Jan Nico van Overbeeke is NDI’s resident director in Niger.  He started working with NDI in March 2012, managing a two-year program to support the Nigerien parliament oversee government action in the field of the extractive industries.

Mr. van Overbeeke, a Dutch national, started his professional career in the Dutch House of Representatives as clerk of committees, he continued working there in a managerial capcaity until 2000, when he moved to Mozambique.  There, Mr. van Overbeeke became the regional representative of the Netherlands Institute for Multi-party Democracy in Southern Africa, based in Maputo.  In this position he worked with political parties to support democratic development in the region, he worked in Tanzania, Malawi, Zambia and Mozambique. 

 Mr. van Overbeeke returned to Europe in 2004, where he was successfully nominated to be the permanent representative of the Dutch parliament to the European Institutions in Brussels.  Based inside the European Parliament, Mr. van Overbeeke followed the developments of the European integration, reporting back to the two Houses of the parliament of the Netherlands.  This position gave him the opportunity to build a strong network of parliamentary colleagues from all 27 member states.     

Mr. van Overbeeke received a MA in International Conflict Management from the University of Kent in 2011, and a MA in contemporary history from the University of Utrecht.