Maestral is saddened by the passing of our Maestral colleague, team member, and friend, Mihai Magheru.
Mihai was passionate about helping children, and brought a keen analytical mind, impressive experience, nonstop energy, and thoughtful presence to all his work. His smile lit up the room (and, more recently, the Zoom screen!) and he was always there to support those he worked with. A self-described ‘perfectionist,’ Mihai set the highest standards in his work and met them. He left us, those who loved him, and the world’s youth far too soon, yet his mark on the world will last for many years.
Mihai started his work in child protection and human development in 1999 and for several years he built field experience in community-based NGOs delivering tailored services to the most vulnerable girls and boys, with a focus on children separated from their families. In the following years Mihai had the opportunity to work in international development, firstly in EU cooperation contexts, followed by about a decade within the UN system, most of it as Programme Specialist at UNICEF, and then Social Development Specialist at the World Bank. Mihai’s work was centered on child-sensitive social protection, childcare reform and system strengthening, gender mainstreaming, and data management and learning through monitoring and evaluation. He moved to Spain in 2015 where he worked as a consultant for UNICEF, the World Bank, UN-Habitat, IOM, UN-OCHA, Oxfam and Expertise France, covering development projects in Europe and Central Asia, West and North Africa, and Latin America.
Mihai joined the Maestral team in 2022, making meaningful impacts on the lives of children through his work.
Mihai worked with Changing the Way We Care Moldova to prepare a comprehensive situational analysis of the current child care system. He was instrumental in pulling critical data from multiple pieces of research, gleaning the critical information, distilling key findings and recommendations to present a complete picture of the care system and help actors in Moldova and beyond to move forward in improving care for children. Mihai’s work was made available on the Better Care Network and, thus, has reached hundreds of organizations and practitioners in Moldova, Europe and beyond. In Moldova, partners have appreciated how the concise messages and recommendations from the situation analysis have informed the recently released National Child Protection Program, and help them to design next step reforms.
In Romania, Mihai worked to develop an investment case for a package of cash benefits and care services that could help reduce poverty and social exclusion, particularly among vulnerable children and their families in Romania. The result of this work will feed into the Government of Romania’s submission for the next cycle of EU Operational Programmes to ensure funding for a policy that provides the highest value for money over time.
Most recently, Mihai supported the Council of the Baltic Sea States to advance a regional collective understanding of a well-functioning, accessible and resilient child protection systems that are adequately structured and equipped to function to protect children, including in periods of crisis such as the Covid-19 pandemic.
At Maestral we are mourning the passing of a committed and passionate colleague and advocate for children. We will miss Mihai, and will always remember him. Our deepest condolences to all whose lives Mihai touched.