The IDA Secretariat has two offices based in Geneva and New York.
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. In particular, Vladimir is engaged in the implementation of the 2030 Agenda in line with the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. Vladimir is a member of the Policy Board of the UN Partnership to Promote the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, as well as the Inter Agency Support Group to the CRPD. IDA was instrumental in establishing the Global Action on Disability (GLAD) Group - a disability inclusive donors coordination mechanism. Vladimir is based in the IDA New York Office.
Priscille Geiser, Program Director
Priscille joined IDA in November 2017 to support IDA Executive Director with developing, communicating and monitoring IDA’s strategy, including fundraising and coordinating with IDA’s strategic partners. Priscille has over 16 years of experience in development and inclusion of discriminated groups, including 12 years with Handicap International where her last position was to lead the Technical Unit on Support to Civil Society. She has also been actively involved with the International Disability and Development Consortium (IDDC) as Chair of the Board since 2015. Priscille is based in Lyon, France. Email: pgeiser [at] ida-secretariat.org
Nicolas Bach, Operations and Finance Director
Nicolas joined IDA in June 2013. He received his Master of Public Administration from London School of Economics-Sciences Po Paris in 2013, and an Msc in Finance from Reims Business School. He was previously program administrator for Handicap International in Lebanon, the Middle East regional office and for the Pakistan emergency mission. Nicolas is based in the IDA Geneva Office. Email: nbach [at] ida-secretariat.org
Tchaurea Fleury, Director of Capacity Building
Tchaurea has been with IDA since July 2010. Her main mission is to provide coordination for the effective and quality implementation, development and monitoring of the Bridge CRPD-SDGs initiative. Previously she worked supporting IDA’s advocacy and DPOs’ engagement towards the UN Human Rights Council and Treaty Bodies as well as leading negotiations such as on the Sendai Framework and Beijing +20 regional review. Tchaurea formerly worked with grassroots NGOs, UNESCO Brazil, EuropeAid and OHCHR. She is based in the IDA Geneva Office. Email: tfleury [at] ida-secretariat.org
Yetneberesh Nigussie Molla, Manager for the Global Action on Disability (GLAD) Secretariat
Yetneberesh joined IDA in April 2020 onwards to support the Global Action on Disability (GLAD) Network and its co-chairs in the overall implementation of GLAD activities. She is an advocate for the rights of persons with disabilities, formerly leading the advocacy and rights work with Light for the World. Yetneberesh has studied Law and Social work and has co-founded a number of disability NGOS including the Ethiopian Center for Disability and Development (ECDD) and the Ethiopian Lawyers with Disabilities Association (ELDA). Yetneberesh is based in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Email: ynigussie [at] ida-secretariat.org
Talin Avades, Governance Officer
Talin joined the IDA Secretariat in January 2017, and supports the development and smooth engagement of current and upcoming IDA members in the governance and selected high-level events. Talin works to ensure the professional and effective running of IDA governance General Assembly and Board, including communication and coordination of membership engagement in the governance of IDA. Talin is also working within the Secretariat of the Global Disability Summit accountability mechanism. Talin is based in the IDA New York office. Email: tavades [at] ida-secretariat.org
Talin joined the IDA Secretariat in January 2017, and supports the development and smooth engagement of current and upcoming IDA members in the governance and selected high-level events. Talin works to ensure the professional and effective running of IDA governance General Assembly and Board, including communication and coordination of membership engagement in the governance of IDA. Talin is also working within the Secretariat of the Global Disability Summit accountability mechanism. Talin is based in the IDA New York office. Email: tavades [at] ida-secretariat.org
Elham Youssefian, Inclusive Humanitarian Action and Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) Advisor
Elham joined the IDA Secretariat in November 2019 as the Inclusive Humanitarian Action and DRR Advisor. She is responsible for leading and coordinating the implementation of IDA’s strategy to promote and support the effective enforcement of inclusive humanitarian action and disaster risk reduction. She ensures strategic leadership, coordination, provision of technical expertise and advice to optimize the impact of IDA’s work in this area. Elham has a PhD in International Law from the Shahid Beheshti University in Tehran (Iran) as well as a Master in Human Rights Law from the London School of Economics and Political Science. She also has a diverse experience in protection and human rights, with a focus on issues related to human trafficking, refugees, domestic violence and discrimination against persons with disabilities. Elham is based in the IDA New York office. Email: eyoussefian [at] ida-secretariat.org
Jarrod Clyne, Human Rights Advisor for the Human Rights Council
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, Human Rights Advisor for Treaty Bodies
Juan Ignacio Pérez Bello re-joined the IDA Secretariat in September 2020. Juan is a human rights lawyer from Argentina and holds a LLM degree at American University, Washington College of Law. He began his work on 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 has worked for the International Disability Alliance Treaty Bodies section between 2014 and 2018. He has also worked as consultant for the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights on thematic reports to the Human Rights Council and on the context of the project Bridging the Gap I. He is based in the IDA Geneva Office. Email: jiperezbello [at] ida-secretariat.org
Bethany Brown, Human Rights Advisor
Bethany Brown is the International Disability Alliance’s Human Rights Advisor, working to uphold the standards of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities across all human rights mechanisms in New York, and ensuring participatory approaches representing the diversity of the disability movement and its constituencies. She is a lawyer, and has been an advocate at the United Nations in the fields of human rights, humanitarian aid, and development since 2010. Previously, she started Human Rights Watch’s program of work on older people’s human rights in its Disability Rights Division. Before Human Rights Watch, she was HelpAge USA’s Policy and Advocacy Director, where she carried out research, trainings and advocacy at the United Nations for the rights of older people in low- and middle-income countries. Bethany received her bachelor’s degree from Barnard College of Columbia University, and her Juris Doctor from American University Washington College of Law. She lives in New York City. Bethany is based in the IDA New York Office. Email: bbrown [at] ida-secretariat.org.
Dorodi Sharma, Inclusive Development Project Officer
Dorodi joined IDA in July 2018. In her capacity as the Inclusive Development Project Officer, she leads the implementation and monitoring of IDA’s work in inclusive development consortium projects, as well as manages selected IDA inclusive development initiatives. She has over 10 years of experience working with civil society organisations on inclusion of disability issues in national laws and policies. Prior to joining IDA, Dorodi was the Disability Rights Specialist at the UN Resident Coordinator's Office in Delhi where she supported the creation of the first ever disability portfolio for the UN Country Team. She has also worked with G3ict, managing communication across all their verticals. She holds a master in public policy from the University of Maryland College Park. Dorodi is based in New Delhi. E-mail: dsharma [at] ida-secretariat.org
Paula Hearn, Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability and Learning (MEAL) Officer
Paula joined the IDA Secretariat in June 2019 as the MEAL Officer and is responsible for the Secretariat’s monitoring and evaluation activities. As the MEAL Officer Paula contributes to IDA’s accountability, greater learning and impact, while building capacities and ownership of its members. Paula has over 8 years working in the field of disability, human rights and development. She holds a Master’s Degree in Critical Disability Studies and a B.A. in International Development. Paula is based in Burlington, Canada. Email: phearn [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.