CV: Anthony THOMSON

CV: Anthony THOMSON

12a Bellevue Court

21-22 Preston Park Avenue

Brighton, BN1 6HL

United Kingdom

UK Landline: +44 (0) 1273 551 679

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Email:;

20171003 A Thomson Generic CV

+44 (0) 77 6965 1685 & +44 (0) 1273 551 679

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Career Summary

More than 15 years of short & long-term programme/project implementation & management. As a flexible ‘General Specialist’ my focus has been upon being a catalyst to inspire others to shoulder the ownership/responsibility to achieve multiplied scale impact in challenging environments. Until December’15 with UNAMA in Afghanistan & previously with UNMIK in Kosovo developed specialised experience of political stabilisation: inpost conflict institution/capacity building. Before 1999 I worked for mostly Save the Children (UK) in east & southern Africa gaining experience of national health sector development – Uganda, Somalia, Eritrea & Malawi. In Sudanmanaging large scale emergency relief operations. In between my UN stints I worked as Merlin’s Kabul based Afghan Country Director responsible for health service delivery in Kunduz & Badakhshan provinces.

During my career in each posting developed substantial knowledge & relations with the major donors: USAID, OFDA, WB, EU/ECHO, DfID, WFP, UNICEF, UNHCR etc. & gained funding from most.

The main method used with counterparts & for programme implementation have been an emphasis upon mentoring, to promote develop colleagues/team’s portfolio responsibility. The primary tool used is a simple iterative cyclical planning & management process to structure building context specific competence.

When on long-term contracts enjoy working with diverse multi-disciplinary local & international teams that have delivered sustainable measurable results. Before working for the UN in Afghanistan I recurrently & by design enjoy working with teams with senior female members.

Main posts included just under 4 years as a UNAMA Coordination Officer provincial then Kabul HQ & 7 years as a Civil Affairs Officer for UNMIK. In various relevant capacities for the British Council, Merlin & Save the Children Fund (UK) plus a series of significant short-term African consultancies.

Education Qualifications:

1996/7 MBA (Health, Population, Nutrition) in Developing Countries. Keele University, England.

Health Planning & Management - Health Economics & Financial Management - Human Resource Management – Marketing & Community Participation in Health - Health Information & Management Science

Dissertation: “Why Reinventing the Wheel is Necessary” an organisational study of Save the Children Fund (UK).

19984/7 BSc Honours Development Studies. School of Development Studies, University of East Anglia, England.

Theory of Development, Comparative Development Economics & Natural Resources.

Dissertation: “Palliative or Prevention” WHO Expanded Programme of Immunization.

Courses:

British Government - Stabilisation UnitCourses:Sept’10 5 day Joint Operations Planning Course;Aug’10 3 day GroundTruth Re-HEAT (Hostile Environment Awareness Training)/1st Aid; July’10 5 day MRX 16 Air Assault Brigade Operation HERRICK 13; May/June’10 - 2 week Intermediate Command & Staff – Stabilisation Module – Shrivenham (British) Defence Academy; Stabilisation Planning Mod I Feb’10 & Mod II April’10; DfID SCR 1325 Gender Awareness Workshop July’08 & GroundTruth HEAT & First Aid training/certification June’08.

Other courses: UNAMA Certificates: Analytical Report Writing 3 days June’13; Dedicated Civil Affairs Training – 3-day course March’13; Safe & Secure Approaches to Field Environment 1 day July’12; Advanced Security in the Field – online certified exercise Jan’12 & 15; Basic Security in the Field (II) – online certified exercise Dec’11 & 15.

UNMIK Certificates 11&08/05 Applying Tools for Gender Mainstreaming; 06/05 Certificate of Appreciation is Awarded for Panel Services; 05/05 Performance Management Workshop; 01/04 Basic Security in the Field - Staff Safety; Health & Welfare and 12/02 People Management Training Programme.

Core competences summary:

Impact and influence: work with from within the local capacity/ownership believing this assists sustainability.

Analytical thinking of: civil society, elections, security, economic, food security, health & administrative systems using a simple iterative planning cycle methodology in which local capacity, responsibility & ownership has primacy.

Programme/Project Planning, Coordination, Implementation Training: Uganda, Somalia, Sudan, Eritrea, Malawi, Kosovo Afghanistan.

Strategic orientation & policy formulation: North Uganda, Somalia, Sudan, Eritrea, Kosovo, Afghanistanet cetera.

Organisational Analysis: it was the subject of my MBA dissertation - distinction.

Public Finance Management: executive responsibility for 5 years as an UNMIK Municipal Administrator.

Human Resources: 1 fifth of MBA studies Human Resources adviser to the Malawi Ministry of Health.

Building partnerships with stakeholders: particularly in Somalia, Sudan, Eritrea, Kosovo for a consultancy to evaluate the World Health Organisation Africa Malaria Control Programme.

Procurement: particularly Sudan, Eritrea Afghanistan; hold an EU certificate.

Work Objective:

Consultancies plus longer term Representational, Coordination Implementation roles: developing strategy, planning implementation of policy practice to promote humanitarian/institutional stabilisation in complex administrative/political environments.

My ‘vocational’ BSc MBA in development inform my professionalism track record of working with a wide variety of people/officials, to establish build-up effective networks/teams.

Management style: actively follow a delegating methodology for colleagues/counterparts & interlocutors to promote their responsibility & ownership of activities.

Performance and Teambuilding (ex-Kosovo UNMIK):

A record of the quality of my team building capability is present in my colleagues UN performance appraisal system reports. A highly qualified & effective local governance expert/colleague wrote of me: ‘Anthony is one of the very few supervisors’ who is both a leader and manager. Anthony spent more time in preventing problems than fixing them because he knew enough to know when and how to intervene. Another reason this Municipality is so successful is that Anthony has implemented changes that seeps in slowly, steadily, profoundly. Anthony ensured that everyone takes responsibility for serious change. Anthony is one of the best supervisor’s I have had the pleasure to work for and with.

A minority rights practitioner/colleague wrote: ‘Mr Thomson is a natural leader, who not only is possessed with exceptional vision and outstanding judgment and decision-making skills, but has also the confidence of constantly challenge the status quo thus always driving for change and improvement. He does that with much creativity and determination, always demonstrating persistence when he and his team are faced with difficult problems and challenges. He is driven by a strong sense of teamwork and by empowering his subordinates and building trust within his staff, while demonstrating his integrity and respect for diversity and gender; Mr Thomson has successfully built a strong municipal team. I am personally thankful to Mr Thomson, he gave me full autonomy in my areas of responsibility and has continuously given me new and challenging goals, against which to measure myself, thus allowing me to develop my skills, competences and self-confidence.

’ My last supervisor: ‘… It will be a great pity if he is lost to the UN.’ and my senior second reporting officer wrote: ‘Excellent, committed S[taff]M[ember].’

Professional Experience:

09/13 – retirement 12/15United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan, Civil Affairs HQ, Coord. Officer, Kabul, Afghanistan

Duties: This post had three foci with an output of analytical monitoring reporting on governance stabilisation & reform in cooperation with UNAMA's thirteen countrywide field offices:

a) Represent the Civil Affairs Unit as a member of the Afghanistan United Nations Country Team; participate in working groups to produce the Afghanistan 2015-19 UNDAF, its Common Country Assessment paper & mentor - provide support to UNAMA's Field Offices who chair the UN Regional Teams.

b) Use Afghanistan’s efforts to comply with its Extractive Industry Transparency Initiative application as a proxy measure to track institutional reform, stabilisation & report upon this sectors’ role in the illicit political economy.

c) Reporting & measuring the transition process from the withdrawal of the international military the capacity establishment of subnational government to deliver governance/development. In addition, undertake ad hoc discreet tasks e.g. provide planning guidance - direction for this unit’s field office teams.

It should be noted that in my final 15 months I was the default Officer in Charge of UNAMA’s Civil Affairs Unit – due to the annual leave/R&R cycles we enjoyed resulted in my being its acting head for 25% of the time.

03/12 – 09/13United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan, Coordination Officer, Gardez, Afghanistan

Duties: Responsible for leading and directing small teams working from UNAMA’s South-East Regional Head Quarters in Gardez Khost Provincial UNAMA Office covering Loya Paktya – Paktya, Khost Paktika plus Ghazni Province. The responsibility was to provide technical assistance to the provincial government, the United Nations Regional Team & other interlocutors. This used the Afghan National Development Strategy, National Priority Programmes the provincial level governance, provincial councils development planning/coordination structures.

01 – 09/09 Medical Emergency Relief International – Country Director, Kabul, Afghanistan

Duties: Direct/report the delivery of the Afghan Ministry of Health's Basic Package of Health Services in Kunduz & Badakhshan provinces employing 750 local staff funded by the European Commission & WHO/USAID. These are complemented bysmaller subsidiary projects funded by UNFPA, WHO, GAVI, JPIEGO, ActionAid, LSHTM etc.

08/03-06/06 UNMIK Municipal Representative Civil Affairs Officer-Pejë/PećKosovo:

Responsibilities: Lead a combined 11 member international & local team to discharge responsibilities defined under SC Resolution 1244 – objective facilitating local authorities to comply with agreed standards of democratic institutional conduct.

This included being the municipality’s finance officer responsible for the multi-million Euro municipal budget. As the most senior UN civilian coordinate with the other three UNMIK Pillars: OSCE, the EU & Police/Justice; the Kosovo Government, the operational UN agencies, civilian governmental & NGOs agencies – maintain close working relations with NATO led Kosovo Force; the International/national Civilian Police. Liaise on security matters with relevant stakeholders.

The methods deployed were very simple indeed:

For capacity building the municipal civil servants – provide mentoring, advice & specific training, most importantly make it explicit that they were responsible produce evidence based regular reports of their performance.
For the reserve powers under Security Council Resolution 1244 – the approach was much the same as above – with a few exceptions where the UNMIK team did the actual work.
This methodological synopsis contrasted with the majority of Kosovo’s municipalities where the UNMIK teams were recurrently blamed for their ineffectiveness.

08/01 - 08/03UNMIK Municipal Administrator – Rahovec/Orahovac Municipality

Responsibilities:Similar to those in Pejë/Peć Municipality, however, in Rahovec/Orahovac it was earlier in the mission therefore there was more executive authority proportionately a larger international/local team.

Supervised the second largest winery in the world associated 8,000ha vineyards. Resulted in my working with EU/KFOR contingent to establish a supervisory board being an ex-officioboard member.

Completely changed the relationship between the UNAMATeam municipal administrative/political interlocutors to mentor them, ensure they took responsibility for their actions.
Policy method was deployed to handover administrative competencies to the municipal administration.
Founding Provisional Supervisory Board member of NBI Rahoveci Winery - second largest winery in the world.
Earned the respect of key local politicians leaders for the whole UNMIK team.

09/99 - 08/01UNMIK Regional Programme Manager Prizren Kosovo

Background: Prizren Region (pop circa 420,000) - Regional city 100,000 & 5 municipal capital towns 15K-30K with 192 villages. Before the war, there were minorities: 20,000 Serbs, 40,000 Bosnians 10,000 Roma. 90% of Serbs left at the end of the NATO bombing campaign. The level of destruction of villages, schools health facilities were significant. The civil administration had broken down - Security Council Resolution 1244 established UNMIK with full sovereign powers.

Responsibilities:Coordinate & managed the activities of 22 professional sectorial staff – finance line managed the reestablishment of the whole regional civil service salary system, economic: initial documentation of socially owned companies,education, health/welfare, agriculture utilities. Handing over of responsibilities & supporting the establishment of the EU Pillar IV Regional Office – only non-Pillar IV in Kosovo - Coordinator of Regional Business Transformation Team. Negotiated first post war wine export -1.6m litres to Japan.

08/99Consultant London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine – Malaria Consortium

Conducted the administrative part of a DfID funded LSHTM survey of the WHO Africa malaria control programme. It consisted of 3 country case studies - Uganda, Kenya & Tanzania to calibrate a continent wide email survey.

10 - 11/98 Consultant SCF (UK) Lesotho

Advise the Prime Minister's Office - Disaster Management Authority – how to assess, respond to the consequences of the September 1988 civil/political convulsion. Recommended facilitated a highly effective residential key informant survey.

11/97-07/98 Project Manager British Council Malawi

Established office programme of work for a €19m EU funded health decentralisation project provided human resource advice to the Ministry of Health.

09/96–07/97 Keele, University UK, studied for specialised LDC/Transitional Countries health MBA(HPN).

11/92 – 06/96Country Representative SCF (UK) Eritrea Establish new SCF Country Programme/Office

Planned, developed, implemented managed multifaceted health programme: Technical Assistance - Health Policy & Planning; Primary Health Care, Expanded Programme of Immunisation - cold chain, computerised inventory project - Eritrean Central Medical Stores an EU funded €2.9m impregnated bed-net malaria control project.

Also, observed/reported upon the impressive preparations implementation of the April 1993 independence referendum.

Managed the preparation hosted a visit by the President of SCF: Her Royal Highness the Princess Royal to Eritrea.

09/92 - 10/92 Consultant SCF (UK) Djibouti

Reorganise SCF’s office for the reception shipment of food aid to Ethiopia, together with its capacity to provide operational in-extremessecurity support to the SCF Somaliland operation.

05/92–06/92 Consultant SCF (UK) Eritrea

Conclude with the provincial Government an activity programme to open a new country office in Asmara. Write funding proposals for submission to donors prepare emergency funding proposals for the Somalia emergency programme.

01/92 – 04/92 Consultant SCF (UK) Ghana & Zanzibar

Conducted a management audit assessment of transport modalities used by the Ghanaian Zanzibar Ministries of Health - made recommendations, prepared project proposals etc.

11-12/91Consultant SCF (UK) Eritrea: Evaluate food & drug provision funded by DfID & undertake situation analysis.

09/89 – 91 Deputy /Field Director SCF(UK) Khartoum Sudan

Establish lead the operational design & implementation of a $20m emergency medical 40,000 MT food relief operation: strategy load trucks in Central Sudan for delivery to village councils throughout Darfur up to 1,600km away.

Negotiate food aid from donors NCA/EU/ODA/OFDA/USAID/WFP, the transport contracts, monitoring, evaluation, narrative & financial reporting to SCF plus the respective donors.

During my first year, managed & directed the East Sudan programme that included a large community sanitation project in Port Sudan. Lead officer responsible for tendering & selecting a civil engineering contractor to build the Gedaref 7 km long ring-loop water main. This resulted in the provision of a piped water supply to densely populated neighbourhoods.

Overall, administrative responsibilities were discharged & the work to manage cross border activities into the then rebel held Eritrea Ethiopia, thus laying the foundation for future work.

08/87 - 06/89 Country Adviser SCF (UK) Somalia

With UNICEF, (and its funds) developed in-service training for PHC/EPI - prepared reports oversaw accounts as required managed 3 internationally led zonal teams.

Delivered on accountabilities - developed and implemented a very efficient routine planning regime – using public transport - for the collection of reports, delivery of vaccines primary health services supplies.

09/84 – 07/87University of East Anglia England, studied for BSc in development studies.

06 – 09/86 SCF (UK)During my University Summer Vacation. Post war situation analysis of Northern Uganda- propose projects.

06 – 09/85SCF (UK)During my University Summer Vacation.Lead Sudanese immunisation team in the Darfur famine refugee camps.

01-08/84 LWF Project Officer West Nile, Uganda Establish project to manage 100,000 Ugandan returnees funded by UNHCR.

08/81–12/83Administrative Assistant SCF (UK) UgandaAdminister nutrition unit, propose implement 100,000 child vaccination project.

LanguagesEnglish – mother tongue, ephemeral grasp of many of the languages where I have been posted.

Personal Interests:An abiding fascination in national ownership of policy implementation in the humanitarian/security/development nexus.

Reference Name
Mark Bowden / Business or Occupation
Ex-UNAMA D/SRSG RC/HC
Kabul, Afghanistan / Telephone Number
Will provide on request / Email Addresses
Will provide on request
Hassan Elhaq / UNAMA Civil Affairs Unit Head – Supervisor
Kabul, Afghanistan / “ “ / “ “
Laura Gava / Ex-MONUSCO Civil Affairs Officer
Goma - DRC / “ “ / “ “

Anthony Thomson 3rd October 2017

20171003 A Thomson Generic CV

+44 (0) 77 6965 1685 & +44 (0) 1273 551 679