PLANE CRASH NEAR BUKAVU
OCHA STAFF

Mr. Damien Gugliermina
Damien was 36 years old, a French national and already had a very long career with OCHA in both headquarters and the field.
Damien worked in DRC since November 2006. He served as an L3 Humanitarian Affairs Officer first in the Rapid Response Section in Kinshasa, conducting frequent missions to various locations in DRC, and then in the sub-Office in Goma. Damien is well known to many OCHA staff members through the various posts held since September 2004 as a CAP Publications Coordinator in Geneva, a Special Assistant to the Director in Geneva and as a Humanitarian Affairs Officer in the OCHA office in Eritrea.
Before joining OCHA, Damien has furtherworked with UNICEF in Iraq and held the post of press and public relations assistant in a private company in France.

Mr. Pankaj Sharma
Pankaj was 32 years old, an Indian national.
Pankaj worked in OCHA DRC since September 2007 as a United Nations Volunteer and was responsible for Database development and maintenance in the Goma sub-office. Pankaj was a true expert in software development and applications and his expertise was crucial for the strengthening of DRC Humanitarian Information Services. Before working in DRC, Pankaj held various positions as a software programmer and database administrator in software companies and NGOs in India. He mainly worked for the educational sector and designed educational software, coordinating animations and sounds with script in order to make learning more fun. The DRC mission was a first for Pankaj in many ways: it was his first assignment as a UNV, his first exposure to the humanitarian world and his first exposure to Africa, especially to a French speaking country, whose language he had to struggle with.
Pankaj leaves his wife and two kids behind who remained in India during Pankaj’s stay in DRC.