Jun
19, 2025
16:30 - 17:30 CET
English
Join this engaging session to explore the Internship and Fellows Programmes at FAO.
This interactive discussion will highlight a perspective on the value and impact of these Programmes by both programme participants and managers. Two young professionals will share their experiences as participants in the FAO Internship and Fellows Programmes, reflecting on how their involvement shaped their career paths and provided valuable learning opportunities. Complementing these testimonies, two FAO managers, who actively support and host young talents, will offer their perspectives on the importance of mentoring early-career professionals and working together with the talented youth with new perspective and innovative ideas. They will share firsthand experiences of how interns and fellows have positively influenced their teams and contributed to their programmes and activities at FAO.
Ms Clara Artoni is an Italian and French national currently serving as a Junior Professional Officer (JPO), funded by the Italian government, in the Office of Emergencies and Resilience (OER) at FAO Headquarters. In her role as an Emergency and Resilience Operations Officer on the Country Support Team, she provides operational support to FAO country offices in East and Southern Africa responding to crises.
Ms Artoni holds a degree in International Public Management from Sciences Po Paris. Her career in humanitarian and development work began with the World Food Programme (WFP) in Myanmar. She later joined FAO’s Office of Emergencies and Resilience, initially as an intern, and subsequently took on a specialist role, providing specialized support in emergency and resilience operations.
Mr Ken Shimizu is a Japanese national currently serving as the FAO Country Representative for Nepal. He has over 24 years of experience in food security, agricultural and rural development, natural resources management, climate change, disaster risk reduction, and emergency coordination, primarily with FAO and other UN agencies in Asia, the Pacific, and the Caribbean.
Mr Shimizu holds a Master's in Environmental Planning from Cornell University in the USA. Prior to his appointment in Nepal, he served as the FAO Representative for Papua New Guinea from 2013 to 2021. His extensive field experience includes long-term assignments in Bhutan, Nepal, Papua New Guinea, Vietnam, Indonesia, East Timor, and Jamaica, as well as missions to several Asian countries.
Ms Vanézia Rocha is a Cabo Verdean national currently serving as a fellow at the FAO Representation in Cabo Verde, where she contributes to implementing agroecological methodologies and supports projects related to climate resilience and land degradation neutrality.
Ms Rocha holds a Master's in Biology of Plant Resources from the University of Lisbon and is pursuing a PhD in Sustainable Land Use, specialising in Forestry and Natural Resources, at the University of Lisbon. With a strong academic and scientific background in biodiversity, agrobiodiversity, sustainability and conservation, she has been involved in multidisciplinary research and international cooperation initiatives aimed at strengthening local agri-food systems and promoting nature-based solutions, mainly for the Cabo Verde Islands.
Ms Ange Soubirous Tambineza is a Rwandan and Burundian national currently serving as Information and Communications Officer at the FAO Headquarters in Rome. She leads communication outreach and campaigns across Africa and has over 16 years of experience in political advisory, media, and communications within government, the private sector, and the UN system.
Ms Tambineza holds a Master's degree in Political Campaigns. She previously served as the spokesperson and communications manager for Rwanda’s Ministry of Agriculture and Animal Resources. Ms Tambineza was also a senior journalist with Nation Media Group and a member of Rwanda’s presidential communication advisory committee. Additionally, she contributed to political campaigns for Rwanda’s president in 2010 and 2017 and trained young politicians in political debate from 2013 to 2016.
