Pietronella van den Oever is retired from the World Bank and is currently (2011 – 2012) a Visiting Scholar at the Population Reference Bureau in Washington DC, where she is writing a book about her working experience in Africa. In addition, she held positions at the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) in Switzerland and worked for seven years in field assignments in agricultural development for FAO in West Africa. Her main professional focus is on population and economically and socially sustainable development. She holds a Master’s from Cornell University in International Rural and Agricultural Development, and a Ph.D. from the University of Southern California in Sociology, with a major in Demography and a minor in Development Economics.