"Nunya, adidoe, asi metunee o." Knowledge is as the trunk of a big tree; one person cannot embrace it. – West-African saying (Ewe)
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About me

My research and work focuses on humanitarian action, disaster response and risk reduction, and fieldwork research safety and security.

Before joining ISS as Assistant Professor of Disasters and Humanitarian Studies, I worked as a researcher, project manager, and consultant with local and international NGOs, the United Nations, Governmental organisations, and in the private sector. I have also led humanitarian aid groups; and researched in-situ the occurrence of several conflicts, crises, and natural hazard-related disasters, mostly in conflict-affected and vulnerable settings. As a researcher and practitioner, my work has taken me to multiple complex and disaster-prone places, such as Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Chile, Jordan, Peru, South Sudan, Uganda, and Yemen.

At the moment I am part of the project ‘Humanitarian governance: accountability, advocacy, alternatives’, which has a special focus on how civil society actors and crisis-affected people shape humanitarian governance by using accountability and advocacy. The project also seeks to develop models of alternative humanitarian ethics and humanitarian studies. Finally, there is a component researching how humanitarian actors conceptualize and deal with climate-related displacement. This project works with partner institutes in Colombia, Ethiopia and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), where case studies take place.

In addition to my academic work, I often take research, monitoring and evaluation, and advisory consultancy work. This work allows me to develop action research on a regular basis, so I can stay close to the experiences and processes taking place in my fields of study.

Publications of articles 

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