Researcher and Consultant on development issues and policies, peacebuilding and fragile states. She has worked as a consultant for the Portuguese Development Cooperation Agency on several projects and studies, conducted development evaluations in Portugal, Angola, Cape Verde, Guinea-Bissau and Mozambique, and carried out policy-oriented research, studies and assessments for Portuguese NGDOs and European think tanks and organizations. Fore more than a decade, she served as a researcher in the Africa department of the Institute for Strategic and International Studies in Lisbon. She has published several books and papers on development cooperation, development response to fragile situations, and EU-Africa issues. She holds a PhD on African Studies from the ISCTE-IUL in Lisbon, as well as a BA in International Relations and an MA in African Studies.