Agnes Rani Paul

Professional experience summary:

Month/Year / Organization / Location / Position
11/2010 -05/2011 / Caritas Germany in Sierra Leone / Consultant- Capacity Building
07.2010 / RedR India, Pune / Consultant, Humanitarian Partner Capacity Assesment in South India
07/2009-06/2010 / Break for Child rearing / Baby care
07/ 2007- 6/2009 / Oxfam Australia
South East India Tsunami Programme / Tsunami Programme Coordinator
03/2007-06/2007 / RedR India and Adapt Asia
Chennai- & Pune India / Consultant
09/2006-12/2006 / Institute of Minorities-European Academy
Bolzano-Bozen- Italy / Intern – Minority Protection
07/2006 / ACT- Geneva, Chennai, India / Consultant – Evaluation Team
08/2005-05/2006 / Forum Asia (Community Trust Fund)
Puttlam, Srilanka / Programme Designer
06/2005- 07/2005 / UNICEF
Chennai, India / Consultant – Child Protection
02/2005-01/2005 / Christian Aid
Chennai India / Consultant- Programme designing
01/2002-01/2005 / St. Xavier’s Social Service Society:
Ahmedabad - India / Programme Manager
01/1997-12/ 2001 / Free Lance:
South India (TN, Kerala, Karnataka and AP) / Development Consultant
12/1995-12/1996 / Joint Women’s Programme, Tamil Nadu
Tamil Nadu / Programme Secretary
06/1995-11/1995 / Total Literacy Campaign, Corporation of Chennai
Chennai, India / Central Programme Coordinator -Training and curriculum Development

Strategy Management and Implementation:

  • Managed the earthquake rehabilitation team in the affected villages of Naliya and Lakpath in Kutch District of Gujarat: owner-driven earthquake and cyclone resistant permanent shelters with eco-friendly technology, basic education, Early Childhood Care and Development, Community based earthquake disaster preparedness – awareness, formation of community based Task Forces.
  • Working with Regional Coordinators of Pre School Education Programme run by Caritas Germany in Sierra Leone, building their capacity on Log Frame, Financial, Monitoring, and Reporting, Budget phasing and budget based monitoring of activities.
  • UNICEF: As consultant to UNICEF - Chennai office carried out the Mapping and of “Child Protection in Tsunami affected Areas of Tamil Nadu”.
  • Expansion of income and employment opportunities and at the same time reduces risks; strengthened partners’ institutional capacities for identifying and managing disaster risks in a multi-hazard framework. Institutionalizing community based preparedness in the slums of Ahmedabad city (Gujarat) to deal with communal conflict, flood and earth quake:
  • Formation of Peace Committees, Women Groups and Children Clubs .
  • Extensively used PRA methods for programme assessment, evaluations, project monitoring.
  • European Centre of Conflict Prevention, Netherlands: Member of the team to write a chapter on the peace building efforts of the organization for the publication, ‘People Building Peace-II, Successful stories of Civil Society’ by European Centre of Conflict Prevention, published by Lynne Rienner, 05, pp 414-420.
  • RedR India: facilitated the documentation and translation of the course book on Community based Disaster management for the Training of Trainers in Sri Lanka.
  • Christian Aid: Carried out assessment and relief monitoring in the relief camps, damage assessment for livelihood in the coastal villages and facilitated a “workshop on Social audit and exclusion of Tsunami victims in India”
  • As freelance development consultant carried out ongoing programme assessment and evaluations, project monitoring, programme appraisal and personnel appraisal for NGOs, Formulated and co-conducted Non-Medical Detoxification camp (Hill Top model) for street and child labors of Chennai city

Programme Management:

  • Substantial management experience for 10 years in Disaster Response and Recovery Programmes: hands an experience of working for the relief and reconstruction programme of earthquake, floods and communal carnage, ethnic conflict, Tsunami in India and Sri Lanka.
  • South India: As Tsunami Programme Coordinator in Oxfam Australia involved in building capacities and facilitating technical advice for 12 Partners on livelihood with a focus on micro-finance, expansion of income and employment opportunities and beneficiary focused methodologies.
  • Gujarat: Facilitated and developed Livelihood programmes for the families affected by earthquake (2001) and communal conflict (2002) Gujarat and set up the micro finance mechanism through revolving fund and bank linkages.
  • South India: work with NGOs and Self help groups on income generation programmes and small enterprises through matching grands from Government, Partner NGO as well as saving schemes.
  • Have experience in collating, reviewing partner Quarterly, Mid term and annual

Financial Management:

  • As a programme Manager in SXSSS line managed the finance Manger. Was responsible for sending financial reports, fund request, budget phased monitoring.
  • As a tsunami coordinator monitored Partner budgets, financial reporting, activity based finacila reporting, qualitative and quantitative.
  • More than 10 years experience proposal writing for fund mobilizing and adhering to the compliance requirements
  • Managed Partner Contracts as well as back donor reporting
  • Have also been closely involved in budget related programme monitoring, budget phasing, financial monitoring Partners

Programme Quality:

  • As Tsunami Programme Coordinator in Oxfam Australia capacity building of 12 partners in 3 southern states to ensure their rehabilitation and rebuilding are designed to promote sustainable development. At the same time strengthened partners’ institutional capacities for identifying and managing disaster risks in a multi-hazard framework .
  • Sri Lanka: as Tsunami Programme Designer in Forum Asia monitored livelihood programme of Community Trust Fund a local organization based in Sri Lanka operating in 6 districts.
  • As Tsunami Programme Coordinator in Oxfam Australia, directly managed 3 Partner organizatios in 3 southern states to ensure their rehabilitation and rebuilding are designed to promotes sustainable development.
  • Monitored the earthquake rehabilitation team in the affected villages of Naliya and Lakpath in Kutch District of Gujarat: owner-driven earthquake and cyclone resistant permanent shelters with eco-friendly technology, basic education\
  • Early Childhood Care and Development, Community based earthquake disaster preparedness – awareness, formation of community based committees
  • Directly Line Managed four programme teams in Gujarat : Innovative education, community Development, Community Health programmes, and ‘Shanti’- an initiative for PeaceBuilding
  • Institutionalizing community based preparedness in the slums of Ahmedabad city (Gujarat) to deal with communal conflict, flood and earth quake: Formation of Peace Committees, Women Groups and Children Clubs

Programme Development/:

  • Linked humanitarian response beyond the initial relief needs to longer-term development goals especially in terms of livelihoods, shelter, conflict prevention, gender mainstreaming;
  • creating Child centered non formal educational centers and building peace committees, peace volunteers. Institutionalizing community based preparedness in the slums and village communities to deal with communal conflict, flood and earth quake:
  • Formation of Peace Committees, Women Groups and Children Clubs and Task forces.
  • Do no Harm knowledge gained through training and using Mary Anderson’s study at SXSSS, Ahmedabad.As Tsunami Programme Designer in Sri Lanka involved in need assessment, proposal writing, resource mobilization, preparing the technical donor reports.
  • Have written concept notes, project reviews, impact analysis, periodic reporting and evaluation for the various funding partners and International organizations such as Oxfam, Action Aid, Care India, Catholic Relief Services, AEI – Luxemburg, Caritas India, Caritas Germany, Malteser – Germany, Cordaid, Save the children, USAID, UNICEF

Human Resource Management and capacity building:

  • Recruiting, coaching and mentoring “Bal Dhosts” ( friends of children), who accompanied them in these child centers, not as teachers, but as friends who educate them, play with them. Was involved extensively in recruiting, inducting, capacity building for 3years
  • Was involved in organizing capacity buildings, from the beining of my career at different professionals in different sectors( like literacy- education, Government departments, Women leaders, college students, NGO staff, Team leaders, Partner organizations)
  • CapacityBuilding: as an independent consultant for 4 years designed and conducted capacity building programmes tailored to the needs of Civil Society Net Works, NGOs, CBOs, SHGs and village community leaders.
  • As free lance consultant Designing and conducting capacity building and training programmes for the staff of NGOs, CBOs, SHGs and village community leaders, using PRA methods
  • capacity building Community Trust Fund, a local organization based in Sri Lanka and operating in 6 districts

Representation and Advocacy:

  • Have represented the organizations widely, national and international levels, Presented reports, papers
  • Have also been involved in Networks that mainly advocated Human Rights and MInotiry Protection in Gujarat India and Srilanka
  • Through negociating and advocacy have been able to get benefits for the people in camps and for the rehabilitations
  • Collaborated with Institutes like NIMHANS- Bangalore, GovernmentHospital in Ahmedabad for providing psycho social care for children . Documented the best practices
  • Associated with an organization based in Pune , Play for Peace to teach children Unity, multi culturalism, diversity etc
  • Civil Society Networking for advocacy is one of my major strength; since the initial phase of career have been involved in net working and collaboration with other NGOs, INGOs, UN agencies and specially Government department - Municipal Corporation in Chennai, District Secretariat – Gujarat and Puttalam district in Sri lanka.
  • Civil society initiatives: facilitated Civil Society organization such as Citizens’ Initiative (forum of right bases NGOs and concerned citizens), Sabarmati Nagarik Adhikar Manch (on the issue of river front development), Adivasi Mahasbha (tribal / indigenous people’s federation)
  • People’s movement: facilitated People’s Movement such as Gujarat Social Forum in 2003, was able to link the local movement groups with World social Forum in 2004
  • Worked in the midst of communally flared conflict situation in Gujarat and involved in facilitating the long term approaches to build peace with the grass root communities in conflict – specifically Hindu, Muslim and Christians.
  • The successful efforts and impact of this approach in the slum communities are captured in the publication by European Centre of Conflict Prevention. facilitated People’s Movement such as Gujarat Social Forum in 2003, was able to link the local movement groups with World social Forum in 2003 and 2004
  • Have collaborated many research studies, documentaries after the communal violence in Gujarat, have collaborated with RedR India and brought out a Hand book for Community workers on Disaster preparedness

Stakeholder communication:

  • Have been part of the team in communicating and reporting to the donor community for fund raising, monitoring and back donor reporting.
  • Have very closely associated with donors in exhibiting the work of the organization and most often have been successful
  • Experienced in Stakeholder communication with Partners, Government departments, Communities, NGOs, INGOs, Donors
  • Have also been negotiating, communicating, advocating, laisoning with various stakeholders of Humanitarian sectors

Experience of working in Africa:

  • Have been associated with the Regional Coordinators of Pre school education programme for war affected children of Caritas Germany in Sierra Leone in capacity building and need assessment for the past 8 months.

Education:

Institution / Degree obtained
StellaMarisCollege, Chennai ( July 1993 - May 1995) / Master’s In Arts ( Social Work)
College of Social Work, Mumbai ( Aug 1989 - June 1992) / Bachelor of Art ( Social Work)

Professional trainings:

Institution and Place / Courses / Training Followed
Oxfam Australia, Pune ( June 09) / Gender Learning Forum
RedR India, Pune ( November 08) / Community Emergency Preparedness and Based Disaster Risk Reduction
School of Economics, Free University of Bozen-Bolzano, Italy ( December 06) / Compliance by the European Union with the European Convention on Human Rights
Institute for MinoritiesEuropeanAcademy, Bolzano-Bozen, Italy (November 06) / “Political Participation of Minorities”
Jointly organized by the Autonomy Province of Bolzano-Bozen and EuropeanAcademy ( October -06) / “ Law and Minorities”
Academy for Disaster Management Education, Planning and Training (ADEPT), Chennai, India, (February 2006) / “International Seminar on Review of Intervention in Disasters”
Asian Institute of Technology and Fredskorpset – Norway, at Bangkok – Thailand (Aug- sep 2005) / Fourth Fredskorpset’s Preparatory Course for the South to South personnel exchange programs in Asia.
EURAC Italy in collaboration with SAFHR Nepal, Bolzano-Italy, (June 2005) / “Experience of the Politics of Recognition and Minority Protection”
ICES Colombo and CHRF- Canada, at Colombo- Srilanka, (October 2004) / “CapacityBuilding to Promote and Defend Diversity in South Asia”
SAFHR Nepal and EURAC – Italy, at Katmandu, Nepal, May 2004 / “Combating Racism, Xenophobia and Discrimination against Ethnic Minorities and Indigenous People”
ICES Colombo and CHRF- Canada, at Colombo-Srilanka, (October 2003) / “Protection of minority and ethnic diversity in South Asia”
Praxis India at Thrisur- Kerala, (September 2003) / “International thematic workshop on PRA with Robert chambers”
PeaceBuilding, CRS/South Asia at Mumbai, (February 03) / “PeaceBuilding Principles, Participatory Conflict Analysis and Developing State Wide Strategy”

Languages: 1 fluent, 5 basic:

Language / Reading / Speaking / Writing
Tamil / 1 / 1 / 1
English / 1 / 1 / 1
Hindi / 3 / 3 / 5
Gujarati / 3 / 2 / 3
Italian / 4 / 3 / 4
German / 4 / 4 / 4

Personal Information:

Name: Agnes Rani Paul
Date of birth: 12/11/1966
Nationality: Indian
Civil status: Married / Contact Details: No 31 Upper Signal Hill Road, Wilberforce Free Town, Sierra Leone, Mobile: + 23278215835
Email: /
References will be furnished on request
Agnes Rani Paul

June 28, 2011