At the Conference

Born in Amersfoort, the Netherlands, Maud Dahme and her sister spent the entire German occupation of her native country in hiding. Together with her parents and sister, she emigrated to the United States in 1950, at first settling in New York City. A passionate advocate of Holocaust education, she has been a member of the New Jersey State Commission on Holocaust Education since 1982. As with most child survivors of the Holocaust, until relatively recently she found it difficult to speak about her years as a hidden child. However, since the mid-1980s, she has overcome her inhibitions and has been a frequent speaker to students about her experiences. Her book, Chocolate, The Taste of Freedom; The Holocaust Memoir of a Hidden Dutch Child, chronicles Dahme’s wartime experiences as well as postwar events in her life.

Ms. Dahme was inducted as an Unsung Hero into the New Jersey Hall of Fame in 2014. She is a nationally respected leader in the field of education. In addition to having been a long-time member of the New Jersey Commission on Holocaust Education, she was a past President of the New Jersey State Board of Education where she served from 1983-2007. She was also a member (chair in 1998) of the Interstate Migrant Education Council until 2007. In 1995, she served as President of the National Association of State Boards of Education. In addition to holding a number of other local and state posts, she was a member of the North Hunterdon Board of Education from 1976 to 1983.

She is a resident of Flemington in Hunterdon County, New Jersey. She has four children, nine grandchildren, and two great grandchildren.

Mahmoud Almasri is an associate Human Resources Officer who contributes to promoting diversity and inclusion in the United Nations to reflect the multiple perspectives and characteristics of the people it serves. Mahmoud’s work aims to achieve greater geographical representation and improve gender parity throughout engaging in talent outreach activities. He has a Lebanese mother, Syrian father, and Egyptian grandparents. Until now, Mahmoud has had three turning points in his life. The first was in 2012 when he was forced to leave Syria and became a refugee in Lebanon. The second was in 2014 when he received the “Tomorrow’s Leaders” full scholarship at the American University of Beirut granted by U.S. Department of State. With that, he now has a bachelor's in Economics with double minors in Public Administration and Civil Society, Citizenship, and the Nonprofit Sector. Upon graduation, his scholarship program awarded him the “Excellence in Civic Engagement” award in recognition for his initiatives in education in rural areas in Lebanon. The third turning point in Mahmoud’s life was in 2022 when he joined the United Nations in New York through the Young Professional Programme, 2.5 years after he submitted the application. Mahmoud’s current vision is to contribute making the world less unequal mainly throughout education.

Weixun Hu joined the United Nations as a successful YPP candidate in Statistics exam in 2021. He conducted research work for the Social Outlook for Asia and the Pacific while serving his first assignment at UN ESCAP in Bangkok, and had recently transferred to UNDESA to take on the analytical work on the World Social Report. Weixun graduated as a Schwarzman Scholar at Tsinghua University in 2020.

Mr. Edem Kossi Kludza is an Associate Statistician at the United Nations Statistics Division. He currently supports and contributes to the ongoing update of the System of National Accounts, 2008 (2008 SNA).

Before that, he has worked on statistical development issues in Africa with a focus on Sustainable Development Goals monitoring and innovative data sources for official statistics. He is a founding coordinator of the Takwimu Young African Statisticians Programme.

Prior to joining the UN System, Edem has worked in the industry of Market and Social Research in Senegal. Edem holds a Master’s degree in Statistics and Econometrics from Dakar School of Economics, Senegal.

Fabio joined the United Nations in 2018 as a Young Professional. After serving for three years in the UN Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean, in Chile, he joined the UN Department for Political and Peacebuilding Affairs in New York. He currently works in political analysis and conflict prevention in Latin America and the Caribbean. He holds a master’s degree in Climate Change and International Development from the University of East Anglia (United Kingdom) and a bachelor’s degree in Economics from the Federal University of Minas Gerais (Brazil).