About the association
Neno is a non-profit, politically independent and denomination-neutral association, registered in Switzerland. Neno was founded in 2016 and is based in Berne, Switzerland. The general assembly is its supreme body, which meets once a year. The management board is responsible for the day-to-day business and represents the association externally.
Board members
Alexander Kopp, co-president of Neno.
Alex has been working for 10 years on various areas of international governance of natural resources. For three years he worked with local NGOs and media in Eastern Congo on the illegal trade in minerals and supported their research and campaigns. He is currently working as an independent consultant on various projects of natural resource governance. Furthermore, he regularly writes for newspapers. He holds a Master’s degree in Sociology and a Postgraduate degree in Development and Cooperation from ETH Zurich.
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Désirée Ruppen, co-president of Neno.
After studying geology, Désirée worked as a project manager and research associate in international projects on the management of natural resources and the sustainability of industrial systems. From 2013-2016 she was involved in a certification project on conflict minerals (tin, tantalum, tungsten and gold) in the DR Congo where she advised the technical services of the Congolese Ministry of Mines, mining cooperatives and civil society concerning the implementation of the certification system. From 2017-2022 she worked on her doctoral thesis at ETH Zurich and investigated pollutant loads in surface water in mining areas in Zimbabwe.
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Janosch Perler, webmaster.
Janosch has studied at the Art School in Bern and is an independent artist and musician. He also works as a graphic designer for different cultural associations. In the past years, he also has been working for various social institutions in the past years.
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Beat Kopp, accountant.
After completing his commercial training in a fiduciary office, Beat worked for decades at a Swiss bank as a personnel trainer. Since the beginning of 2020, he has been competently taking care of the finances of the Neno association replacing fromer accountant Rachel Kalbermatten.
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Mirko Liebetrau, secretary.
Mirko studied Resources Management and gained practical experience along the full mineral resources value chain. His connection to Central and East Africa started with a secondment for the German Federal Institute of Geoscience to Rwanda. From there he supported the International Conference of the Great Lakes Region in implementing the Regional Certification Mechanism and in formalising small scale mining in its member states. After some time in China and a Mine-Tech start-up in Germany, he founded his own consultancy for mineral supply chains and sustainability.
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Local partner organizations
In the field of mineral resources’ governance, Max Impact is one of the most active and renowned NGOs in DR Congo. The organization has considerable research experience and has conducted extensive research on the traceability of minerals.
Asadho South Kivu is the South Kivu office of one of the leading NGOs in the DRC. Specialized in investigative research, they have repeatedly caused a stir by pointing out important grievances in the mineral sector.
Clamue is a Congolese association of cultural workers that promotes access to culture and the arts. The founder and coordinator, Thomas Lusango, is a musician, music teacher and trained ethnomusicologist. He is also the initiator of Ndaro Culture, a cultural center in Bukavu, where especially socially disadvantaged young artists can be trained, practice and perform.
Legal information
The statutes and the foundation minutes can be viewed here (in German) :
The association Neno publishes from 2020 onwards an annual report online, which is based on the minutes of the respective ordinary General Assembly and the financial report. The minutes of the ordinary general meetings of the previous years as well as the corresponding financial reports can be obtained on request.