I still remember that day when I talked to a family affected by the Nepal earthquake, the father grabbed my hand and shared how grateful I was there with them. This was the turning point of my career. I decided to engage in the humanitarian sector in serving people in need from that moment. Since then, I have joined the Red Cross and extended my service to more people in need around the globe.

I am a well-versed global citizen with extensive experience living abroad in China, Nepal, Thailand, Canada, Turkey, Jordan, Israel, and Palestine. I have completed my master’s degree – in international conflict resolution and mediation, with excellent academic performance (GPA 94/100). My postgraduate research is focused on the relations among the states in the Levant, also with a focus on geopolitics and regional security and the humanitarian and civil society development in the Middle East. Adding the experience of living in the West Bank offers me a first-hand perspective regarding the struggle between Israelis and Palestinians. I have also completed a 3-week intensive international negotiation training and thus I am recognized as a certified international mediator with the skill to negotiate in the international conflict setting. Based on these profiles, I could add a global perspective and the skill of conflict peacebuilding in humanitarian work.

My strong professional background in the humanitarian sector could help me fit this position perfectly. I am an experienced humanitarian worker with demonstrated experience in international development and emergency disaster management. I am currently providing professional consultancy services in donor compliance and humanitarian program audit to Red Cross in the capacity of a project consultant. I have also worked in different sectors in the past, from the capacity of field staff to manage large-scale and complex humanitarian operations namely Nepal earthquake operations and Sichuan Earthquake operation; disability-inclusive projects in recovery & DRR projects, water, sanitation, and hygiene promotion program, and livelihoods projects in, to capacity building at the institutional level. Besides humanitarian program management, I have also supervised staff to manage and monitor the implementation of the disaster program and relief operation. All these experiences solidified and diversified my skills in leadership and project management in humanitarian work.

Besides managing different types of projects, I was also tasked to take a lead role in building gender/disability mainstreaming in recovery and DRR programs. One example is I oversaw recovery and development projects in Nepal after the 2015 earthquake, valued at 6 million USD, aimed at restoring the life of the affected population and building a disaster resilience community. In Nepal, women and persons with disabilities are among those who have usually been neglected in social, political, and economic development. To respond to this context, I managed to accomplish two major achievements. Firstly, I designed a series of project activities with the minimum requirement for female participation and advocated gender equality to the local government and relevant stakeholders. As a result, the gender issue was given attention in the program. Some women from the communities played a leading role in the community-led recovery projects. The good practices were also promoted to the Nepal Government. Secondly, to ensure the empowerment of persons with disabilities in Nepal, I played a vital role to draft the project's strategic goal, which was to mainstream disability inclusion in Nepal. Under this goal, I helped to develop sets of disability-inclusive development projects in Nepal and helped local governments to collect disability profiles. The projects created momentum and positive dynamics at the local authorities’ level. As a result, the local government included the rights of persons with disabilities in their policy planning.

My professional and academic background fit the job requirement. I believe my contextual experience in MENA and Asia, and my professional background in international development and disaster management can make me a strong candidate for this position. I hope to serve more people in need around the globe and bring more positive impacts on humanitarian work. I look forward to contributing and engaging in humanitarian work globally.