Meet INSO

What you were doing before you started working for INSO?

My background is in geography. In 2015, I obtained my Masters in Geoinformation and Earth Observation from ITC, University of Twente in the Netherlands. After this I returned to Kenya and joined The Centre for International Forestry Research (CIFOR), a research institution in Nairobi. My work basically focused on forestry, agriculture, and water issues. I did a lot of research work with communities around Kenya and Uganda.

After that, I joined Danish Refugee Council (DRC) regional office in Nairobi as a GIS Officer. That was my first NGO job. My main role was training field staff on how to collect GIS and GPS data and how to plot and visualise data in a GIS program. I also supported different teams within DRC with mapping and statistical analysis work. I did that for about a year and a half and then I got the opportunity to join INSO in South Sudan as Information Manager. After about four years working with INSO in South Sudan, there was a vacancy for an Information Manager in our Mozambique office. I applied for the role, as I saw this as an excellent opportunity to learn and improve my skills in a new and challenging humanitarian context. Happily, I got the role, and I am now the INSO Information Manager for Mozambique.

Could you tell me about what your current role entails?

As the Information Manager, I’m the custodian of the data. So, I’m accountable for checking whatever is input and stored in our database. I ensure that data entered is correct, and is properly coded into our database, Conflict and Humanitarian Data Centre (CHDC).

This role allows me to use my GIS and research skills and experience. In my work I pull together all the data, interrogate it and find out what is interesting. This is part of what made me want to join INSO.

I think this geographic element really makes INSO’s reports unique because when you support your analysis with graphics like maps showing what is happening where, it adds value to the work that is produced.

My main goal here is just to manage data, create GIS maps and support teams with my basic IT skills.

What’s your favorite thing about your job.

My favorite part of my job is data management, because CHDC allows me to utilise my skills in SQL and R programming to produce statistics as well as charts from the safety incident data entered in CHDC. So that’s for me the most interesting part of this job as the Information Manager.

I also like working at INSO because of the opportunity to develop our own systems in house – CHDC and other systems. I was given a lot of opportunities to explore and deploy our systems at Country Office level and we have had some great successes in a short amount of time.

Could you tell me if you met somebody who was considering applying for a job in so how would you persuade them that it was a good place to work.

I would encourage anyone who wants to join INSO because the team is made up of very good people. Everyone is willing to listen to each other and respect people’s expertise. INSO is a very good employer and the team always make you feel listened to and heard.