I am a doctoral candidate in the Political, Societal and Regional Change programme experienced in qualitative research and implementation of development cooperation projects in Finland and Latin America. My doctoral research focuses on how the focus of women’s empowerment shifts when Finland’s development aid has been increasingly transferred from traditional development cooperation to the private sector through cross-sectoral partnerships with Kenya. My professional work has been focused on using research to inform project design and implementation in development cooperation initiatives for gender-based violence, gender equality, peacebuilding, psychosocial support, and migration. Previously I have conducted research on Women, Peace and Security, and feminism in Colombia, and refugees, agency, and gender-based violence in Norway.

I am currently writing my doctoral thesis on the motivations of Finnish foreign relations towards Southern African states in the latter part of the 1980s. The primary aim of this research is to examine why the relations towards African states were promoted and what were the reasons for doing so. My previous scientific publications focus on Finnish foreign relations and policies towards Southern African states during the Cold War period, and modern cultural impacts of sports video games. My scientific interests include Nordic historical approaches on development cooperation, Finnish foreign, security, and domestic policy issues during the Cold War, African countries in international forums during the Cold War, and modern cultural impacts of sports in society.

The title of my research is: ”Using digital micro certificates in the recognition and validation of skills of the informal sector in Africa” The key research questions are: -What is the digital learning capacity of people in the informal sector? -How do we design digital platforms and present learning content so that it fits the learning styles and abilities of the informal sector? -What value do people in Africa give to (informal) micro-certificates compared to traditional formal certificates? -How can new technologies (AI, Machine learning...) support development of automated and varied skills validation? My research aims to give insight to servicing a new segment of people that has traditionally been neglected by development activities. The informal sector people are not the poorest of the poor in Africa and fall outside many development aid programmes. At the same time it consists of most people taking part in the labor force. Formalising the informal sector people to tax-paying citizens is key to the economic development of most African countries.

Academy Fellow and Principal Investigator of Global Development Studies, focusing on development, politics, and state formation in Latin America and Africa.