Humanitarian Networks and Partnerships Weeks

Session title: Enhancing Resilience: Responsible Risk Transfer and the Path to Localisation

Organizer(s): UNHCR

17 Mar 25 15:30-17:00 UTC+1

SessionAbstract

As the humanitarian sector advances toward greater localisation, transferring risks to local actors without adequate support undermines resilience and jeopardizes the security of staff and operations. Responsible risk transfer is essential to building sustainable partnerships and empowering local actors to lead humanitarian responses in complex environments.

Speakers

Eric Le Guen is the current Security Policy Coordinator with the Field Security Service in Geneva. He joined UNHCR in 2011 holding several functions at HQ and the field covering mainly West and Central Africa, and the Great Lakes Region. Prior to joining UNHCR, Eric worked twelve years in humanitarian operations and security risk management in Afghanistan starting in 2001 with ACTED and later ANSO, followed by Liberia, Sudan, and New York with the International Rescue Committee (IRC). He also briefly served as an officer with the French Army, with experience as a trainer for the United Arab Emirates military, and as a CIMIC and UNMIK Liaison Officer in Northern Kosovo in 2000. Eric Le Guen holds a Master of Arts in Applied Foreign Languages with a specialty in Crisis Analysis and Humanitarian Action from the Université Savoie Mont Blanc in Chambéry. In his free time, he is an enthusiastic collector of old books, antique maps, and vintage airline and travel posters and prints.

Giulia Boni is a senior humanitarian professional with extensive experience in coordinating and managing aid programs across Africa and the Middle East. Over the years, she has worked across multiple crisis-affected countries, supporting capacity strengthening, risk mitigation, and the integration of community-driven solutions in emergency response. Since 2021, Giulia Boni has been working as Localisation Advisor at INTERSOS, leading the organization’s global localisation strategy to promote equitable partnerships, participatory approaches, and community-led solutions.

Christina Wille is the founding Director of Insecurity Insight, which strengthens the evidence base on violence affecting the humanitarian sector. Under her leadership, the organization has pioneered AI technology to track violence against aid, healthcare, education, and food security, with its data widely cited in humanitarian reports. Insecurity Insight also analyzes social media sentiment expressed on digital platforms to better understand the shrinking humanitarian space. Christina edits theSafeguarding Health in Conflict Coalition report, highlighting violence affecting health services in conflict zones. She also serves on the boards of the h2h network and Explosive Weapons Monitor contributing her expertise to global discussions on violence and humanitarian action and driving the integration of data-driven insights into humanitarian response strategies. Christina holds an MPhil in International Relations from the University of Cambridge.

Anthony Neal: Director of INSO’s new Policy, Advocacy and Communications Department focused on strengthening INSO’s external engagement and achieve policy and system changes to better protect those delivering humanitarian assistance. I’ve been working in the Humanitarian Sector for over 10 years, starting my career at CAFOD working on localisation and humanitarian financing policy, before taking multiple advocacy roles in Lebanon and Afghanistan. Latterly I was the Country Director of Geneva Call in Myanmar engaging with multiple Non-State Armed Groups from 2019-2021 and the Director of the Sudan INGO Forum between 2022-2024.

Stefano Peveri is the current Senior Partnership Officer in the WFP Security Division. Stefano started his career as Italian Navy Officer, with WFP since 1999 covering Security responsibilities in Country Offices, including as Deputy Chief of Security for Operation Lifeline Sudan-South consortium from 2001 to 2003, Regional Bureau up to Deputy Director of the Field Security Division. In 2008 he has been appointed, by UNDSS USG, co-chairperson of the UN Blast Mitigation Working Group. In 2010 he moved to Supply Chain Division, deployed in many emergency responses in different roles including Deputy Emergency Coordinator. Last field assignment: Head of Supply Chain in Ukraine 2022 to 2024. Stefano has a master’s degree in “Peacekeeping and Security Study”. Stefano is a member of the American Society for Industrial Security since 2005.

Elmehdi Ag Wakina was born in 1969 in Raz-El-Ma, Cercle de Goundam, Tombouctou Region. Elmehdi is a Secondary Education Professor, with a master’s degree in international Cooperation and Humanitarian Assistance and is currently the Director of theAssociation Malienne pour la Survie au Sahel (AMSS) since 2022 and the President of the Malian Humanitarian Assistance NGO platform. Elmehdi Ag Wakina is Officer of the National Order of Mali, member of the Humanitarian Country Team as the representative of national NGOs, and member of the consultative council of the International NGO Security Organization (INSO). He is a humanitarian negotiation (CCHN) facilitator, and a specialist in leadership of technical teams deployed in emergencies. His organization, AMSS, is a member of the board of the Regional Fund for Sahel and a member of the consultative committee of the Regional Humanitarian Fund for West and Central Africa (FHRAOC). He participated in national and international consultations on development and humanitarian assistance, including at the Istanbul World Humanitarian Summit in 2016. He was also the initiator of the first national forum on localization of aid in Mali in 2022.