CURRICULUM VITAE

1.Family name:SORENSEN

2.First names:SVEND ERIK

3.Date of birth:24 JULY 1954

4.Nationality:DANISH

5.Civil status:MARRIED

6.Education:M.SC.

Institution (Date from – Date to) / Degree (s) or Diploma(s) obtained:
University of Copenhagen/University of Amsterdam, 1984
Roskilde University Centre, Denmark, 1983
Copenhagen Business School (CBS), Denmark, 1985
Jutland Technological Institute, Denmark, 1985
UNESCO, University of Nairobi, Kenya, 1989
World Centre for Development & Training, N.Y, U.S.A., 1990
Asisco Management, Copenhagen, Denmark
Potential, Copenhagen, Denmark 2005
Classic Grounded Theory Group, Oxford, 2010 / M.Sc. in Economic History/Sociology
B.Sc. in International Development Studies
Business Administration/Data Management (1 year evening course)
Diploma Export Management (2 months)
Diploma in Micro CDS/ISIS programming (1 week)
Diploma Programme in Training & Development (3 months)
NLP Professional training courses (2 x 1 week)
Certified in Belbin Team Potential (1 week)
Classic Grounded Theory Workshop (3 days)

7.Language skills: Indicate competence on a scale of 1 to 5

Language / Reading / Speaking / Writing
Danish (Mother Tongue) / 1 / 1 / 1
English / 1 / 1 / 1
German / 4 / 3 / 2
French / 4 / 3 / 2
Bahasa Indonesia / 2 / 3 / 3

8.Member of Professional bodies: Danish Association of Masters and Ph.Ds. (DM), Danish Evaluation Society.

9.Other skills: Windows Office (fully literate); experienced in applying Project (fully literate), SPSS (partly literate), NVivo (fully literate).

10.Present position: Independent consultant, own company since 1994.

11.Years within the firm: 19 years: own company (SESconsulting; ASCAP: 17 years: partnerships (PEM/NCG), 9 years: employment (COWI, UNCHS).

12.Key qualifications:

Overview

Mr Sorensen has an educational background in development economics/sociology and is experienced in human resources and capacity building, management and institutional development with long experience in project design, implementation and evaluation from more than 40 countries in Asia, Africa, Eastern Europe and the Middle East, including positions as long-term project manager. Mr Sorensen has good insights into the operations of international development work, providing technical assistance to and working closely with bilateral and multilateral agencies, international and local NGOs, and local and central governments and private companies around the world, since the mid-1980s.

His main experience includes poverty reduction and livelihoods, local governance, the environmental sector, natural and water resources management, health and education as well as post-conflict development, democracy, peace building and electoral processes, civil society, good governance, disaster management and issues related to fragile states (e.g. security/legal/crime/humanitarian). Mr Sorensen has experience in all phases of the project cycle, is a highly skilled team-leader, process consultant, communicator, strategic policy adviser and negotiator, and researcher with strong analytic skills. He has worked for all major international development agencies, e.g. Danida, Sida, Norad, Finnida, GTZ, UN agencies, EU/EC, regional/international development banks, including Nordic Development Fund, AfDB, ADB and WB.

Evaluations / Reviews / Performance Management / RBM

Mr Sorensen has led and carried out comprehensive evaluations and reviews of projects and programmes in areas of capacity development, water resources management, poverty reduction, economic development, environment and conservation, infrastructure, good governance, civil society and justice, local government, regional networking, energy and social development. Evaluations include the following:

  • Team-leader for the Meta-Evaluation of 41 Finnish Decentralised Evaluations, 2010 and 2011 (2012);
  • Team-leader for UNDP Evaluation (ADR) of the Croatian Country Programme emphasising Croatia’s compliance to EU acquis communautaire, 2007-2013 (2012);
  • Team-member of the Finnish Synthesis Evaluation for the Sustainability Dimension in Addressing Poverty Reduction (2010);
  • Team-leader for Sida’s Evaluation of Urban Development and Environmental Support to the Western Balkans, 2000-2006 (2007);
  • Team-leader for UNDP’s Outcome Evaluation of its Good Governance and Justice programmes in Asia and the Pacific (2006);
  • Team-member of the Evaluation of the Norwegian “Development Exchange Programme 2000-2006”, (2006);
  • Team member of the Evaluation of the African Development Bank Social Sector Development programme in Tanzania and Ghana (2005);
  • Team-member of the Evaluation of the Development Work of the Danish Handicap Association, 2005.
  • Team-leader of the Evaluation of the Danida-supported Southern African Network for Training in the Environment – SANTREN (2000);
  • Team-leader of the Evaluation of the Danish Programme for Transitional Assistance to Albania (1999);
  • Team-leader of the Evaluation of the Norwegian Junior Professional Officer Programme (1993/1994).
  • Team-member of the Evaluation of the Training Component of the Service, Training and Spare parts Programme for 5 Power Stations in Sudan (1987).

Mr. Sorensen is well versed in measuring project / programme performance and achievements, using quantitative and qualitative data collection, e.g. desk studies, interviews, surveys and field work. He has long-time experienced in applying logframe, OECD/DAC evaluation criteria (relevance, efficiency, impact, effectiveness and sustainability) as well as the UNDP and EU/EC result-based management/monitoring and Outcome Evaluations. He has developed highly effective applications of project/programme monitoring and evaluation methodologies, especially on the design of objectively verifiable indicators (OVIs) and risk analysis. He applies different OVI criteria, such as SMART and QQT. He engages in and ensures compliance with overall guidance on aid effectiveness as outlined in the Paris, Accra and Busan declarations.

Institutional Development / Public Sector / Good Governance & Security / Human Rights / Democracy

Mr Sorensen assesses organisational culture, undertakes performance assessments of public, private and third sector organisations and guides and monitors them in applying ‘learning organisation’ principles, management, logframe, monitoring, evaluation and assessment techniques. He has successfully applied the combination of practical experience of organisational development, change management, group facilitation and strategic alliance development, which comprise key features of effective institutional reform and organisational and capacity development. A human rights based approach is fundamental and applied in every assignment. His institutional experience includes support to procedural, policy and legal development, e.g. in the water and environment sector in Vietnam, urban/local government/regional finance and development (Asia, Africa, Arab countries), human rights and peace building (Western Balkans), decentralisation and local government (Nepal, South Africa), security and community safety (Ukraine/Moldova), and electoral processes for free and fair elections (Ghana).

He applies good governance practices manifested in his strong knowledge and experience in project design, implementation and performance management of both simple and complex projects/programmes (e.g. regional cross-border programmes), covering good governance principles of accountability, transparency, responsiveness, participation, equality and human rights, inclusiveness and consensus building, among which a pivotal good governance tool is a well-designed logframe structure.

Project Management / Research and Studies

Mr Sorensen has identified, formulated, appraised, managed, implemented, monitored and evaluated numerous small as well as large scale and comprehensive projects and programmes during his professional career. He has lead many teams of various sizes (up to 10) during the last two decades.

He has been long-term Project Manager for a comprehensive 2-year training project for the Ghana election in December 1996. During this period he developed good governance mechanisms for transparent election procedures together with IFES; developed policies for electoral processes and procedures and related training materials for capacity building; managed and executed a comprehensive training programme for key staff of the National Electoral Commission and 300.000 election personnel and party agents; designed effective on-the-job training and train-the-trainer programmes for project implementation. He was Country Manager for UNEP’s tsunami efforts in 2005 (covering Maldives and Indonesia). Since 2008 he has been Project Manager on SME projects in the Balkans with a focus on land development in Serbia, and restoration and establishment of urban infrastructure and tourism facilities in Mostar City, Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Mr Sorensen was the Survey Manager for the comprehensive Vulnerability and Poverty Assessment (VPA2) Survey of all 200 inhabited islands of the Maldives in 2004. In 2007/2008 he was principal researcher for the study on land issues, economic development and reintegration of refugees in Burundi, and over a period of 9 months the Principal Researcher for a comprehensive and mainly qualitative based poverty assessment and livelihood study in Greenland in 2009-2010. He applies quantitative as well as qualitative methods in his research and studies.

Local Development / Civil Society / NGOs

Mr Sorensen has significant experience working with NGOs and communities. In most of his assignments his focus is on engaging civil society and local communities in every development effort aimed at poverty reduction, sustainable development, democracy and security. By practically adopting participartory approaches and qualitative methods (e.g. appreciative inquiries and classic grounded theory) he contributes to identifying local social, economic and cultural/political needs. This facilitates the best possible institutional settings for decentralised democratic decision processes involving all relevant partners, e.g. local authorities, communities and private sector.

Mr Sorensen has provided support to all kind of NGOs and local communities, including supporting the establishment and operation of local environmental committees in urban areas in Tanzania and South Africa and in remote nomadic communities in Northern Laos; providing strategic guidance to Balkan NGOs for conflict resolution and negotiation; and evaluating the performance of working programmes of several Danish and national NGOs. He has been working as a process consultant for many years with NGOs in Denmark and abroad, particular in the areas of environment, youth and employment, media, human rights, refugees and IDPs, regional development, twinning, judiciary and legal development, mainly within the framework of the Danish support to Peace and Stability through Cross Boundary Civil Society Collaboration in South East Europe (Western Balkan).

HRD / Capacity Building and Development

Mr Sorensen has long-time experience in competence analyses and training needs assessments. He designs, plans, implements, evaluates and budgets comprehensive management and technical skills training and capacity development programmes for mid-, senior-, and policy levels in public administration. He has a strategic approach to training and capacity development, and he is excellently versed in training management, training curricula and training materials development. He has facilitated numerous courses/workshops, including NLP/coaching and communication seminars, and designed effective on-the-job training, coaching, and train-the-trainer programmes as well as structured systems for accreditation and optimal use of local training institutions and internet based training networks. Mr Sorensen has been engaged in several long-term HR projects for the public sector and private enterprises, including water resources, power/energy, rural development, fibre optics, elections, and border security.

Environment / Water / NRM and Rural Development

Mr Sorensen has applied his key expertise in institutional development, capacity building and good governance in the environmental, water and rural development sectors, including EIA/SEA, environmental and water legislation (national/regional/EU), environment and infrastructure (e.g. sustainable cities programmes in Tanzania), urban environmental development, policies and laws (Western Balkan); environmental strategies (EPM), communication and networking, integrated water resources management (IWRM), water and sanitation, natural resources management and protected areas, organic agriculture and aquaculture, covering countries in Western Balkan, Eastern Europe, Asian and African.

He has been instrumental in carrying out EIA/SEA in the tsunami-ridden Indonesia and Maldives and been a key player in assessing and contributing to the State of the Environment reports in several African countries. Also, he was the main responsible for establishing the institutional and capacity development framework for the Water Board in the Malé Water and Sewarage Company in the Maldives. He was the principal evaluator of the TA of multi-donor Kenya Water Supply Sector Programmes in 2006 and assessed UNEPs contribution to the IWRM sector (2004). He planned for implementation of the Convention to Combat Desertification for Eritrea and supported the development of a regional environmental internet-based network for the SADC region (SANTREN).

He has addressed regional based institutional issues and programmes for the environmental, water and aquaculture sectors in South East Asia, through work with the Mekong River Commission, Asian Institute of Technology and public and civil society institutions in Thailand, Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia.

Post-Conflict Societies / Fragile States / Peace Building and Stability / Disaster Management

Mr Sorensen has worked extensively in addressing policy and implementation related issues to post-conflict and transitional societies through peace building and stability activities, including applying conflict sensitive approaches, such as ‘do-no-harm’ and ‘build back better’. Consultancies were carried out during the Middle East peace process in 1994-1995; the Western Balkans (since late 1990s); and Eritrea (2000-2001). The latter supporting a WB financed demobilisation and reintegration programme. He led an in-depth study on land issues, economic development and reintegration of refugees and IDPs in Burundi (2007); developed a risk based human resources framework for border safety and human security between Moldova and Ukraine for the EU (EUBAM/ BOMMOLUK) in 2007-2008; designed border police collaboration activities between Albania and Macedonia in 2003-2004, including community development and NGO mobilisation for reduced crime (trafficking, smuggling, etc.); he formulated regional training programmes for the judiciary in Western Balkan and drafted a “freedom of expression” media development programme designed for strengthening civil society in Central Asia.

Mr Sorensen has been working as a process consultant in post-conflict Western Balkan for several years primarily within the framework of the Danish support to the Peace and Stability through Cross Boundary Civil Society Collaboration in South East Europe. Mr Sorensen also coordinated and facilitated joint efforts in training & education of state agencies and NGOs on deployment of personnel in international conflict zones, for the Danish Humanitarian Group (under MoFA). All in-country and cross-country post-conflict and transitional assignments have been carried out within the EU’s Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) and by applying mediation and dialogue as key concepts/approaches to secure a sustained transitional peace process, in line with adopted EU/UN policies under EUs Instrument for Stability (IfS).

He was in-charge of UNEP’s tsunami programme in Indonesia and Maldives in 2005 working closely with NGOs, communities and local and central governments. He was the team-leader for the design of the WB supported island livelihood project within the Bank’s Impact and Recovery Programme for the Tsunami in the Maldives addressing effective mechanisms and modalities for improving local communities’ economic welfare.

EU Projects and Programmes

Mr Sorensen has been engaged in and are well familiar with EU/EC related enlargement programmes, EUs policy and institutional framework (acquis communautaire) and EUs result-based management and monitoring methodology, mainly through evaluations of Serbia’s Environmental Infrastructure programmes’ compliance to EU accession rules and UNDPs support to Croatia’s EU accession negotioations during 2005-2012, the Neighbourhood Programmes supported by the EU and the Danish FRESTA Cross Boundary Civil Society Collaboration for the Western Balkans over a period of 5 years.

He was instrumental in addressing safety and security training and HRD issues for the EU financed Border Collaboration between Ukraine and Moldova (2007-2008) – BOMMOLUK – aligned to meet EU standards and EU security policy (CFSP). Also, he addressed environmental EU aquis and integration of the Balkan States through evaluation of Sida’s environmental programme in 2000-2006 and through environmental training for the Balkans. In the 1990s he undertook several EU/EC assignments, including a thorough assessment of the judiciary in Albania and HRD projects for the Male Water and Sewerage Company, Maldives, and for the National Energy Strategy for Lithuania.

13.Specific experience: to be included

Country / Date: from (month/year) to (month/year)

14. Professional Experience Record:

1

Date / Location / Company / Position / Description
2010 – (appr. 60 days per year) – on-going / Serbia
Bosnia and Herzegovina / Ascap Aps.
Mg. Director
() / Project Manager / Tourism and Land Development projects
  • Environmentally and energy conservation friendly reconstruction of a historical real estate building for tourism purposes in the Old Town of Mostar City, applying user groups and involvement/participatory methods for meeting real demands and tourism for peace building and stability. A Museum/civil society activity base is planned.
  • Preparation of a land development project in the industrial zone of Nova Pastova Municipality, North Belgrade.

June – October 2013
(1,5 months) / Bosnia and Herzegovina / UNDP BiH - CTA
() / Evaluation & Monitoring Expert / Development of a Comprehensive Evaluation System for Local Government Training. Designing a mechanism for the impact of training on local government performance and service delivery. Work includes: Development of a methodology, tools and training-the-trainer focal points and testing/monitoring the system’s implementation.
April-May 2013 (1 month) / Serbia / FCG/Orgut/Sida
Rezarta Marjeta (Rezarta ) / Team-leader / Mid-term-Evaluation of the Environmental Infrastructure Support Project.
Assessment of Swedish support to Serbien administration to prepare a national project pipeline for environmental investment. Focus on key DAC evaluation criteria and Serbia’s plans and compliance with EU accession conditions
May 2012 – January 2013
(4 months) / Desk Study / FCG/Finnida, Marja Laine () / Team-leader / Meta-Evaluation of Decentralised Evaluations from 2010 and 2011.
A comparative quality and trend assessment study of 41 evaluation reports (appraisals, mid-term reviews and final evaluations) focussing on all key DAC criteria, poverty reduction and cross-cutting issues. Published.
May 2012 – February 2013
(2,5 months) / Croatia / UNDP, Fumika Ouchi ( / Team-leader / UNDP Evaluation (ADR) of the Croatian Country Programme, 2007-2013. Focus on UNDP’s support to Cratia’s EU accession negotiation (aquis communautaire) assessing progress in the achievements of expected outcomes; analyse UNDP’s positioning towards EU accession needs of Croatia and present key lessons learned and recommendations. Report to be printed in UNDP’s ADR series, in July 2013.