Dr. James Mackie ECDPM

Dr. James Mackie is ECDPM's Programme Coordinator for the Development Policy & International Relations programme. Originally from Edinburgh in Scotland he holds British nationality but has spent much of his life abroad. Before joining ECDPM in May 2002 he developed his knowledge of the European Union institutions and the EU development cooperation programme while working for 10 years as the Secretary General of the European development NGO umbrella organisation, the EU-NGDO Liaison Committee, in Brussels. Prior to that he worked for the British volunteer sending agency VSO, as their representative in various countries in Asia (Philippine, Sri Lanka, Maldives) and in their head office in London. He holds a PhD in Geography from the School of Oriental & African Studies (SOAS) of the University of London, for a thesis on regional development in India, and has a first degree in town & country planning. Mr. Mackie has also led a number of evaluation studies for the European Commission, notably one on the EC Development Policy Statement from November 2000 and more recently one on the EU’s Africa Peace Facility. He has taught short courses at both SOAS and at the Development Planning Unit of University College London. Furthermore, since 2006 he is a Visiting Professor at the College of Europe in Bruges where he teaches a course on Programme Management & Fundraising that focuses on the role of NGOs in development as part of the College’s new Master’s course on EU International Relations & Diplomacy.