Mr. John Samuel

Mr. John Samuel

Asia Regional Director of Oxfam International, Based in India.

Mr. Samuel has around thirty years of experience and expertise in strengthening human rights, democratic governance, and sustainable development in India, the Asia-Pacific region, and globally. His work combined policy research, advocacy, capacity building, institution building, strategic leadership, and social mobilization across the world. He has been working in leadership roles in the United Nations, international development organizations, international advocacy alliances, and policy making forum of the government.

He was the Director and Global Head of the UNDP Global Programme on Governance Assessments, as well as the Global Democratic Governance Adviser at the UNDP. Prior to his role at the UNDP, he was the International Director of ActionAid International, heading the Asia-Pacific region and the global thematic work on just and democratic governance. He served as the Chair of the Global Call to Action Against Poverty and CEO of the FORUM-ASIA, the largest membership-based human rights and development organization in Asia. He was also the CEO of the National Centre of Advocacy Studies in India

Mr. Samuel has initiated and founded more than ten national and international policy advocacy think-tanks and alliances. He was a visiting fellow of the Advocacy Institute Washington DC and IDS, University of Sussex.  He has five books and hundreds of articles on civil society, human rights and governance to his credit.

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