Paddy Siyanga Knudsen is a Zambian national with over 17 years of professional experience as a Development Economist. She holds a Master in Financial Economics from SOAS and BSc Development & Economics from London School of Economics.  Her work covers development cooperation, regional integration and migration governance. Her experience includes supporting governments, Regional Economic Communities (RECs), bilateral development partners, EU  institutions, Civil society and UN agencies in engagement strategies, research, programme formulation, implementation as well as monitoring and evaluation.  On migration governance, she has worked with IOM, UNESCO, UNHCR, EU institutions, civil society, foundations and diaspora organisations in continental Europe, Jordan, China, Malawi, Tanzania, Zambia, Zimbabwe as well as other assignments in West and East Africa. Her areas of interest in migration governance include labour migration, migration and development as well as diaspora engagement. She is a Vice President of the Global Research Forum on Diaspora & Transnationalism (GRFDT), member of GFMD  civil society International steering committee, member of  UN network on migration worksteam on remittances/diaspora as well as  member of the GIZ Diaspora Advisory Board. She also coordinates the African nonstate actors platform on GFMD/GCM.