Dóchas Conference 2024 Speakers Announced

Dóchas at 50: Sustainable Development in a Time of Climate Crisis

Panel 1 - A Just Transition for the Global South 

Prof. Attiya Waris 

UN Independent Expert on Foreign Debt, Other International Financial Obligations and Human Rights 

Attiya is the current UN Independent Expert on Foreign Debt and other related international financial obligations of States on Human Rights and is the only Professor of Fiscal Law and Policy in Eastern Africa. She is a Commissioner on the Lancet-O'Neil Commission on racism and Structural Discrimination in Health and Chairs the Supervisory Board of the Capabuild Foundation. She holds a PhD in Law and is a specialist in Fiscal Law, Policy and Development. She has published widely and her book 'Tax and Development’ (2013) is the first publication globally that links the areas of tax and human rights and her more recent publication ‘Financing Africa’ (2019) is the first publication globally to map out African fiscal systems.

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Ms. Karol Balfe 

CEO ActionAid Ireland 

Karol Balfe is CEO of ActionAid Ireland and oversees the organisation’s work on women’s rights, emergency and development work. ActionAid focuses on systems change that are needed to secure women’s rights and end poverty, particularly in responded to economic and climate injustice. Karol has worked for over 20 years in the fields of international human rights, development and peacebuilding and has published policy and learning papers on a range of human rights, peacebuilding and development issues. Karol has a Masters in Globalisation and has worked extensively with a range of civil society partners and communities in Africa, Asia, the Middle East and Latin America.

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Mr. Zachary Lager

Global Carbon Coordinator at Self Help Africa

For the last 15 years Zachary’s professional career and personal passion has focused on the nexus of sustainable natural resource use, community governance and sustainable livelihoods in Southern Africa. This interest and passion lead Zachary to engage with Climate Finance and carbon offset projects in 2016 as part of his Masters studies. Since then, Zachary has developed a deep understanding of carbon markets and how to develop quality offset projects. Most recently, Zachary has been working as Self Help Africa’s Global Carbon Coordinator and is supporting the organization to develop a high integrity portfolio of carbon projects aimed at supporting transformative sustainable development while also addressing the key drives and impacts of global climate change. 

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Moderated by Ms. Sadhbh O'Neill 

Senior Climate Activist at Friends of the Earth 

Sadhbh is a lecturer and advocate in the fields of climate and environmental policy with 30 years experience. She has worked for numerous environmental advocacy organisations, climate coalitions and public representatives, as well as lecturered on climate policy and governance, climate law and environmental politics at DCU and UCD. I am currently writing up my PhD at the school of Politics and International Relations UCD in the ethics of carbon trading.

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Panel 2 - Adapting Humanitarian Action in a Climate Emergency

Dr. Hugo Slim 

Senior Research Fellow at the University of Oxford 

Hugo Slim is a Senior Research Fellow at the Las Casas Institute for Social Justice at Blackfriars Hall at the University of Oxford and at the Institute of Ethics, Law and Armed Conflict at Oxford University. He is also Visiting Professor at the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Academy at Suzhou University. Hugo has had many publications on the topics of humanitarian action, including a recent essay titled ‘Humanitarians and the Climate Emergency: The Ehtical, Practice and Cultural Challenges’.

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Paul Knox Clarke

Prinicpal of the ADAPT Initiative 

Paul Knox Clarke is the principal of the ADAPT initiative, an organisation that works to support a wide range of humanitarian and disaster management organisations to prepare for the realities of climate change. In this role he conducts awareness raising around the potential impacts of climate change and options for humanitarian response; leads research into effective approaches to respond to climate change, and supports organisations in the development of strategies, programmes and tools to prepare for and respond to the crises of climate change.

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Ms. Nishanie Jayamaha 

Co-lead at the Secretariat for the Climate and Environment Charter for Humanitarian Organisations

Nishanie has over 20 years of experience working in the United Nations, International Organisations, Government institutions, NGO, and private sectors in a variety of roles with expertise ranging from disaster management and risk reduction, humanitarian and early recovery response and coordination, protection, access negotiations, gender, civic space, learning and climate change. She started her humanitarian career in Sri Lanka following the Indian Ocean Tsunami and has worked at country, regional and HQ levels on policy and practice. She has worked with UN OCHA, the World Humanitarian Summit and the Grand Bargain secretariats, Professionals in Humanitarian Action and Protection (PHAP), and in her most recent role, Nishanie was the Climate and Learning lead for the International Council of Voluntary Agencies (ICVA). 

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Mr. Maurice Sadlier 

Programme and Policy Director at World Vision Ireland 

Maurice Sadlier is World Vision Ireland’s Programmes and Policy Director and has overall responsibility of WV’s development and humanitarian Programmes. He is a development specialist with a background in programme management including climate justice, health, nutrition and livelihoods programmes. Maurice has worked at senior management level for the last 14 years managing both Non-governmental and government development programmes in Malawi, Zambia and Tanzania.

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Moderated by Ms. Réiseal Ní Chéilleachair

Head of International Advocacy at Concern Worldwide

With a background in community development and child protection, Réiseal has worked on international development for 25 years in a variety of management and advisory roles. She has worked with Concern Worldwide, the Somalia NGO Consortium, and with Trócaire, across a number of countries and regions. Currently Head of International Advocacy at Concern Worldwide, Reiseal manages Concern’s global advocacy work, and oversees Concern’s Global Citizenship programme in Ireland. Réiseal has served as a board member at International Council of Voluntary Agencies (ICVA) from 2021 to 2024, and as a member of the UN Security Council Stakeholder Forum (2022-23) at the Institute for International Economic Affairs (IIEA). 

Tickets for the Conference have sold out via Eventbrite. Please contact programmesupport(at)dochas.ie for inquiries.