IPPC Secretariat
The IPPC Secretariat carries out the technical, operational, and administrative work to support development of international plant health standards and effective implementation of the IPPC, by managing day-to-day operations to advance the work towards global plant health, based on the IPPC Strategic Framework. It coordinates and implements the activities requested by the Commission on Phytosanitary Measures (CPM), such as developing and supporting the implementation of phytosanitary standards.
The secretariat convenes and coordinates annual CPM sessions and meetings of subsidiary bodies, facilitates technical discussions on implementing the work of subsidiary bodies, helps mobilize financial and technical resources and promotes collaboration in the global plant health community.
The IPPC Secretariat is hosted at the headquarters of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) in Rome, Italy. The secretariat includes experts in phytosanitary standards development, agriculture, plant protection, pest risk management, international trade, project management, finance, communication and advocacy, policy and economic development, and administration.
The IPPC Secretariat has four main work units that support contracting parties and the plant health community to prevent and manage the introduction and spread of plant pests.
Structure of the IPPC Secretariat
Standards Setting Unit
The Standards Setting Unit (SSU) coordinates the processes for developing International Standards for Phytosanitary Measures (ISPMs) which guide countries in applying harmonized phytosanitary measures to prevent and manage the entry, establishment and spread of plant pests. In collaboration with expert working groups, technical panels and the Standards Committee (SC), the SSU coordinates the drafting, revision and translation of ISPMs and CPM recommendations. The SSU also facilitates the consultation process on ISPMs, their adoption at the CPM annual sessions, and subsequent publication.
The Implementation and Facilitation Unit (IFU)
The Implementation and Facilitation Unit (IFU) coordinates the implementation of the convention, standards and CPM recommendations. The Unit collaborates with the Implementation and Capacity Development Committee, contracting parties and partners to strengthen national plant protection organizations’ technical ability, national phytosanitary systems and legislation. It also collaborates on FAO’s technical cooperation programmes such as the Global Action Against Fall Armyworm, the Global TR4 Network and One Health and facilitates compliance of contracting parties in fulfilling their national reporting obligations.
The Integration Support Team (IST)
The Integration Support Team (IST) supports the governance, strategic planning, partnerships, communication and advocacy functions of the IPPC Secretariat. IST organizes CPM annual sessions, annual meetings of the CPM Bureau and the Strategic Planning Group as well as annual technical consultation meetings of regional plant protection organizations. Advocacy and communications activities are geared towards raising global awareness on the importance of plant health, particularly through the International Day of Plant Health, commemorated on 12 May and the International Year of Plant Health in 2020. The Unit manages the International Phytosanitary Portal (IPP) as well as online tools used by contracting parties for complying with their national reporting obligations.
| Organizational Structure of the IPPC Secretariat | |
|---|---|
| IPPC Secretary | |
| Vacant . IPPC Secretary E-mail [email protected] | |
 | Marko Benovic Budget and Finance Specialist E-mail [email protected] Marko oversees the budgetary and financial function of the IPPC Secretariat, where he has managed over USD 100 million in corporate funds. He is responsible for the preparation, implementation, and financial reporting on the overall work plan and budget of the IPPC Secretariat and financial reporting to the Commission on Phytosanitary Measures (CPM). He manages regular programme and extra-budgetary allocations and contributions. Prior to joining FAO, Marko worked for an international audit and consultancy company where he performed more than 40 external financial audits (IFRS based) of international commercial companies and public sector organizations in various industries including agriculture, food, construction, energy (oil, gas), services, manufacturing, telecommunication, trade, and transport. Marko has a master’s degree in economics, specializing in financial management and accounting. He also has a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) Level 1 professional designation in finance. Marko is fluent in English and intermediate in Russian, Hungarian and Italian. |
 | Tommaso Teti Project management and resource mobilization specialist E-mail [email protected] Tommaso coordinates the implementation of IPPC projects: from the identification of new project ideas and the development of fully-fledged project proposals (including negotiation of funding agreements with resource partners), to the implementation and monitoring of activities and resources. He also supports reporting to funders and evaluation of results. Tommaso is also in charge of resource mobilization, helping to ensure availability and appropriate funding resources to support implementation of the IPPC’s programmes. Prior to joining FAO, Tommaso supported a wide range of entities, including international organizations, universities, research centres, NGOs, companies, chambers of commerce, and associations, at global, regional and country level, helping them to raise funds to carry out their strategies. Tommaso has a master’s degree in development economics and a Post-graduate Master in European Studies. He speaks English, French and Italian and he is intermediate in Spanish. |
 | Tanja Lahti IPPC Meetings Associate E-mail [email protected] Tanja assists the IPPC Secretary and IPPC Governance in administration. She has a wealth of experience in administration and management, gained from working with the IPPC Secretariat since 2005. Tanja coordinates all IPPC governing body meetings and the work of the IPPC administrative staff. |
| Standard Setting Unit | |
 | Avetik Nersisyan Standard Setting Unit Leader E-mail [email protected] Avetik leads the Standard Setting Unit and oversees functions such as staffing, budgeting and resource mobilization. He coordinates standard setting activities of the IPPC Standards Committee, technical panels and expert working groups. As the Unit Lead, he makes a substantial input to preparations for sessions of the Commission on Phytosanitary Measures (CPM), the Strategic Planning Group, the CPM Bureau, and other ad-hoc meetings. Avetik is also a liaison between the IPPC Secretariat and some key organizations and stakeholders. Before joining the secretariat, he managed the implementation of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)’s Strategic Programme Two (SP2) in the FAO Regional Office for Europe and Central Asia. SP2 focuses on making agriculture, forestry, and fisheries more productive and sustainable. He has previously served as alternative FAO Representative for Moldova, FAO Technical Officer for Plant Production and Protection in the region and Assistant FAO Representative in Armenia. Avetik is an agronomist with a PhD in plant production and about three decades of experience in management of agriculture, plant production and protection programmes at local, regional, and global levels. Avetik has authored and co-authored several scientific publications, book chapters and training materials. He speaks Armenian, Assyrian, English, German, and Russian. |
 | Adriana Gonçalves Moreira Standards Setting Officer, Deputy to Unit Leader E-mail [email protected] Adriana coordinates the work of the IPPC Standards Committee, IPPC technical panels and expert working groups, which contribute to drafting International Standards for Phytosanitary Measures (ISPMs). Previously, she was the IPPC Secretariat lead for the Technical Panel on Diagnostic Protocols. Adriana is the IPPC Secretariat’s liaison with several international organizations, helping to ensure mutual interest agreements for implementation of IPPC strategic objectives, mission and vision. She has authored and co-authored several scientific publications, book chapters and training materials. In 2019, she was recognized as one of the FAO 100 Young Employees. Before joining the IPPC, Adriana was a senior plant pathologist in the multinational seed industry. As a plant quarantine lead, she coordinated a post-entry quarantine station accredited by the Brazilian national plant protection organization. Adriana has a PhD in plant pathology, focusing on plant virology. She speaks English, Portuguese, and Spanish. |
 | Artur Shamilov Standards Setting Officer E-mail [email protected] Artur coordinates the work of the Technical Panel for the Glossary (TPG), Standards Committee working group SC-7, Task Force for Topics (TFT) and several other Standard Setting Unit topics. He provides technical assistance to the Standards Committee, expert working groups as well as CPM Focus Groups. He ensures the Standard Setting Unit’s input into IPPC governance activities and leads development of outreach material on standards and standard setting. Artur is also the link between the IPPC Secretariat and key organizations such as the Biological Weapons Convention, the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity and the International Maritime Organization. Artur has a PhD in biology agronomy, plant protection and sustainable natural resource management and professional training in climate finance. Prior to joining the IPPC Secretariat, Artur had worked as Head of the Disinfestation Department at the national plant protection organization (NPPO) of Russia, as well as an officer in FAO’s regional office for Europe and Central Asia (FAO REU) and FAO’s regional office for Asia and the Pacific (FAO RAP). He speaks Russian, English and limited Arabic. |
 | Aixa DelGreco Standard Setting Unit Specialist E-mail [email protected] Aixa coordinates the Language Review Groups (LRGs) as well as implementation and finalization of ink amendments to the ISPMs. She oversees online publication of adopted international standards in all six FAO languages. |
 | Karen Rouen Standard Setting Assistant (35%) E-mail [email protected] Karen is a report writer and scientific copyeditor for all IPPC standard setting documents, particularly ISPMs and meeting reports. She has a PhD in Biological Sciences and more than 20 years of experience in scientific publishing. Previously, she worked for 10 years as a freshwater biologist and was involved in the development of European standards for freshwater biology methods. |
 | Daniel Torella Standard Setting Support Specialist E-mail [email protected] Daniel supports the organization and facilitation of regional and international IPPC meetings, in particular the Standards Committee Working Group (SC-7), the Technical Panel for the Glossary (TPG) and the IPPC regional workshops. Daniel is the communications, outreach, and translation liaison for the SSU. He also ensures standard setting information on the International Phytosanitary Portal (IPP) is up to date. He is involved in research on topics of interest to the work of the IPPC. |
 | Emmanuel Krah Standard Setting Support Specialist E-mail [email protected] Emmanuel supports organizing meetings of the Standard Committee, Technical Panels and Task Force on Topics (TFT). He manages the IPPC Online Commenting System (OCS) on which phytosanitary stakeholders contribute to consultations on draft International Standards for Phytosanitary Measures (ISPMs). He also manages the online calls for consultation on a range of IPPC topics by tracking, launching, closing and ensuring that information is forwarded to the appropriate IPPC stakeholders. Emmanuel updates and maintains the List of Topics for IPPC standards and the Framework for Standards and Implementation. He is also responsible for facilitating and providing evaluation tools such as surveys and monitoring statistics for IPPC meetings. Prior to joining the secretariat, Emmanuel worked as a Communications Intern at the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), Innovation and Strategy Consultant at CSRN Management Consulting, Junior Project Coordinator at Caritas Internationalis Roma, and as Secretariat and Administrative Officer at University of Rome Tor Vergata. Emmanuel has a Master of Science in business administration and a bachelor’s degree in global governance from the University of Rome, Tor Vergata. He is from Ghana and speaks English and Italian. |
| Colleen Stirling E-mail [email protected] | |
 | Marina Martino Phytosanitary Standard Setting Specialist E-mail [email protected] Marina is a plant scientist with a strong interest in plant pathology. She mainly supports the work of the Technical Panel on Diagnostic Protocols (TPDP) and the Technical Panel on Commodity Standards (TPCS), particularly in developing diagnostic protocols and commodity standards respectively. Before joining the IPPC Secretariat, Marina was a research fellow at the National Research Council of Italy (CNR), where she worked on a national project to mitigate the impact of Xylella fastidiosa on agricultural and natural ecosystems. She was part of a team that investigated Xylella vectors such as Philaenus spumarius and its feeding behavior using the Electrical Penetration Graph (EPG) technique. Before that, she was a trainee in the Plant Health Monitoring team at the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), supporting the work of three pest surveillance projects to guide European Union Member States in planning, designing, and implementing plant pest surveys. Her professional journey started at Farmvent, an innovative vertical farming startup, where she was responsible for designing and conducting trials to evaluate the yield and growing conditions of fresh herbs in small-scale indoor farms. Marina has a bachelor’s degree in land and agroforestry science from the University of Bologna and a master’s degree in plant sciences, with a specialization in Natural Resource Management, from Wageningen University and Research in the Netherlands. Marina is Italian and speaks English and Italian. |
 | giulia Gaviano Office Assistant E-mail [email protected] Giulia is responsible for all administrative and financial actions related to organizing meetings and human resources management for the Standard Setting Unit. She also supports the organization of IPPC meetings, such as the Committee on Phytosanitary Treatments and IPPC Regional Workshops. Before joining the IPPC Secretariat, Giulia worked with the secretariat of the Rotterdam Convention on Prior Informed Consent Procedure for Certain Hazardous Chemicals and Pesticides in International Trade at FAO. There, she handled administrative matters, supported the organization of the Chemical Review Committee, and worked on the publication of the biannual PIC Circular. Prior to this, she worked with the Committee on Agriculture, and with the Interpretation team in FAO’s Governing Bodies Servicing Division (CSG). Giulia has a Master of Arts in publishing from the Oxford Brookes University, and bachelor’s degree in political science and international relations from Roma Tre University. She is Italian and speaks English and Spanish. |
| Levon Rukavishnikov Intern E-mail [email protected] | |
| Implementation Facilitation Unit | |
 | Sarah Brunel Implementation and Facilitation Unit (IFU) Lead E-mail [email protected] Sarah leads the Implementation and Facilitation Unit (IFU), which coordinates implementation, facilitation and capacity development activities such as the production of IPPC guides and training materials, phytosanitary capacity evaluations and capacity strengthening activities to address emerging pests. Sarah’s focus is on the coordination of implementation projects and management of the IFU’s workplan, including staffing, budgeting, resource mobilization and strategies. She is the IPPC Secretariat’s lead on One Health. Sarah is also the secretariat’s liaison with organizations such as the Standards and Trade Development Facility (STDF), Centre for Agriculture and Bioscience International (CABI), Comité de Liaison Entreprenariat – Agriculture – Dévelopement (COLEAD), the European Union and the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA). Sarah is an agricultural engineer from the Institut Supérieur d’Agriculture Rhône-Alpes (ISARA). She has a master’s degree in international affairs and another in anthropology from Sorbonne University and the French Museum of Natural History, respectively. She has more than 20 years of national, regional and international experience in plant protection, pest and disease control policies and legislation, implementation of standards for phytosanitary measures, environmental protection and capacity development. She is a French national and speaks English, French, Italian and Spanish. |
 | Descartes KOUMBA Implementation Facilitation Officer E-mail [email protected] Descartes is a plant production engineer. He leads various activities of the Implementation and Facilitation Unit (IFU), including coordinating the Implementation and Capacity Development Committee (IC) and its decisions, the Implementation Review and Support System (IRSS) as well as IC subgroup on IRSS, Dispute Avoidance and Settlement. He also supports the working groups on eLearning for export and inspection, facilitates collaboration between the Standards and Capacity Development Committees as well as delivery of the IPPC regional workshops. Descartes is the IPPC liaison with the Intern-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA). Prior to joining the IPPC in 2019, Descartes served in the Ministry of Agriculture in Gabon and at the FAO sub-regional office for Central Africa. He has a master's degree in environment management from the University of St. Jerome, France and a bachelor’s degree from the National Institute of Agronomy and Biotechnology in Gabon. Descartes speaks English and French. |
 | Dominique Menon ePhyto Programme Officer (in-kind contribution from France) E-mail [email protected] Dominique supports implementation of the IPPC ePhyto Solution, including maintaining and improving the ePhyto tools. A civil servant of the French Ministry of Agriculture and Food Sovereignty, Dominique has over 30 years of national and international experience in plant health issues such as agricultural training and capacity building, pest control policies and regulation, project management, locust contingency planning and phytosanitary certification for export including e-certification. Dominique has a master’s degree in agricultural techniques (Ingénieur des techniques agricoles) and a post graduate diploma in agronomy (Ingénieur d’agronomie), both from the “Institut Agro Dijon” in France. Dominique speaks English and French. |
 | Camilo Beltran Montoya Agricultural Officer E-mail [email protected] Camilo Beltrán Montoya is a Colombian engineer in Agriculture and holds a master’s degree in plant protection. Camillo is currently responsible for coordinating the Steering Group on Pest Outbreak and Alert Response Systems. In his previous assignments, he coordinated the phytosanitary component of a joint project between IPPC and the FAO food safety unit to deliver Phytosanitary Capacity Evaluations (PCEs) in nine African countries. He has facilitated PCEs in Cambodia, Kenya, and the Seychelles, provided technical support for IPPC Secretariat activities related to Fusarium TR4, and contributed to developing tabletop exercises for this disease. At the IPPC Secretariat, Camilo has also worked as an International Phytosanitary Specialist, overseeing the development of guidelines for prevention, preparedness, and response for Fusarium TR4. Additionally, he has organized webinars on diagnosis and surveillance of Fusarium TR4 and supported the coordination of the FAO/IPPC Technical Working group for Spodoptera frugiperda. Camilo has prior experience as a plant health international officer at the General Secretariat of the Andean Community, which is a regional plant protection organization. He specialized in plant health, pesticide registration, and regional initiatives targeting pests such as citrus Huanglongbing and Fusarium TR4. Camilo has also worked at the NPPO of Colombia, where he supported the establishment and certification of the phytosanitary status and regulated pests list. Camilo is fluent in English and Spanish |
 | Barbara Peterson Implementation Facilitation Officer E-mail [email protected] Barbara worked with the IPPC Secretariat from 2019-2025 managing the development of IPPC Guides and Training Materials and work on the IPPC's work on e-commerce. Barbara has worked as a plant health officer with the national plant protection organization of Canada for more than 20 years and as as an integrated pest management consultant with the Canadian horticulture sector for more than 10 years. She has a master’s degree in pest management from Simon Fraser University. Barbara speaks English, French, and German. |
 | Rokhila Madaminova IPPC Programme Specialist E-mail [email protected] Rokhila leads the implementation of activities and programmes at the Implementation and Facilitation Unit (IFU). She coordinates the implementation and monitoring of phytosanitary activities and projects, including the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) trade facilitation project. She also leads coordination of global activities to manage Fusarium oxysporum f.sp. cubense tropical race 4 (Foc TR4). Rokhila prepares the reports for meetings of the Implementation and Capacity Development Committee (IC) and working groups and is the IFU focal point for communications and publication of implementation and capacity development resources. She also an IFU lead for the IPPC Observatory. Prior to joining the secretariat, she worked for the International Development Law Organization in Rome, Transparency International in Moscow, and for the South Caucasus and Central Asia Bulletin in Edinburgh, Scotland. Rokhila has a Master of Arts in Political Science and International Relations from the Central European University. She speaks English, Russian, and Uzbek. |
 | Preet Parmar International Phytosanitary Specialist E-mail [email protected] Preet leads the activities on the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) trade facilitation project for Fusarium TR4 prevention. Prior to joining the IPPC Secretariat, Preet worked for the New Zealand National Plant Protection Organization (NPPO) for six years. She was involved in developing phytosanitary requirements following International Standards for Phytosanitary Measures (ISPMs) to manage phytosanitary risks associated with importing fresh fruits and vegetables into New Zealand. She was also part of a team comprising representatives from the New Zealand NPPO and the New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade. The team worked on improving and enhancing phytosanitary certification systems in selected Pacific Island countries. More recently, she worked as a Senior Adviser for the response group in the NPPO, responding to pest detections in New Zealand. Preet is a New Zealand national. She holds a bachelor’s degree in Biological Sciences and master’s degree in Biosecurity and Conservation from the University of Auckland, New Zealand. |
 | Fitzroy White Implementation Facilitaion Consultant E-mail [email protected] Fitzroy leads the implementation of activities related to Phytosanitary Capacity Evaluations (PCE) and was the PCE facilitator for Barbados, St. Lucia, Fiji, Mongolia and Nepal. He supports the Implementation and Capacity Development Committee (IC) team on PCE and coordinates reviewing of PCE modules and improvement of the PCE tools. Fitzroy has a wealth of experience in plant health, from 27 years working in the Plant Quarantine Branch of the Ministry of Agriculture in Jamaica. He has also served on various national and international committees on plant health. He has a post graduate diploma in managing agriculture and rural development from the University of the West Indies and from the College of Agriculture in Portland, Jamaica, and an Associates of Science degree in agriculture. Fitzroy is currently completing a master’s degree in Tropical Crop Protection from the University of the West Indies |
 | Maki Iizuka E-mail [email protected] Maki is an Agricultural Officer at the IPPC Secretariat, where she leads the Implementation and Capacity Development Committee (IC) team on Contributed Resources. She also coordinates the revision of the IPPC Procedure Manual for Implementation and Capacity Development and supports the development and publication of resources on implementation and capacity development. Maki is responsible for updating content on the International Phytosanitary Portal (IPP) on the IPPC’s work on implementation and supporting communications activities. Maki has seven years of working experience as a plant protection officer in the phytosanitary field. Prior to joining the IPPC Secretariat, she was involved in phytosanitary inspection at seaports and bilateral consultations on plant protection in the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries in Japan. Maki has master’s and bachelor's degrees in agriculture from the Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology. She speaks fluent English and Japanese. |
| Shaza Omar E-mail [email protected] | |
 | Melanie Derba E-mail [email protected] |
| Simon Wesley Crittle E-mail [email protected] | |
| Integration and Support Team | |
 | Paola Sentinelli Information Management Officer, Deputy to Team Leader E-mail [email protected] Paola leads the IPPC Secretariat team in providing innovative solutions to sustain the information and knowledge resources used by IPPC staff and members of the IPPC plant health community, particularly through the International Phytosanitary Portal. She coordinates the development of new information and knowledge tools to support effective operations and high performance at the secretariat. She has more than 25 years of experience in Information management. Prior to joining the IPPC Secretariat she worked in private companies and FAO IT department supporting several projects as Analyst Programmer. She has a master’s degree in Mathematics from La Sapienza University in Rome. She is an Italian national and speaks English, French and Italian. |
 | Aoife Cassin IPPC Programme Specialist E-mail [email protected] Aoife coordinates and organizes IPPC governance meetings for the CPM- the IPPC’s governing body, CPM Bureau and the IPPC Strategic Planning Group. She is involved in preparing the discussion papers, processing and reviewing documents and implementation of follow-up actions. Before joining the IPPC Secretariat, Aoife was an associate technical support scientist in a technical projects group in the private sector. The group focused on formulation changes and process improvements in diagnostic products. She has a Bachelor of Science degree in Applied Biology and Biopharmaceutical Science from the Galway Institute of Technology, Ireland. Aoife is Irish. |
 | Mutya Frio Communications Specialist E-mail [email protected] Mutya coordinates the communication activities at the IPPC Secretariat, including implementing the global IPPC communications strategy, developing the annual secretariat communications plan, and organizing events such as the International Day of Plant Health. Her work also involves coordinating internal communications within the secretariat, coordinating the IPPC Community of Practice on Communication, coordinating the CPM Focus Group on Climate Change and Phytosanitary Impacts, writing and producing communication and advocacy materials and preparing governance meetings. Prior to joining the secretariat, she worked as a Communications Specialist for more than 12 years with UNDP, WHO, UNICEF, FAO and with other international organizations in Asia and Africa. Mutya has a bachelor’s degree in development communication from the University of the Philippines and is pursuing a master’s degree in the same field from the University of the Philippines Open University. She speaks Englis and Spanish (basic). |
 | Anita Tibasaaga Writer and Communications Specialist E-mail [email protected] Anita is a public relations and communications professional supporting the communications function at the IPPC Secretariat. She writes content for the IPPC website, also known as the International Phytosanitary Portal and other communication products. She supports the planning and implementation of communication interventions and activities of the IPPC Secretariat. Anita has over a decade of professional experience in public relations, public affairs and communication, from working in non-profit organizations, government agencies and the United Nations. Prior to joining the IPPC Secretariat, she worked in the communications unit of FAO Uganda, supporting a range of communication activities, including writing, managing social media, planning and implementing events and campaigns, handling media relations, and publicity. She has also done communication and public relations work in public health, epidemiology training, agricultural research and biotechnology fields. Anita has a master’s degree in international relations from Middlesex University, London and a bachelor’s degree in mass communication from Makerere University, Uganda. She speaks English and intermediate-level French. |
 | Arop Deng APP Coordinator and Governance Support Specialist E-mail [email protected] Arop is an Agricultural Officer and Team Leader of the IPPC’s Integration and Support Team. His team coordinates meetings of the IPPC governing bodies, communication and advocacy, information management and partnerships. Arop has more than three decades’ experience as an academic, researcher, agriculture professional and international civil servant. Before joining the IPPC, he worked as a National Project Coordinator for management of Fall Armyworm in FAO South Sudan, Secretary General in the Government of Jonglei State, South Sudan and as an Agricultural Officer in the Ministry of Agriculture in the Upper Nile Region of Sudan. Arop has also worked as Dean, Postgraduate College at the University of Juba in South Sudan, Lecturer and Associate Professor at Egerton University, Kenya and as a Postgraduate Research Associate at the International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology in Kenya. He has a PhD in applied entomology, focusing on locust semio-chemistry, a Master of Science degree in applied entomology, both from the University of Khartoum in Sudan and a Bachelor of Science degree in plant protection (pesticides chemistry) from the University of Alexandria in Egypt. Arop speaks English and Arabic. |
 | Lisa Ferraro Communications and Advocacy Specialist (part-time) E-mail [email protected] Lisa coordinates communications at the IFU, identifying the Unit’s overall communication priorities and yearly communication planning strategy. She leads the development of IFU communications for implementation products such as guides, training materials and implementation and capacity development priority topics, such as phytosanitary capacity evaluations and emergency preparedness and response. Prior to joining the secretariat, Lisa worked predominantly in the private sector, building and growing brands. Previously, she headed communications for the Technology Division at the World Food Programme in Rome. A British and Italian national, Lisa has a master’s degree in marketing and communication from the Università Commerciale Luigi Bocconi in Italy. She speaks English, French, Italian and Portuguese. |
 | Mariam Almasri Communications Specialist E-mail [email protected] Mariam is a Communications and Multimedia Specialist supporting the planning and implementation of communication interventions and activities of the IPPC Secretariat. Her work involves writing, managing and creating content for IPPC's social media presence, and supporting the production of guides in various languages. Mariam is also actively involved in the preparation of CPM-18 and the International Day of Plant Health developing branding materials and exhibit material. Mariam has a broad expertise in global communication, digital media, visual arts, and multimedia, coupled with a keen understanding of brand and identity within diverse cultural contexts. Prior to joining the IPPC Secretariat, she worked with OCB FAO, IOM in Geneva, various private sector companies in the area of COMS, and as a Cultural Mediator at refugee camps in Germany and Austria. Mariam studied English Literature at Damascus University and holds a double-major bachelor’s degree in Communications & Film and Digital Media from The American University of Rome. She speaks Arabic, English, intermediate in German and is learning Italian. |
 | Russell Caplen Agricultural Officer E-mail [email protected] Russell is seconded to the IPPC Secretariat from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS). In this capacity, he supports the IPPC’s ongoing work on strengthening plant protection infrastructures, communication, outreach, governance, networking, standard setting and implementation. Previously, he represented USDA-APHIS in the Asia-Pacific Region where he worked with counterparts in various countries to resolve sanitary and phytosanitary issues and facilitate bilateral and multilateral agricultural trade. Russell has a bachelor’s degree in international studies and a master’s degree in agriculture economics from Clemson University, South Carolina, USA. |
| Valeria Belli Office Assistant E-mail [email protected] | |
Contact Details
- International Plant Protection Convention Secretariat (IPPC)
Viale delle Terme di Caracalla
00153 Rome, Italy
Tel: +39-06-5705-4812
E-mail:[email protected]