SOWE
REGIONAL VICE BOARD MEMBER
Mr. Sowe is presently the Executive Director of Institute for Human Rights and Development in Africa. He is a dynamic legal practitioner licensed to practise law before Gambian and Nigeria Courts with more than 20 years of practical, judicial and professional experience. He is a Commissioner of the Constitutional Review Commission (CRC) of The Gambia, tasked to draft a new constitution for the Republic of The Gambia. He has extensive knowledge of regional African Human Rights Mechanisms and is a recognized specialist in international human rights law. Mr Sowe is an Expert Member of the Economic Social and Cultural Rights Working Group of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights who has made significant contributions in developing the jurisprudence of various African human rights mechanisms. He has extensive experience with litigation at the regional level, especially before the ECOWAS Community Court of Justice, African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights, African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights and the African Committee of Experts on the Rights and Welfare of the Child. He has excellent knowledge of administrative and other legal procedures, law of evidence and trial practices in The Gambia and Nigeria and extensive experience as a judicial officer and an alternative dispute resolution practitioner. Mr. Sowe is a lecturer in International Human Rights Law (especially the African Human Rights System) Constitutional Law, Criminal Law, Criminal Procedure and Gambian Legal System, has very good communication skills. He is fluent in English language and has a good working knowledge of the French language. |
PROF. DANIEL K. B. INKOOM, FGIP
REGIONAL BOARD MEMBER
Daniel is a lecturer at the Department of Planning, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), Kumasi, Ghana, visiting Professor at the School of Architecture and Planning, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa and Adjunct Professor at the Christian Service University College in Kumasi, Ghana. He is currently on sabbatical leave from the University to provide organisation development, capacity building and coaching support to the GIZ/ComCashew Project offices in Burkina Faso, Cote d’Ivoire, and Ghana. The project focusses on improving cashew value chains across Africa. He is a faculty member of the International Gestalt Organisation and Leadership Development (iGOLD) Programme based in the United States of America, and the Central Leadership Programme (CLP) of the International Central Gospel Church (ICGC), Accra, Ghana. Daniel is a Fellow of the Ghana Institute of Planners (FGIP), and external examiner to universities in Ghana, South Africa, Sweden, Tanzania, and Zimbabwe. In addition, he sits on the editorial boards and reviews for several academic journals and international institutions. He serves as director at the New Generation Investment Services Limited (NGIS), Kumasi, Ghana, The Kumasi Institute of Technology and Environment (KITE) Accra, Ghana and Action Aid Ghana. He holds degrees and certificates from institutions in Germany, Ghana, Finland, Norway, and the United States of America. |
CARLA MARIA BORGES BETTENCOURT
REGIONAL BOARD MEMBER
Carla Maria Borges Bettencourt Is from Cape Verde. She is an Economist by profession, holds a Masters in African Regional Integration and has a background in Procurement. She is in an accredited Facilitator Building Resources in Democratic governance and Elections (BRIDGE). She has been ECOWARN Focal point for Cape Verde since 2009.
She has extensive experience in Audit, Analysis of Financial reports, Development of internal policies and procedures for procurement; Development of Strategic Plan, Annual Plan and Procurement Plans well as Monitoring and evaluation of projects.
Ms Bettencourt currently works as Special Auditor at the Audit Court of Cape Verde.
She is a member of the Cape Verdean Economists Association and Network of Cape Verdean Women Economists (REDEMEC).
She is fluent in Portuguese, good in English and fair in Spanish and French.
LAWYER DIARRA
REGIONAL BOARD MEMBER
Administration. She is a graduate of the École Nationale de la Magistrature (French National School for the Judiciary) in Paris and holds a diploma in the Implementation of Regional and International Standards for the Protection of Human Rights. Immediately prior to her election to the ICC, she was serving as an ad litem judge at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia. Before this, she was the National Director of the Mali Justice Department, President of the Criminal Chamber of Bamako Appeals Court, President of the Assize Court, as well as an Examining Magistrate and Deputy Public Prosecutor. Judge Diarra's civil society positions have included those of Vice-President of the International Federation of Women in Legal Careers (IFWLC), Vice-President of the African Women Jurists' Federation, President of the Association des Juristes Maliennes (the Malian Women Jurists' Association) and President of the Observatoire des Droits de la Femme et de l'Enfant (Women's and Children's Rights Monitoring Body). She is the President and founder of the Pro Bono Center for women and children in Mali.
Judge Diarra has published several articles and carried out several studies including one on three branches of law: family, national and international. Furthermore, she has worked with the ICRC on humanitarian law and with the Agence de la Francophonie (Agency for the Francophone World) within the framework of the Preparatory Committee on the draft Rules of Procedure and Evidence and on the definition of the Elements of Crimes which fall within the jurisdiction of the ICC. She chaired the Preparatory Committee on the participation of Mali at the Beijing Summit in 1995.
MATHIAS HOUNKPE
REGIONAL BOARD MEMBER
Dr. Hounkpe, a citizen of Benin, rejoined International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES) in January 2022. Previously he served the Open Society Initiative for West Africa (OSIWA), where he led the Political Governance and Democratic Consolidation program for eight years. Dr. Hounkpe has more than two decades of experience promoting elections and good governance in West Africa, including vast experience with electoral processes as a program implementer, researcher, observer, thought leader and educator. In the early 2000s, Dr. Hounkpe was an IFES consultant in Benin and later in the early 2010s he led IFES programming in Chad. He returned to Mali as an ECOWAS elections expert in 2013 and assisted Malian election management bodies in the technical organization of the presidential election that year. Since 2015, he has lectured on topics such as elections and power sharing, good governance, and anti-constitutional change of power at the Mali-based West Africa Peacekeeping Training School. Dr. Hounkpe is also one of the authors of the Election Management Bodies in West Africa: A comparative study of the contribution of electoral commissions to the strengthening of democracy. Dr. Hounkpe holds a Master of Philosophy in political science from Yale University, where he concentrated on accountability mechanism design in new democracies, and a Doctor of Philosophy degree in mathematical physics from the University of Abomey-Calavi in Benin. In his free time, Dr. Hounkpe enjoys farming and reading, especially about myths and religions. |
Dr. ADRIENNE DIOP
REGIONAL BOARD MEMBER
Dr. Adrienne is Senegalese. She graduated with a B.A. in English literature in Richmond College, London. However, when she returned to Senegal, her career took an unexpected turn when she was offered as an intern to translate and present news in English for the National Television Station. She caught the journalism virus and started an 18-year career punctuated with practice and teaching.
She joined ECOWAS in 1997 as director of communication, when peace negotiations for Liberia and Sierra Leone were at their height. Consequently, she was involved in all the peace talks of countries in crisis in the region until 2010. she was also a member of all ECOWAS election observers’ teams during the same period. These activities were a golden opportunity to meet major protagonists and experience from the inside the root causes of the conflicts and the challenges for their resolution. In addition, she was involved in the adoption of the two ECOWAS main documents on conflict prevention and resolution, peace building, democracy and good governance.
In 2008, she was appointed Commissioner for Human Development and Gender and my portfolio included among other areas civil society activities in West Africa. ECOWAS leaders have recognized the importance and the crucial role non state actors can play alongside governments for the attainment of development goals and integration objectives. During my tenure as Commissioner, ECOWAS contributed to consolidation and growth of civil society organizations by supporting their activities.
She continues to be a powerful advocate for human development, gender equality, and economic progress in Africa and around the world. She is fluent in French and English. She enjoys Reading, Golfing, Music and Movies.
