Directors

Mr. Anderson has been seconded from the Republic of South Arica as Director to the IORA Secretariat in Mauritius since 1 October 2012.

During his career in the Foreign Service of South Africa, he served as 3rd Secretary at the South African Legation in Helsinki, Finland (1986 to 1990); as Counsellor (Commissioned) to the South African Embassy in Brasilia, Brazil (1992 to 1996); Counsellor at the South African Embassy in Caracas, Venezuela (1998 to 2002); and as Counsellor (Bilateral) at the South African Embassy in Vienna, Austria (2004 to 2009).

Recent career highlights include, the drafting of the opening addresses for both the President of South Africa and the COP17/CMP7 President at the COP17/CMP7 Conference in Durban in December 2011; Rapporteur for Health during the European Diaspora Conference in Paris, France, the intense lobby action for the re-election for a 3rd term for the South African Auditor General as External Auditor for UNIDO in Vienna, Austria, as well as the negotiations for two full Masters Degree scholarships for South African students at a top Austrian Academic Institution.

Mr. Anderson studied at the University of the Free State in Bloemfontein, South Africa, where he completed a Bachelor's of Arts (BA) majoring in History, Psychology and Political Science; a Higher Education Diploma (Post Graduate); followed by a Honneurs baccalaureus Artium (BA Hons) in Political Science and a Magister Artium (MA) in Political Science.

Mr. Dahlan is seconded from the Republic of Indonesia as a Director to the IORA Secretariat in Mauritius since 4 April 2014. Mr. Firdaus Dahlan is a career diplomat (Minister Councellor).

He has been serving the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Indonesia for almost 30 years. During his time, he has been assigned in several missions of Indonesia abroad (Asia, Middle East, and Europe). He is an Economist graduated from Andalas University in Padang-Indonesia in 1987; and Master in Business Law from University of Padjadjaran in Bandung – Indonesia, graduated in 2007.

He was tasked as Head of Information and Socio-Cultural division at the Indonesian Embassy in Den Haag, Netherlands. During this time, he was also active in promoting socio-cultural relation between the two countries, including in the tourism sector. He initiated several promotional programs to further strengthen bilateral relation of both countries. Since 2011 he assumed responsibility as the Deputy-Director for Economic and Development at the Directorate of Public Diplomacy of MOFA - Indonesia in Jakarta.

Mr. Firdaus has attended several short courses, among others: Institute of Diplomacy and International Studies, Clingendael, Den Haag, Netherlands (2007); Diplomatic course at INTAN Malaysia (1992), and Dispute Settlement jointly conducted by MOFA - Indonesia and the WTO Secretariat.

Ms Simonsen is responsible for a variety of policy work streams and implementation of activities relating to trade and investment facilitation, women’s economic empowerment, institutional strengthening efforts and others. She is seconded from the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade where she has worked in a variety of policy positions covering bilateral relations with African and Indian Ocean countries, peacekeeping and peacebuilding, humanitarian preparedness and responses, and engagement with the United Nations.

She also brings considerable international expertise from working in, and with, multilateral institutions in Brussels, Geneva and Washington. These include roles at the Club of Madrid, Timorese Embassy to Belgium and Permanent Mission to the European Union, and as a part of the World Bank’s core team in that produced the 2011 World Development Report on Conflict and Development. Ms Simonsen also has diverse work experiences in development cooperation and governance, as a consultant for Cardno Acil, Duke University, the International Labour Organization, Public Services International and Instituto Tecnológico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey.

Ms Simonsen completed a Rotary Peace Fellowship and Masters in International Development Policy at Duke University, a Graduate Certificate in Peace and Conflict Studies at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, and a BA/BCom from the University of Melbourne.

Mrs. Rishi is seconded from the Republic of India and is posted as a Director at the IORA Secretariat, Mauritius, which she joined on 20th May 2016.

Mrs. Rishi is a serving officer of the prestigious Indian Civil Services. Her duties cover a range of cross-cutting topics in the IORA priority areas, with her main area of focus being Maritime Safety and Security, Disaster Risk Management and the flagship the Indian Ocean Dialogues. She also chairs the Advisory Committee that oversees the administrative and financial functioning of the office of the Chair of Indian Ocean Studies.

Her previous postings have dealt with inter/intra governmental and public liaising and coordination for policy formulation and capacity building. She has served as the interface between various Ministries/Departments of the Government of India (mainly, the Ministries of Home Affairs, External Affairs, Energy, Health, Tourism, Human Resources, Power, etc.) and her parent service cadre on wide-ranging matters comprising regional cooperation and development, government-public interaction, infrastructure development, human resource development, internal security and VIP security related matters, law and order, e-governance, etc.

Mrs. Rishi holds a B.A. (Honors) degree in Economics from the University of Delhi, followed by a Masters in Business Administration (MBA) from the Indian Institute of Management, Kolkata.