Gresia Bernardini

Gresia Bernardini Marino is currently a Junior Communications Specialist in the Office of Evaluation (OED) of the Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations (FAO). Six months ago, she completed an internship in the Independent Office of Evaluation (IOE) of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD). She is still a member of the IFAD Youth Network’s steering committee, co-leading some of its several initiatives, and she also volunteered for FAO, where she supported the design of MasterClasses linked to the Innovation Track of the World Food Forum.

Gresia has a Master’s degree in International Relations - Global Studies from LUISS Guido Carli University in Rome. Human rights, sustainable development and food security are her primary fields of interest, with a particular focus on East Africa. In her final thesis she researched the state of climate change and food security in Sudan, where she conducted original mixed-method research on UN nutrition policy and programming, South-South development cooperation and climate-sensitive agricultural policy in pursuit of the Sustainable Development Goals 2 and 13. In addition, as a winner of the Traineeship Programme of the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, she worked in the political office of the Italian Embassy in Khartoum, supporting the human rights and cooperation agenda.

Prior to this, Gresia worked for a Diplomatic Mission to Italy, where she gained over two years of experience in external relations, diplomatic protocol, communication and knowledge management. She also has a professional interest in more technical areas such as emergency preparedness and response, and programme evaluation and management.

Outside her work, she is very active on her social media channels to counter the spread of misinformation and encourage dialogue on topics related to the recognition of civil rights and the achievement of gender equality.