Speakers

Devanand has served as the Deputy Resident Representative of the United Nations Development Programme in China since 2017 and has over 15 years of experience with the UN including previously serving as Asia Pacific Team Leader for the Bureau for Crisis Prevention and Recovery (BCPR). Before joining the UN, Devanand was attached to the Center for Policy Alternatives in Sri Lanka as a senior researcher. He also consulted for several think tanks including National Democratic Institute for International Affairs (NDI), International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (IDEA) and USAID.   
Devanand is a Fulbright scholar and holds a Masters degree in Conflict Transformation from Eastern Mennonite University (EMU), Virginia, USA. Devanand has extensive training and teaching experience. He was an Adjunct Professor on Peace and Development at the Centre for Global Affairs, New York University and taught a course on Applied Peace Building at the School of International and Public Affairs, Columbia University, New York.