The World in Chaos – the Challenge of Addressing Ever-rising Humanitarian Needs by Helen Alderson, ICRC

The World in Chaos – the Challenge of Addressing Ever-rising Humanitarian Needs by Helen Alderson, ICRC

Today, we are living in a period of increasing conflict and fragility in which conflicts last for decades, the basic rules of international humanitarian law are repeatedly violated with impunity and there are over 60 million people displaced owing to violence and war - more than at any time since World War II.

The ICRC's mandate is to help victims of armed conflict and other situations of violence by ensuring that their dignity and rights are protected and that they receive essential services such as food, water and shelter. The importance and relevance of the ICRC's work has never been greater and our speaker will explain how the organization is managing the multiple challenges of working in dangerous and complicated situations, finding the right people to go there and raising the finances it needs to run its ever-increasing operations. She will also give us some insight into the lives of women in war and women in the ICRC.  

Helen Alderson is Director of Financial Resources and Logistics of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).  In this capacity she provides leadership for the financial, fundraising and supply chain functions of the organization. She is a member of the ICRC's Executive Management team.
Helen began her career at UNICEF in the field before joining the ICRC in 1985. At the ICRC, she held a number of positions in Thailand, the Philippines, Kuwait and Israel, as well as at the Headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland. She left the ICRC in 2000 to join the Ethos Investment Foundation for Sustainable Development as a senior analyst and then, in 2002, joined the World Heart Federation where she held the posts of Director of Development, Chief Operating Officer and then CEO. She returned to the ICRC to take up her current position in 2010.
Helen is also a board member of the ICRC Special Fund for the Disabled.
Helen holds a Bachelors degree in Political Sciences with International Relations and a Masters in Business Administration. She lives in Geneva with her husband and has two student sons.