Dutch MFA: Contributing to Peace and Stability in times of Conflict and Fragility: Youth, Business and Social Responsibility
Join Jurriaan Middelhoff, Ambassador-at-Large for Youth, Education, and Work for the Kingdom of the Netherlands, and Amin Bolis, Founder and Executive Director of Humanity Hands, as they discuss the Dutch MFA's role in promoting peace and stability amidst conflict and fragility.
Speakers
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Amin BolisFounder and Executive Director, Humanity HandsAmin Bolis
Founder and Executive Director, Humanity Hands
Amin Bolis, 28 years old, is originally from Sudan but is currently a refugee in Kakuma Refugee Camp, Kenya. He fled Sudan in 2004 due to civil war. He is the Founder and Executive Director of Humanity Hands (formerly INVER), a refugee-led organization with six years of experience supporting refugees and host communities in Kakuma Refugee Camp across diverse areas including Education, Digital Livelihood, SHRR, and Art. Amin has nine years of experience in supporting and offering advisory services to humanitarian organizations in matters related to refugees and displaced persons. He currently offers advisory services at COHERE charity as a member of the Refugee Advisory Panel, which provides advice on matters related to refugees and asylum seekers as a strategy to embrace meaningful engagement and participation of people from marginalized backgrounds. Amin is the co-chair of the Voices Rising Consortium, which emerged in September 2023. The consortium began at the "Voices Rising: A Refugee-Led Solutions Conference," co-organized by Solidarity Initiative for Refugees, Action Pour le Progress, Resilience Action International, and Humanity Hands (formerly INVER), held in Kakuma. This groundbreaking event aimed to address refugee challenges through meaningful dialogue, fostering collaboration, and empowering communities. Discussions focused on innovative solutions, capacity building, resource mobilization, and changing narratives around refugees and Refugee-Led Organizations (RLOs). Amin's completed his primary and secondary education in the camp, where he developed a strong foundation in leadership. He pursued a Bachelor's degree in Development Studies at Mount Kenya University (MKU) and also holds a diploma in Community Development and Social Work from the same institution. This education enabled him to establish Humanity Hands, a community-based organization that responds to the needs of refugees and host communities in Kakuma Refugee Camp, Kenya.
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Jurriaan MiddelhoffAmbassador-at-Large Youth, Education and Work for the Kingdom of the NetherlandsJurriaan Middelhoff
Ambassador-at-Large Youth, Education and Work for the Kingdom of the Netherlands
Jurriaan Middelhoff (1984) is Ambassador-at-Large for Youth, Education, and Work for the Kingdom of the Netherlands. Jurriaan started his career in 2008 in The Hague at the Clingendael Institute of International Relations and the Netherlands Ministry of Finance, working on the national and EU budget. He joined the Dutch Foreign Service in 2011, where he worked on financial and economic policy in the EU. He then switched to the Sustainable Economic Development Department, where he worked on Private Sector Development, Public-Private Partnerships, and the negotiations for the SDGs. On behalf of the Ministry, Jurriaan was account manager for several international partnerships of the government of the Netherlands with enterprises such as Heineken, Unilever, and Philips. In 2015, Jurriaan was posted to Malaysia as Head of the Economic and Trade department at the Netherlands Embassy, and as Director of the Malaysian-Dutch Business Council. Here, amongst other things, he was active in promoting a more sustainable Palm Oil sector. In 2017, he became Deputy-Ambassador and Counsellor for Economic Affairs at the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands to Panamá. In this position, he was founder and board member of the Holland House Panamá. From 2020 to 2022, Jurriaan was the Regional Envoy for Stability in the Western Balkans, on behalf of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. Based out of Skopje and covering the six Western Balkan countries, Jurriaan headed a network of experts that focused on external influences, conflict prevention and ethnic tensions, organized crime, migration, and cyber security. In 2022, Jurriaan was nominated Ambassador-at-Large for Youth, Education, and Work at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs by the Minister for Foreign Trade and Development. In this position, his main focus is Africa and the Middle East.