Meet INSO

What can someone coming into INSO expect?

You can expect an organisation where you can grow as a professional. It’s a multicultural environment, where colleagues are very supportive and there is lots of laughter. Maybe most importantly, you can expect an exciting job – you won’t be bored.

You’re not new to INSO, but you are new to this role as Deputy Director. Why did you decide to apply for this position?

I was nearing the end of a two-year mission with INSO in Burkina Faso as a Safety Advisor when INSO began the process of opening a new program in Haiti, having received an invitation from NGOs there. After such an incredibly rich experience in Burkina Faso with the most wonderful team, I was ready to take up a new challenge within the organisation.

What is your professional background?

After completing a Master‘s degree in International Security, I joined the security unit of Humanity & Inclusion at their headquarters in Lyon, France, as an intern. It was a very interesting experience that led me to want to specialise in safety and security for humanitarians. This was also where I heard of INSO for the first time.

After this experience, I worked for several local NGOs in India and Uganda and was an international security and conflict analyst for a think tank. In January 2020, I joined the INSO team in Burkina Faso.

What has your role as Deputy Director included so far?

I came to Haiti after the initial scoping mission was completed, which means my role now is really to lay the foundations of INSO’s mission in Haiti. My position, which is program-oriented, involves establishing INSO services in this new context. But it also involves a variety of tasks like INSO representation, both supporting and alongside the Country Director. For now, it is all about getting to know the context and the specific issues faced by NGOs in this challenging environment, to ensure the suitability and the quality of services that we will provide here.

What has surprised you most about INSO?

The variety of backgrounds that my colleagues have is what has surprised me most since joining. When you’re not part of INSO but you hear about this organisation that is specialised in security in volatile countries, it is easy to assume that only people with military experience or a background in security are needed. But once you are working at INSO, you realise that people come from all over the place and have really diverse experiences and backgrounds – from journalism, education and aid work to anthropology and sociology. In my opinion, that diversity of experience is one of the strengths of INSO.

Want to join Aude’s team? We are looking for a Country Director to establish our program and services in Haiti. See the vacancy here.