The IDA Secretariat has two offices based in Geneva, Switzerland and New York, USA.
Vladimir Cuk, Executive Director
Vladimir is the Executive Director of the International Disability Alliance (IDA). Vladimir is responsible for coordinating the IDA Secretariat and IDA advocacy towards the UN System as well as for co-chairing the Global Action on Disability (GLAD) – the donor coordination mechanism that promotes disability-inclusive development. He has extensive experience managing multi-stakeholder partnerships and networks (serving at the UNPRPD policy board, UNIASG, UNIASC), external relations, coordination of the Global Disability Summit, resource mobilization, and management at the global and national levels. Simultaneously, he holds a position as an Adjunct Professor in Disability Studies at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC). Vladimir received his Ph.D. from UIC and seven awards in recognition of his academic achievements. Vladimir is fluent in English and Serbian. He is based in the IDA New York Office.
Email: vcuk [at] ida-secretariat.org
Tchaurea Fleury, Director of Capacity Building
Tchaurea Fleury specializes in capacity-building, management of organizations and programs, and supporting the design and implementation of strategies and development. Originally from Brazil, she received two Master's degrees and developed international experience with a particular focus on Latin America, Africa, and Asia. She spent the past 20 years working with United Nations Agencies, Disabled People’s Organizations, and Non-governmental Organizations, particularly in positions of high responsibility, starting from an early age. Currently, she is serving as the Capacity Building Director at the International Disability Alliance (IDA), reinforcing the technical capacities of the movement of persons with disabilities from local to global. She is passionate about Paulo Freire’s philosophy of the ‘Critical Pedagogy’ and the ‘Pensée Complexe’ of Edgar Morin. She is also fluent in English, French, Spanish and Portuguese. She is based in the IDA Geneva Office.
Email: tfleury [at] ida-secretariat.org
José Viera, Advocacy Director and Senior Manager of the GDS Secretariat
Jose previously worked as the Chief Executive Officer of the World Blind Union. He has also acted as the Permanent Representative of the Stakeholder Group of Persons with Disabilities. Previously, he was the WBU Human Rights Policy Advisor for two years, supporting more than 100 different national associations of the blind in advocacy work to promote inclusive and productive lives of blind people. Jose has a Master’s degree in Management of Development from Torino University, Italy, and a Bachelor’s Degree in International Relations. For the past 10 years, he has also worked part-time as an Associate Professor of the International Relations Department at the Siglo 21 University, in Cordoba Argentina. Jose is currently based in Toronto, Canada.
Email: jmviera [at] ida-secretariat.org.
Talin Avades, Manager of the Global Action on Disability (GLAD) Network Secretariat
Talin joined the IDA Secretariat in January 2017. She has previously supported the development and smooth engagement of IDA members in the governance and selected high-level events. She has been managing the Global Action on Disability (GLAD) Network Secretariat since June 2021. Talin is based in the IDA New York office.
Email: tavades [at] ida-secretariat.org
Elham Youssefian, Senior Adviser – Humanitarian, Disaster Risk Reduction, and Climate Action
Elham joined IDA in 2019 and she is responsible for leading and coordinating the implementation of IDA’s strategy to promote and support the effective enforcement of disability-inclusive humanitarian action, response to forced displacement, peace and security, Disaster Risk Reduction, and climate action. She has led IDA's COVID-19 emergency response in the aftermath of the global pandemic announcement. Elham is co-chairing the Reference Group on Inclusion of Persons with Disabilities in Humanitarian Action (DRG), as well as the GLAD Working Group on Disability-Inclusive Climate Action. Elham's education is in international and human rights law including Master of Human Rights Law from London School of Economics. Before joining IDA, Elham led diverse projects on disability rights, protection of refugees, violence against women, and other human rights and humanitarian projects. She is currently based in New York.
Email: eyoussefian [at] ida-secretariat.org
Jarrod Clyne, Head of Advocacy
Jarrod joined the IDA Secretariat in September 2020. He has worked for the New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs for 15 years, with postings to Tokyo, Geneva, and short-term assignments to New York. As Deputy Permanent Representative at the Permanent Mission of New Zealand to the United Nations in Geneva, Jarrod co-chaired the Group of Friends on the CRPD and co-facilitated several Human Rights Council resolutions on the rights of persons with disabilities from 2014 - 2019. His academic background is in law, and he has a Master's degree in International Law of Armed Conflict (Geneva Academy, Switzerland) and a Bachelor of Laws (Hons) from Otago University (New Zealand). He is based in the IDA Geneva Office.
Email: jclyne [at] ida-secretariat.org
Juan Perez Bello, Senior Human Rights Advisor
Juan Ignacio Pérez Bello re-joined the IDA Secretariat in September 2020. Juan is a human rights lawyer from Argentina and holds an LLM degree at the American University, Washington College of Law. He began his work in the field of human rights in 2009 in Buenos Aires, as part of the Civil Association for Equality and Justice, where he focused on the right to education, engaging in evidence-based collective litigation and community work with the populations concerned. Juan worked for the International Disability Alliance Treaty Bodies section between 2014 and 2018. He has also worked as a consultant for the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights on thematic reports to the Human Rights Council and in the context of the project Bridging the Gap I. He is based in the IDA Geneva Office.
Email: jiperezbello [at] ida-secretariat.org
Mirriam Nthenge, Human Rights Officer for Treaty Bodies
Mirriam joined IDA in February 2020. She holds an LLM in International and Comparative Disability Law and Policy. She previously worked with the Center for Reproductive Rights leading advocacy at the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights and at the global level with different UN human rights mechanisms. She has also worked with the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights as a human rights officer, responsible for disability mainstreaming, and with the former UN Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. Her human rights skills are complemented by development experience having worked with the Society for International Development where she researched and authored policy briefs and organized dialogues on integrity in national elections and in health financing.
Email: mnthenge [at] ida-secretariat.org
Dorodi Sharma, Senior Advisor – Advocacy & Engagement
Dorodi Sharma is Senior Advisor – Advocacy and engagement at the International Disability Alliance (IDA), where she supports IDA’s advocacy initiatives, particularly on new and emerging issues. In the past she also led IDA’s projects on inclusive education and inclusive employment, actively operationalizing innovative ways for meaningful participation of Organizations of Persons with Disabilities in development programming. Dorodi has 14 years of experience working with national and international OPDs, with and within the UN on disability inclusion. She holds a master's degree in communication and journalism and another master's in public policy. She is fluent in English, Hindi, and Assamese; understands and speaks Bengali, and has basic proficiency in French. She hails from the northeastern part of India and has been living in Delhi for over a decade.
Email: dsharma [at] ida-secretariat.org
Amba Salelkar, Senior Technical Adviser
Amba is a lawyer and moved into the disability policy advocacy space after a 7-year career in criminal trial litigation. Since 2012, she has supported organizations of persons with disabilities in India, including from underrepresented groups and women with disabilities, to participate in policy advocacy. She is a recipient of the Chevening Gurukul Fellowship for Leadership & Excellence. She is a Senior Technical Adviser under the Capacity Building Unit where she supports the implementation of the Bridge CRPD-SDGs Training Initiative as well as other workshops being organized by IDA members. Amba is also leading IDA's Helpdesk, focused on the provision of inclusive technical assistance to OPDs and partners. She is fluent in English, Hindi, Marathi, Konkani and can understand Tamil. She is based in Chennai, India.
Email: asalelkar [at] ida-secretariat.org
Stacy Cokson, Senior Project Officer
Stacy is the Senior Project Officer under the Capacity Building Unit, where she supports the planning and implementation of programs and activities. She also leads the follow-up of the fellowship programs and SDGs reports in support of the CBU Director with institutional relations and strategic partnerships. Previously she worked in the events, tourism, and hospitality field before joining IDA in 2017 as the Logistic Assistant in the Operations and Finance Unit. Her working languages are French, English, Spanish and Portuguese. She also has an understanding of Japanese, Korean, and Italian. Stacy is based in Paris.
Email: scokson [at] ida-secretariat.org
Alradi Abdalla, Senior Training Officer
Alradi is the Senior Training Officer under the Capacity Building Unit. In addition to strengthening the global network of Bridge facilitators, he supports alumni in their efforts to become facilitators post-Bridge cycle. Alradi is also leading IDA's works around Disability-Inclusive Social Protection as well as leading IDA’s capacity-building works around Article 11 of the CRPD. He is a lawyer by background and has several years of experience. He held a number of positions with different organisations including OPDs and INGOs. Alradi holds two masters: one in law from the University of Khartoum and another in human rights from the University of Leeds. Alradi is based in Sudan.
Email: aabdalla [at] ida-secretariat.org
Imed Ouertani, Training Officer
Imed is the Training Officer under CBU. He obtained his master’s degree in International and Comparative Disability Law and Policy from Galway. In 2015, he became the first IDA Bridge CRPD-SDGs fellow. He was the first Bridge fellow within the International Disability Alliance, where he provided training, support, and mentoring in different parts of the world, including Africa, MENA, and Europe. He has planned, implemented, and evaluated numerous projects that promote disability rights, including the creation of the Tunisian charter of the rights of people with disabilities. He has conducted research projects with the Norwegian Organization of Persons with Disabilities, the World Bank, UNICEF, and the Development Pathway. Imed is based in Tunis.
Email: iouertani [at] ida-secretariat.org
Rosario Galarza, Intersectionalities Officer
Rosario is the Intersectionalities Officer under the Capacity Building Unit. She is responsible for strengthening the inclusion of women with disabilities and underrepresented identities in IDA's work. Prior to joining IDA, Rosario worked as a Human Rights Officer at the RIADIS where she supported OPDs in the implementation and monitoring of the CRPD, CEDAW, and the Agenda 2030, prioritizing activities related to the rights of women with disabilities and underrepresented groups. From 2013 to 2016, Rosario was appointed as Chair of Gender and Equality in the Latin American Union of the Blind (ULAC). As a Chair of Gender and Equality, she promoted the realization of different blind women’s meetings in different countries of Latin America to spread the rights recognized in CEDAW and CRPD. Rosario is based in Peru.
Email: rgalarza [at] ida-secretariat.org
Mohammad Rejaul Karim Siddiquee, Training Officer
Rejaul is a trainer, socio-legal researcher, and human rights activist. He is a public interest lawyer at the Supreme Court of Bangladesh and received his degree from the University of Chittagong. His expertise lies in thematic areas including disability-inclusive social protection, inclusive education, and inclusive employment. He has previously worked with OPDs, UN development partners, and human rights organizations providing legal aid. Currently, he is a Training Officer under the Capacity Building Unit. He has co-authored books including a Lawyer’s Manual and DPO Advocacy Handbook on the Rights and Protection of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2013. He is a recipient of the Acumen Fellowship 2020, Bangladesh. Rejaul is a juvenile chronic arthritis survivor who has multiple disabilities. His working languages include English and Bengali.
Email: rsiddiquee [at] ida-secretariat.org
Bishnu Sapkota, Project Officer
Bishnu holds a master’s degree in Environmental Studies from Tribhuvan University. She started her professional career in the disability sector with the National Federation of the Disabled-Nepal (NFDN) and then worked with Humanity and Inclusion (HI). Prior to joining IDA, she worked with the International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES) to provide accessible and inclusive program designs and implement programs from a disability-inclusive perspective. Bishnu currently works as the Project Officer under the Capacity Building Unit where she supports the project cycle including planning, implementation, reporting, and evaluation of all CBU projects. Her working languages are Nepali and English. She is based in Kathmandu.
Email: bsapkota [at] ida-secretariat.org
Janina Arsenjeva, E-learning Content Developer
Janina’s key expertise includes legal and policy analysis and support, writing, training, and capacity building. She is well versed in the UN human rights mechanisms and the regional European policies. She has mastered these skills through years of engagement with the disability community in Eastern Europe and Central Asia (EECA) countries and longstanding cooperation with UN agencies and EU institutions. Janina previously worked for IDA members European Disability Forum and the International Federation for Spina Bifida and Hydrocephalus. Janina has recently joined CBU as an e-learning content developer. She also supports the reinforcement of the IDA presence in the EECA region. Originally from Estonia, Janina is based in Brussels. Her working languages are English, French, and Russian.
Email: jarsenjeva [at] ida-secretariat.org
Nitya Agarwal, Senior Communications Officer
Nitya specializes in leading inclusive and intersectional advocacy in the social impact sector, through communications design and deployment for thematic verticals including inclusive education, gender equity, and heritage conservation. She is a double postgraduate in Conflict Transformation and Peace Building and Journalism from New Delhi. She has over 10 years of experience working with the UN-OHCHR, UNESCO, and the German Development Corporation (GIZ). As the Senior Communications Officer at CBU, Nitya is leading the design of CBU's communication strategy, production of IDA publications, overall coverage, and reporting of the CBU’s activities and events including the management of the official website and social media platforms. Nitya is based in New Delhi. Her working languages include English and Hindi.
Email: nagarwal [at] ida-secretariat.org
Gayatri Sekar, Senior Knowledge Production Officer
Gayatri is a knowledge management specialist with a background in educational product development, with a specific focus on learner-centric methodology. She has previously worked with the Centers for Disease Control, Population Services International, and other private sector actors in learning, research, and documentation. As a Senior Knowledge Production officer in the Capacity Building Unit, her role is to generate, contextualize, and package institutional knowledge in ways that are accessible and understandable to all stakeholders. She also implements knowledge production through IDA's Helpdesk. Gayatri is passionate about building processes that focus on enabling collective action and collaboration. She is fluent in English, Tamil, and Hindi. She is based out of Chennai.
Email: gsekar [at] ida-secretariat.org
IDA Fellowships Program
- February 8, 2021
Since its early years of existence, IDA has been supporting disability activists to engage in advocacy and develop their skills and experience, including through accessing exposure to international human rights monitoring and advocacy work. Over the years, fellowships have developed and have proven to be essential to the overall development of the capacities of the disability rights movement and disability activists.