Mary O'Shea

Mary O’Shea is a governance expert with over ten years experience within the UN System and EU institutions. As Programme Analyst in the UNDP Asia Pacific Regional Centre's Governance Team, Mary provided policy advice and technical support to UNDP Country Offices and their government partners across the region. At UNDP APRC, Mary also coordinated a regional programme to support the capacity development of National Human Rights Institutions (NHRIs) in Asia-Pacific, as well as a research project resulting in the UNDP publication "Towards Inclusive Governance: Promoting the Participation of Disadvantaged Groups in Asia-Pacific". From 2003-2005, Mary was employed as a 
Policy Desk Officer in the Human Rights and Democratization Unit of the European Commission where her geographic focus was on Sub-Saharan Africa. She has also worked in the UN Resident Coordinator Offices in South Africa and Thailand. Mary has a strong background in elections, having supported electoral processes and institutions in Afghanistan, Jordan, Bangladesh, Tunisia, Lebanon, Kazakhstan, Togo, Thailand, Sudan, Timor-Leste, Maldives and Ethiopia, with UNDP, EU, OSCE/ODIHR, Carter Center & ANFREL. In 2012, Mary was part of the research team commissioned by UNDP, DPA & DPKO to produce a Lessons Learned Study on Electoral Assistance in Post-Conflict Settings. In 2014, she worked as an Advisor to the Independent Election Commission of Afghanistan during the audit of the disputed Presidential Election, and later conducted the Mid Term Review of UNDP's ELECT II project in Afghanistan. In 2015, Mary led the new five-year strategic planning process for the Election Commission of Maldives. Mary is currently based in London, with UNICEF UK's International Programme Engagement Team. In October 2016, Mary took up the role as Head of Programmes at the Rory Peck Trust.

Thematic Areas of Expertise