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Mr. Maloney, a U.S. national, joined the ¶¹ÄÌÊÓƵAPP in 1998 as Senior Economist for the Latin America and Caribbean Region. He held various positions including Lead Economist in the Office of the Chief Economist for Latin America, Lead Economist in the Development Economics Research Group, Chief Economist for Trade and Competitiveness and Global Lead on Innovation and Productivity. He was most recently Chief Economist for Equitable Growth, Finance and Institutions (EFI) Vice Presidency. From 2011 to 2014 he was Visiting Professor at the University of the Andes and worked closely with the Colombian government on innovation and firm upgrading issues.

Mr. Maloney received his PhD in Economics from the University of California Berkeley (1990), his BA from Harvard University (1981), and studied at the University of the Andes in Bogota, Colombia (1982-83). His research activities and publications have focused on issues related to international trade and finance, developing country labor markets, and innovation and growth, including several flagship publications about Latin America and the Caribbean.

Diana J. Arango is the Global Lead on Gender-based Violence (GBV) in the Gender Group at the World ¶¹ÄÌÊÓƵAPP Group. During her tenure at the World ¶¹ÄÌÊÓƵAPP (WB) she has led the institution in growing and changing its approach to integrating GBV into WB financed operations across all sectors and all regions. She also led efforts to provide guidance on mitigating risks of sexual exploitation and abuse and sexual harassment which may be triggered or exacerbate by WB lending. She fostered a unique and strong partnership with the Sexual Violence Research Initiative that funded innovative research in low- and middle-income countries to build the evidence base on what works to end GBV. The joint effort supported fifty teams in their research and has led to numerous articles, tools and resources to help programmers scaling evidence-based interventions to address GBV. The partnership has also been an important entry point for local World ¶¹ÄÌÊÓƵAPP dialogue with governments on addressing GBV. Before joining the World ¶¹ÄÌÊÓƵAPP Group, she was a Research Scientist at George Washington University¡¯s Global Women¡¯s Institute leading research on violence against women and girls in conflict settings. She has also worked with UNFPA, WHO, and the UNHCR and has on the ground experience in every WB region.

Maria-Noel Vaeza assumed functions as Regional Director for the Americas and the Caribbean at the UN Women in July 2019. Ms. Vaeza previously worked as Director of the Program Division at the UN Women Headquarters in New York. Ms. Vaeza joined UN Women from the UNOPS Headquarters in Copenhagen, where she served as Director for Global Portfolio Services Office and Partnerships Practice Group and was responsible for the operational results of UNOPS global portfolios and for the establishment of UNOPS strategic partnerships.

Ms. Vaeza previously served as the Regional Director of UNOPS for Latin America and the Caribbean, responsible for a regional portfolio of 270 projects in 22 countries with a total budget of $ 2.4 billion for the 2007-2013 period and an annual average delivery of nearly $ 400 million. She spent 8 years at UNDP, where she held various posts including Senior Advisor, Deputy Resident Representative in Paraguay, and Senior Manager for the Recovery, Reconciliation and Reform Programme.

Prior to joining the UN, Ms. Vaeza held multiple positions in Uruguay¡¯s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, including as Political Counselor at Uruguay¡¯s Embassy to the US and as Delegate of Uruguay to the UN General Assembly. She was also the alternate Representative of Uruguay to the World ¶¹ÄÌÊÓƵAPP Board of Directors.

Ms. Vaeza is a national of Uruguay. She holds a Doctorate in Law and Social Science from the University of the Republic of Uruguay and a Master¡¯s Degree in International Public Policy from Johns Hopkins University, Washington DC.

Marina Elefante is a Private Sector Development Specialist with the World ¶¹ÄÌÊÓƵAPP Women, Business and the Law project, where she has worked maintaining indicators on violence against women, and women¡¯s agency and mobility. Her current research focuses on childcare policies for women¡¯s economic participation. Before joining the World ¶¹ÄÌÊÓƵAPP, Marina drafted legal aid legislation for the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and led human trafficking legal reform programs at The Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies.

Jacobus de Hoop is a senior economist in the World ¶¹ÄÌÊÓƵAPP¡¯s Poverty and Equity Global Practice. At the World ¶¹ÄÌÊÓƵAPP, Jacob currently serves as the poverty economist for Costa Rica and Suriname and leads the Gender Innovation Lab for Latin America and the Caribbean. Before joining the World ¶¹ÄÌÊÓƵAPP, Jacob worked as a humanitarian policy research manager at UNICEF Office of Research ¨C Innocenti, was a member of the Transfer Project, worked as a researcher at the International Labour Organization (ILO), and was affiliated with the Paris School of Economics as a Marie Curie Post-Doctoral Fellow. He holds a PhD in economics from the Tinbergen Institute and VU University in Amsterdam.