Humanitarianz exists to support humanitarian aid workers all over the world
Why I started Humanitarianz
Why I am doing this
My name is Teresa Murray. I’m an ex-humanitarian Director. Humanitarianz is not new, I started it in 2015, but then I returned to MSF.
From my years working on the field and in HQs, I experienced myself and witnessed others experiencing so many challenges in their work. Often, people are not prepared for this type of work. There is a constant lack of experience and skills in the humanitarian sector – especially for work in more dangerous environments and emergencies, which require more field experience and specific skill sets.
When people are put into roles they are not ready for, it is very stressful for them. If there is not enough support to help them, operations and programming will suffer too.
My mission is to build a quality skills-building and resource platform for all humanitarian field workers, no matter their roles, salaries or status to help navigate better the challenges of humanitarian field work.
Our courses and services are not based on how things are in reality in the field. If people are not prepared for the realities of humanitarian field work, how can they cope?
A lot of humanitarians invest large amounts of money in Masters’s Degrees or Negotiation Courses, and this is fine, but these courses are often very academic, and theory base and don’t build the different on-the-job skill sets humanitarian aid workers really need. You can do many negotiation courses, but if you don’t prepare & practice, or know how to do targeted engagement and build relationships well, the course won’t help much.
My ambition is to create courses and content for humanitarians that is useful, pragmatic and grounded in the realities of fieldwork from my experience or the experience of others.
I believe it is more important to develop critical thinking, analytical and engagement skills than to create a lot of standardised ‘tools’.
A tool is only as good as the user!
Humanitarianz will provide quality resources on Contextual Analysis & Understanding for Security & Programme Management– All levels.
Other priority areas are:
- Engagement (Communities, networking, negotiation, Advocacy, communication, etc.)
- Security Management (Applied),
- Management
- Performance (Productivity & Task & Time Management, Feedback etc.)
- Stress Management – Preventing & Managing Burn Out & Cumulative Post Traumatic Stress.
- Decision-Making, Critical Thinking
- And so much more?
If you work in the humanitarian aid sector, then I want to support you. I want to make the challenging work YOU do on the field to help people affected by conflict and crises easier, more effective and less stressful.
Years have passed since my first humanitarian post working in an armed conflict zone, but I knew immediately that I had found the perfect profession!
What’s My Story?
I discovered humanitarian work a bit later in life. I always wished I’d discovered it sooner. Before that, I was a business owner, trainer and private sector manager for more than a decade. I had a post-graduate degree in Business Management.I started in training and senior business management in the private sector, and then looking for a more altruistic path, I moved to Human Rights. Later, I switched to Humanitarian work, first with Action Against Hunger for almost five years, and then I started with MSF – Doctors without Borders in 2007. .
I spent many years in the field as Project Coordinator and Country Director, working only in armed conflict zones with large-scale projects and operations and later worked in HQ as Desk for the Middle East and then as Deputy Director for Field Operations & Programmes
I have always managed very large missions, projects and teams in complex contexts with significant risk.
I have worked in Democratic Republic Congo, Central African Republic, North Uganda, Chad, Kenya, South Sudan and Libya. I have managed programmes in Palestine, Sudan, South Sudan, Yemen, Iraq and Jordan. As Deputy Director of Operations, I was involved in 25 countries all over the world. Always, armed conflict zones or violence.
I worked as Head of an Emergency Team before changing to MSF. I worked as a Manager for International Staff Recruitment and Management in the Human Resources Department for a while before going out to the Central African Republic as Country Director for two very tough years. Then, I was in Congo and North Chad again, and then Libya.
After Libya, which was a very tough operating environment, I was fortunate to be selected for a desk position in HQ managing regions, first in Africa and then the Middle East.
In 2018, I became Deputy Director for all Operations & Programs, including security, and was delegated other areas in MSF HQ. Apart from working closely with the Director of Operations, I was in heavily involved in field learning (digital and face-to-face), human resource change management for Operations.
I oversaw the areas of field innovation and managed Knowledge Management and Projects around the subject of Violence.
I was also Head of the Unit for Reflection, Analysis & Advocacy.
When I first went to the field, I had to learn the complexities of humanitarian work by doing. There was no training.
Fortunately, I had a lot of management experience, was a trained Director, and had been trained in contextual analysis. If not, the first field experiences would have been much harder! I suffered, believe me!
When there is an organisational lack of resources to train, support and help field workers adequately, there is a lack of skills combined with acute stress, which often leads to burnout or worse.
Logically this is not good for managing humanitarian interventions or retention!
Humanitarianz’s mission is:
- To provide additional support and training to anyone who wants it.
- To create a space for the safe interchange of ideas, tips, experiences and challenges in the Humanitarian community.
It can be stressful and lonely even if you are surrounded everyday by other humanitarian workers.
Not only have I been a senior director, but I have also delivered countless online and face-to-face training and have spent years training and mentoring field staff both on the field and off.
I know the risks and challenges you face every day and understand what it is like to be on the field. Humanitarian work can be difficult and dangerous, but you don’t have to go it alone. I can help.
How Can I Support You?
STAY INFORMED
Sign up to receive more information and keep up to date with our latest offerings and other resources.