José Antonio de Gabriel Perez, Deputy Chief Observer (Spain)

José Antonio de Gabriel has been participating in election observation missions of the EU, OSCE and United Nations in around twenty counties since 1996. He holds a degree in law and political science and has worked as a professor of political science in several universities in Spain, the UK and the US. He has collaborated in election observation training programmes for Members of Parliament and observers of the Escuela Diplomática, Madrid. He has also been working as consultant for UNESCO and for UNDP (United Nations Development Programme) on the issues of multilateral treaties and electoral legislation reform-projects. José Antonio is the author of several publications on the Theory of Democracy.

Cristina Alves, Legal Expert (Portugal)

Cristina has been working in the field of elections since 1996 and participated in several EU, OSCE and CPLP EOMs as an observer and as an election/legal expert. Her most recent observer missions were to Guatemala, Bangladesh and Fiji. With a university degree in law she holds a post-graduate degree in International Relations from the Higher Institute for Social and Political Science in Lisbon. In addition she studied European Affairs at the Catholic University of Lisbon. Cristina is a member of the Portuguese Bar association and is currently working as a lawyer in Lisbon.

Barbara Smith, Election Expert (United Kingdom)

Barbara Smith has worked as an election adviser or election analyst/observer around the world since 1992 in countries ranging from Cambodia and East Timor, to the Balkans, for organizations such as the UN, EU, OSCE, DfID, International Republican Institute (IRI) and the National Democratic Institute (NDI). In Africa she has worked in Sierra Leone, Democratic Republic of Congo, Madagascar, and Rwanda. She worked in Angola as Director of Election Programs for NDI from 2004 to the end of 2007 and describes this period as one of the most fulfilling of her life.

Silvia Norte, Political Expert (Portugal)

Silvia Norte has a Masters in Global Political Economy and a first degree in International Relations. A specialist in good governance, she has been working mainly in the field of development cooperation in recent years. Siliva has been working in Angola for the last three years as a consultant in project evaluation and monitoring for Non-Governmental and Humanitarian Organisations and assessment of political developments. She worked for two of these years for the National Democratic Institute (NDI) providing technical assistance in electoral and democracy related issues to Angolan civil society organisations.

Javier Gutierrez, Media Expert (Spain)

As a journalist, Javier Gutiérrez has more than 12 years of experience in different spanish media (newspapers, radio and TV). He started to work for the European Union in 2002, acting for the first time as Media Expert and Press Officer in the EU-EOM to Sierra Leone. Since then he has worked in same possition for EU observation missions in Malawi (2004), Ethiopia (2005), Liberia (2005), Fiji Islands (2006), Nicaragua (2006) and Guatemala (2007). He has participated as well in several UN missions, as Public Information Officer and Spokesman Assistant (MINUGUA 1998-2000), Civic and Voter Education Officer (UNTAET 2001, UNAMSIL 2001, UNMIN 2007) and Electoral Assistant (in UAE for the Iraqi elections, 2005).

Jutta Bangel, Press Officer (Germany)

Jutta Bangel is a communications and public information consultant based in Berlin. She holds a masters degree in Latin American Studies and Communications. She has worked as press officer, trainer and technical adviser on journalism for the German Development Service and for a variety of other organisations engaged in international development cooperation. Prior to that she was a reporter and editor at the German Public Broadcasting Service and at a private radio station and has been working as technical adviser for community radio stations in Brazil. Since 2003 Jutta has been engaged in election observation on a number of missions with both the European Union and the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE). She has observed elections in Latin America, Asia, Africa, and the CIS Region.

Andreas Jordan, Observer Coordinator (Austria)

Andreas holds degrees in social anthropology and in psychology and has worked in the fields of Human Rights and inter-ethnic conflict resolution. He has wide experience of election observation and technical assistance, having taken part in Election Observation Missions with the OSCE, United Nations, various NGOs as well as 17 with the EU. Andreas has worked in more than twenty countries in Africa, Asia, Latin America, the Middle East and the Balkans either organizing or observing elections.

Claúdia Aranda, Deputy Observer Coordinator (Portugal)

Cláudia Aranda is a journalist with extensive experience in different political contexts. Although a Portuguese national she was born in Mozambique where she lived until recently. Her studies have focused on the field of International Relations and Local Development; currently she is preparing the end of course dissertation for a Master’s Degree. Cláudia also has significant experience in electoral matters. She has been a part of the UNTAET (United Nations Transitional Administration in East Timor) and of the IOM (International Organization for Migration) Out-of-Country Voting Program for the Iraqi elections. Within European Union Election Observation Missions she has accumulated relevant experience as an Electoral Observer in numerous countries such as: Mozambique, Nigeria, Ethiopia, Liberia, Palestine, Indonesia, Yemen, Mexico, Ecuador and Kenya.