Who we are

FCS Impact is a Netherlands based consultancy organization and social enterprise. Our higher business purpose is to fulfill the potential in delivering high sustainable social impact in Fragile and Conflict-affected Situations (FCS). We are driven by our core values of social responsibility, integrity and trust. 

FCS Impact has been founded in April 2020 with the aim of becoming a specialized social enterprise serving a variety of international clients such as governments, international organizations and companies in dealing with the complexities they face in FCS. 

FCS Impact's Founder, Marcel Smits, has a strong practice in FCS with a global network of locally experienced practitioners and international experts across diverse fields of expertise and perspectives. 

"Over the years, I have seen the unwanted effects of current practices in many fragile and conflict-affected communities. Therefore, I am motivated to change these practices and help demonstrate genuine positive impact. I also believe people including consumers are entitled to know that the products they buy as well as the governments they elect make responsible choices based on the best available evidences": Marcel Smits, Founder, FCS Impact 

Founder

Marcel Smits, Founder

Marcel has over 20 years of experience working with international organizations for sustainable social and economic development in Fragile and Conflict-affected States in South Asia, Africa, Balkans and the Caucasus. At the moment, Marcel works together with LSE-Ideas and the UN Human Security Unit on the Human Security Business Partnerships to encourage collaboration between the private sector, the public sector, and civil society to address a wide range of security needs on the ground. Marcel is also the Director of the Institute for Economics & Peace (IEP) in The Hague. Prior to this he was the Policy Specialist on Private Sector and Conflict at Oxfam in The Netherlands.

Experts

Paul Turner

Over the last 25 years, Paul has developed policy, advanced learning, and led implementation of projects – from assessment and design to their evaluation while working in more than 45 fragile and conflict-affected countries supporting grassroots efforts, national governments, and multinational institutions.  Before Mr. Turner became the new head of the Fund for Peace, he was he technical Director Peace and Stabilization at Management Systems International where he oversees the implementation of a regional governance and stabilization project focused on research and piloting innovative approaches.

Ignatius Emeka Onyekwere

Ignatius brings on board over 20 years of working experience with Civil Society Organizations (WANEP/WACSOF), regional Economic Communities (ECOWAS), international development agency (USAID) in the areas of conflict early warning and response/conflict prevention and peacebuilding. He is also a researcher on security sector reform with experience on strategic planning for security and development within West Africa and the lake Chad Basin. His most recent consulting role was the Early Warning Advisor for Fund for Peace/ embedded Early Warning Advisor for the USAID- Reacting to Early Warning and Response Data (REWARD) Support to ECOWAS. 

Mark is an economist with 25 years of professional experience in the field of Private Sector Development (PSD), conflict-sensitive and peace-promoting business, conflict analysis, security & human rights, value chain analysis, MSME development, and Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) issues, with a focus on fragile and conflict-affected settings. He has worked in Africa, the Middle East, and Latin America. The main thrust of his career is making the economy more resilient and sustainable in the most complex and challenging situations. In 2017, after having worked for NGOs and research centres for more than two decades, including ICCO and SOMO, Mark founded Bureau Van Dorp, a Netherlands based consultancy firm working with a wide network of local consultants. Its mission is to ensure that private sector actors, investors and other stakeholders operate in a way that supports sustainable development, peace and security, wherever they operate, especially in situations of fragility and conflict.