Meet INSO

When did you start working for INSO? What were you doing before? 

I joined INSO over six years ago, in March 2019, when I was a program manager for a national NGO. As a national organisation developing its activities in areas entirely controlled by armed groups, we faced many safety and security challenges. Part of my role was to negotiate access to these areas by monitoring evolving security dynamics. In 2015, our organisation was among the first national NGOs to partner with INSO, and we quickly began to benefit from its services and collaborate with its teams during access negotiation missions, which I was very passionate about. 

What was your first position at INSO? 

I first joined INSO as a Safety Advisor Assistant in March 2019. My role was to document the weekly list of security incidents and manage the network of field monitors. However, I quickly began also leading weekly security briefings and drafting the various INSO reports.  

Since April 2020, I’ve held the position of Deputy Safety Advisor. I have also worked as an Interim Safety Advisor on numerous occasions. Both of these roles have deepened my understanding of the responsibilities involved in delivering INSO services. They have also enhanced my appreciation of INSO’s vital role in humanitarian coordination and the complex challenges it faces in crisis contexts such as eastern DRC. 

Tell us about a time when you felt you had made an impact while working for INSO. 

Since INSO assumed co-leadership of the Humanitarian Access Working Group (HAWG), I’ve consistently felt a sense of impact, especially when partner NGOs share positive feedback following humanitarian access negotiation missions.  

The most memorable moment for me was in February 2025, during the advance of the M23 in South Kivu province, which led to the takeover of the city of Bukavu, where many NGO bases were located. As we helped NGOs manage the situation, I conducted security monitoring in a rapidly changing context by proposing measures to the NGOs’ base managers helping them adapt their contingency and base security plans, which enabled the safe evacuation and relocation of expatriate and national staff outside the city. 

What do you enjoy most about your job? 

I’m passionate about analytical work. What I enjoy most about my job is the feedback we get from our partner NGOs every time they benefit from our services; it gives us a sense of being useful to the humanitarian community. 

What do you think makes INSO’s work so unique? 

Firstly, the fact that INSO works exclusively for the humanitarian community, often in environments that are not only volatile but also pose risks to humanitarian staff and lifesaving humanitarian interventions. Additionally, INSO’s ability to adapt the quality of its services to complex and rapidly evolving situations significantly enhances humanitarian coordination and response efforts. 

What would you say to someone who would like to join INSO? 

The most important thing is to understand that serving others sometimes requires being very disciplined and being very flexible. INSO stands out from other NGOs because of its mandate and mission which require a certain amount of adaptation from newly recruited staff. INSO is an organisation open to all, and I encourage anyone who wants to try a new adventure within INSO not to set limits for themselves.