Begona Fontan Pena
Finance & Administration Officer
Baku, Azerbaijan
As Finance and Administration Advisor, Begona is responsible for all financial and administrative matters in the execution of the landmine impact survey in Angola. She oversees the accounting and budgetary systems, manages the schedule of budget and actual expenditures for each grant as well as oversees personnel matters. In addition, she monitors the monthly financial reports, maintains inventory lists and tracks equipment of SAC implementing partners.
Begona has eight years of experience in the fields of humanitarian relief and development. Prior to this she was a Systems Analyst developing computer applications in Spain from 1992 through 1994. She began her development career in 1995 as a Finance Officer with Doctors without Borders (Spain) missions in Honduras and Georgia. There she maintained the accounting follow-up in agreement with the directives of the Operational Finances Service and produced monthly financial and countable reports with the General Coordinator. From 1998 through 2001, Begona held two positions with Action against Hunger (Spain) missions in Colombia, Somaliland, Mali and Azerbaijan. As Finance Officer and Administrator/Logistics Manager her duties included responsibility for training of national staff, and all financial, logistical and administrative matters. As the Head of Mission in Morocco for Doctors Without Borders (Spain) from 2001 – 2002, Begona was responsible for the definition, planning, management and follow-up of all programs, as well as the analyses of the political and humanitarian situations at the national level to improve the direction of the projects.
Begona received her BS in Computer Science from the University of Deusto in Bilbao in 1990 and her MA in Robotics and Automatization from the School of Industrial and Telecommunication Engineers of Bilbao and Robotiker in 1991. In 1995, she graduated with a degree in International Humanitarian Aid (NOHA) from the Refugees Studies Program at Oxford University and the University of Deusto. Begona is a Spanish national fluent in Spanish, English and French with a working knowledge of Portuguese.
