Groupe URD’s multi-disciplinary research team has expertise in Agronomy, Urbanism, International Law, Medicine, Nutrition, Water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH), Social Psychology, the Environment and New Information and Communication Technology (NICT).

The support team includes the translation and communications departments, the resource centre and the administrative, logistical and financial department.

For certain projects, we also work with external consultants, volunteers and interns.

François GRÜNEWALD - Executive Director
François is an agricultural engineer and has a great deal of experience working on emergency food security programmes. He supervises all of Groupe URD’s research and evaluation work. He co-edits Karthala’s Pratiques Humanitaires collection. He is a former member of the Haut Conseil de la Coopération Internationale and of the Commission Nationale Consultative des Droits de l’Homme.
Contact François Grünewald

Véronique de GEOFFROY - Director of operations
Véronique has a Masters degree in International Humanitarian Law and has worked for a number of NGOs in emergency contexts. She is currently Groupe URD’s Director of operations and focuses particularly on the issues of Quality (the Quality COMPAS©), IHL and civil/military cooperation.
Contact Véronique de Geoffroy

André PRINCE - Assistant Director
André is a graduate of the Centre International d’Etudes pour le Développement Local and has more than 12 years of field experience running rehabilitation and development projects in rural and urban areas in Latin America. He is responsible for administrative and financial issues and carries out evaluations related to his area of expertise.
Contact André Prince

 

Mustapha ABSAKINE YERIMA – Researcher (Chad)
Mustapha is an agronomist (specialised in agronomy and rural development). He has a lot of field experience in Chad, where he has worked on a large number of relief and development programmes. He carries out research for Groupe URD’s Observatory of Aid Practices in Chad.
Contact Mustapha Absakine Yerima

Béatrice BOYER - Architect and Urban Planner, Researcher
Béatrice is in charge of research and evaluations in connection with “Housing and urban planning, crises and reconstruction”. She is an architect and joined Groupe URD after working in rehabilitation and urban renovation.
Contact Béatrice Boyer

Pierre BRUNET - Training Coordinator
Before studying Project Management at the Institut Bioforce, Pierre taught French as a foreign language and was the director of an association involved in national solidarity and cross-cultural events. He is Groupe URD’s Training Coordinator and is involved in certain courses as a trainer. He is also involved in publishing and project proposal activities.
Contact Pierre Brunet

Fadoi CHAOUKI - Quality Advisor
Fadoi is an Agri-food Engineer. She worked for several years as a Quality Engineer in a company which produces Ready-to-Use Therapeutic Foods. She acted as a Quality advisor to partners in Africa and the Americas, implementing and following up Quality Management Systems and giving courses in Quality Assurance and Quality Control. At Groupe URD, she provides support and advice to humanitarian organisations on the issue of Quality.
Contact Fadoi Chaouki

Marina DUPREY - Head of catering and maintenance
Having worked as a cook for many years in a guesthouse, Mari prepares the meals for the participants at training courses and other events. She is also in charge of general maintenance at the head office.
Contact Marina Duprey

Juliette HAÏM - Financial Administrator
Juliette is qualified in Administration and has a lot of experience in transport logistics and managing small and medium sized companies. She works with the Assistant Director and is responsible for Groupe URD’s general accounting, coordinating all logistical and administrative transactions for field visits and staff. She also manages the association’s computer system and is involved in developing the Groupe URD website.
Contact Juliette Haim

Domitille KAUFFMANN - Researcher: Food Security, Nutrition and Quality
Domitille is an Agricultural Engineer specialised in Nutrition. She has worked as a project coordinator for ACF in Africa and Central Asia. She carries out studies, research and evaluations to do with Nutrition and Food Security and also works on the issue of Quality. She develops and runs training courses on humanitarian project management and Quality.
Contact Domitille Kauffmann

Anna Lear - Training Coordinator and Translator
Anna graduated with a Masters in Humanitarian Aid Management and then worked as a Research Assistant on various projects, such as the Global Study on Consultation and Participation of Affected Populations in Humanitarian Action (Guinea case study). She is now coordinating the Training Division and is support translator for Groupe URD publications in English.
Contact Anna Lear

Cécile LE GRIX - Archivist
Cécile is in charge of our Resource Centre. She organises and manages publications, helps to conduct literature searches and represents Groupe URD within the Ritimo network. Cécile has a degree in English and became involved in the aid sector after studying at the Institut des Droits de l’Homme.
Contact Cécile Le Grix

Hugues MAURY - Consultant, paediatrician
Hugues is a paediatrician and worked for many years on the implementation of quality processes in hospitals. He is a part-time consultant with Groupe URD, was co-director of the Quality project and is currently involved in providing NGOs with organisational support in adopting Quality approaches.
Contact Hugues Maury

Julie PATINET - Researcher: Water and sanitation
Julie studied Geography and has a Masters degree in Geomatics and Development. She is a qualified Risk Prevention Territorial Engineer and worked in local development before turning to the aid sector. Her work with Groupe URD is focused on water, sanitation and hygiene.
Contact Julie Patinet

Claire PIROTTE - President of Groupe URD
Claire is a doctor and has a great deal of experience working on emergency health programmes in Africa, Latin America and Asia. She has been the president of Groupe URD since the beginning of 2009. Along with François Grünewald, she co-edits the "Pratiques Humanitaires" collection by Editions Karthala.
Contact Claire Pirotte

Blanche RENAUDIN - Researcher: Environment
Blanche is an agricultural engineer specialised in environmental issues. She has experience of running food security programmes in the field and developed her expertise in project management methodology working as an organisational consultant. She is Groupe URD’s Environment researcher.
Contact Blanche Renaudin

Olivier SARRAT - Researcher: Information Systems
Olivier is an Information Systems Engineer and has several years of experience working as a developer. He works on the development of the Dynamic COMPAS and new software tools. He is also involved in organisational support and the monitoring of information systems.
Contact Olivier Sarrat

Bonaventure G. SOKPOH - Researcher: Food security
Bonaventure is an Agro-Economist. He conducts research and evaluations in connection with food security programmes in Africa and Asia. He runs training courses on the evaluation of humanitarian action and liaises with the Chad Office.
Contact Bonaventure Sokpoh

Etienne SUTHERLAND - Translator
Etienne is involved in the production of all Groupe URD documents in English. He is an experienced English teacher and has been an assistant trainer on Groupe URD courses in English.
Contact Etienne Sutherland

Jeanne TAISSON - Communication
Jeanne is responsible for external and internal communications at Groupe URD. She supervises the production of newsletters and is involved in the organisation of events. She also takes part in certain operational research projects and contributes to the Quality project. She is trilingual, has training in journalism and a Masters degree in Humanitarian management.
Contact Jeanne Taisson

Dominique WAYMEL - Financial assistant
Dominique is a trained accountant and has many years experience working in accounting and management in the private sector. She assists the administrative team and works with the Financial Administrator on general accounting and drawing up financial reports .
Contact Dominique Waymel