Humanitarian Networks and Partnerships Weeks

Session title: Climate Risks, Frontline Humanitarians and Community Workers

Organizer(s): HUMANITARIAN AID INTENATIONAL(HAI), Alliance for Empowering Partnership(A4EP),Humanitarian Practice Network(HPN)

4 Mar 26 15:00-16:30 UTC+5:30

SessionAbstract

This session will examine climate risk through the lens of frontline humanitarian and community workers,

positioning the Charter of Rights for Frontline Humanitarian and Community Workers as a practical

and ethical framework for systemic reform. Drawing on recent evidence, field experience, and collective

advocacy efforts, the discussion will explore how humanitarian organisations, donors, networks, and

governments can operationalise the Charter in climate-affected contexts.The session will move beyond

principles to practice, highlighting actionable steps to integrate worker protection into climate preparedness,

anticipatory action, localisation, and accountability systems—ensuring that those who protect others are

themselves protected.

Agenda

📅 4th March 2026(CO-HOSTED BY A4EP · HPN · HAI)			🕒 15:00–16:30 (UTC+5:30) \| UTC 09:30–11:00
TIME (IST)	SPEAKER/MODERATOR	SESSION
15:00–15:05	Rajeev Jha Director DRR & CCA Humanitarian Aid International	Opening Remarks and Framing of the Conversations
15:05–15:15	Sudhanshu Sekhar Singh Secretary General, A4EP Founder & CEO, HAI	Charter of Rights for Frontline Humanitarian and Community Workers as an accountability tool
15:15–15:30	Keynote Speaker	Keynote Reflection: The Climate Crisis, Frontline Humanitarians, and Community Workers' Interplay
15:30–15:40	William Anderson Executive Director, Sphere Geneva	Systematic Gaps and Evidence in Climate Risk and Humanitarian Context
15:40–15:50	Olivier Vandecasteele Founder, Protect Humanitarians	Why Risk is Being Normalised: Resilience — For Whom and at What Cost?
15:50–16:05	Oleg Masyk Humanitarian Programme Officer Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation	When Localisation Becomes Risk Dumping: Are Local Actors Empowered — or Simply Exposed?
16:05–16:15	Open Floor	Discussion and Q&A
16:15–16:30	Rajeev Jha Director DRR & CCA Humanitarian Aid International	Overall Reflections and Closing Remarks

Speakers

Mr. Olivier Vandecasteele, Founder and Director, Protect Humanitarians,

Olivier Vandecasteele is an experienced humanitarian leader and the founder of the NGOProtect Humanitarians. For 20 years, Olivier has responded to humanitarian crises in challenging contexts, including health emergencies in Afghanistan and Mali, and the delivery of essential aid to refugees and migrants in Morocco and Iran. After serving as Country Director for several NGOs, Olivier was kidnapped and arbitrarily detained in Iran for 456 days. Both Amnesty International and the United Nations recognized him as a victim of arbitrary detention, enforced disappearance, and torture. One year after regaining his freedom, Olivier now leads Protect Humanitarians, a global initiative advocating for better protection of humanitarian workers and providing concrete support to humanitarian workers, survivors of attacks, and/or their families.

Mr. Willian Anderson, Executive Director. Sphere,

William Anderson has served as Executive Director of Sphere and the Humanitarian Standards Partnership since 2023. A humanitarian leader with more than 20 years of experience, he has directed global disaster response operations from the head office and led frontline emergency teams in some of the world’s most remote and complex contexts. His career includes over a decade of living and working in Africa, bringing deep insight to global standards and policy leadership.

Mr. Oleg Masyk, Programme Officer at the Swiss Embassy in Ukraine,

Oleg Masyk is a Humanitarian Program Officer at the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation. He joined the humanitarian aid sector first in 2014 and then, following the outbreak of the humanitarian crisis in Ukraine in 2022. Oleg is based in Kyiv, where he oversees the Swiss Humanitarian Protection and Localization portfolios and is engaged in advocacy for the protection of humanitarian workers. Prior to his work with the SDC, Oleg worked in capacity-building and conflict-prevention projects in Ukraine.

Mr. Sudhanshu Shekhar Singh, Founder and CEO, HAI and General Secretary A4EP

Sudhanshu S. Singh, an Indian humanitarian and development professional with over 37 years of global experience, is the founder and CEO of Humanitarian Aid International (HAI), an Indian Civil Society Organization working primarily in India but also seeking South-South and triangular cooperation. Until 2015, he was based in Geneva, where he was engaged in key global processes. He has managed responses to major disasters across the Asia-Pacific region. As CEO of HAI, Sudhanshu continues to engage in key global processes such as the Grand Bargain, Charter for Change, World Humanitarian Action Forum and Pledge for Change. Sudhanshu is a Grand Bargain Sherpa, representing the LOCAL platform established by HAI. He is one of the founders, and currently Secretary General of the Alliance for Empowering Partnerships (A4EP) and an Ex.Com. Member of ADRRN. Moreover, Sudhanshu S. Singh has authored numerous papers published nationally and globally. He is a strong advocate of re-localisation and decolonisation of the aid architecture and is often invited to speak on humanitarian and development issues on global platforms.