Johannes Hamels brings more than 25 years of experience leading democracy development programming in more than 25 countries in Africa, Asia, the Caribbean, Eastern Europe and Eurasia, including serving as Resident Country Director for USAID-supported parliamentary programs in Niger and Bangladesh. Mr. Hamels’s deep experience includes national and international election observation activities and promoting transparency and citizen participation in local government and boosting women’s participation in political life. He has also assisted with new party and movement development and coalition-building, including in French-speaking countries such as Algeria, Côte d’Ivoire, Morocco and Niger and helped lead constitutional reform efforts in his native Belgium. In Haiti, he served as a senior NDI advisor under the previous USAID program. In addition to his native Dutch, Mr. Hamels speaks fluent French and English and is conversant in German.