About Us

A senior member of the CCHN team since 2018, Joëlle Germanier was nominated Director by the CCHN’s founding organisations in December 2021. Previously heading the Operations team, she has been leading the Centre as it transitioned from a pilot project to a long-term initiative.

Before joining the CCHN, Joëlle worked for several years with the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in various field operations in Africa and Latin America focusing her work on protection and operational management. She also worked as Policy and Outreach Advisor at the ICRC’s Headquarters in Geneva. Her earlier professional experiences include diplomatic services within the Embassy of Switzerland in New Delhi (India) as well as field-based legal and advocacy work for non-governmental organisations.

Joëlle holds a master's degree in International Public Law with a specialisation in International Humanitarian Law and a bachelor's degree in International Relations from the universities of Geneva, Vienna and Lucerne.

Rehan Zahid became the CCHN Deputy Director in January 2022. He had previously been involved in the Centre’s work as Chief of Advisory Services, providing humanitarian agencies with advisory support in the management of negotiation processes.

During his 10-year tenure at the World Food Programme, he served in various roles in the field as well as in leadership positions at the organization’s Rome Headquarters; most recently, as the Deputy Chief of Staff. Rehan has negotiation experiences across a range of contexts, including Yemen, Venezuela, Afghanistan, Sudan, South Sudan.

Rehan holds a Master of Public Affairs in Social and Economic Policy awarded by the University of Texas’ LBJ School of Public Affairs (USA) and a Bachelor’s Degree in Economics awarded by the Lahore University of Management Sciences (Pakistan).

Loredana is in charge of managing the CCHN's financial operations. She has experience working with nonprofit organisations and the private sector on finance, operations, and organisational transformation. She strongly believes in the professionalisation of NGO operations as an enabler for their impact; in her capacity, either as staff or as a volunteer, she has strived to contribute to their organisational development.

Originally from Romania, Loredana has a Master’s Degree in Financial Management and is a project manager with certifications in both traditional and agile methodologies. In her free time, Loredana loves volunteering for organisations supporting women's advancement, children's education, environmental protection and professional development.

Fiorella has been working with the CCHN since 2020, initially as an Operations Manager for the Middle East and North Africa region and subsequently as Head of Operations.
Her long-standing humanitarian experience includes field missions as an ICRC Protection Delegate in Gaza and Syria and as the Head of Sub Delegation in South Sudan and DRC. Besides her field experience, Fiorella also worked as Program Responsible for the Horn of Africa at the Human Security Division of the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs and as Risk- and Crisis Management Consultant in the private sector.
Fiorella holds a Master of Business Administration (MBA) from the Ecole Hôtelière de Lausanne, a Master’s Degree in Conflict and Development Studies from the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies in Geneva and a Bachelor’s Degree in Social Anthropology and Arabic Literature from the University of Zurich.

Toufik Naili joined the CCHN in September 2019 as a Negotiation Support Specialist on Curriculum and Network.

He previously worked for the ICRC, in the Middle East, as a protection delegate, and for several years as a Learning Facilitator for the Humanitarian Leadership Program in Africa, Asia and the Middle East. He also worked in ILOT as a Project Coordinator for the decentralised French cooperation.

Toufik holds a Master's Degree in Middle Eastern Studies from the University of Manchester.

James Sadlier has ten years of humanitarian experience working with international Non-Governmental Organizations, the Australian Red Cross and United Nations agencies, most recently as Civil-Military Coordinator for OCHA in North-East Nigeria. He has worked in conflict and natural disaster contexts including Afghanistan, Iraq and Bangladesh.

James is an alumnus of Deakin University's Humanitarian Leadership programme where he also attained a Masters of Humanitarian Assistance.

Stéphanie joined the ICRC through the Canadian Red Cross in 2013. She worked as a protection delegate in Colombia, and supported the Detention Unit in Geneva before taking on a position as a consultant in humanitarian diplomacy for the Regional Delegation for Panama and the Caribbean. Previously she worked for the International Centre for Crime Prevention in Québec, Canada and for CUSO International in Peru.

Her academic background in social studies, law and public administration led her to professionally focus on development work and humanitarian action.

Marcia Vargas is a humanitarian professional with more than twenty years of experience on the ground in Latin America and Africa, both in conflict situations and natural disasters.

She holds a diploma in Political Science and International Relations and studied at the Geneva Academy of International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights. She is a graduate of the Humanitarian Leadership program at Deakin University (Australia) and is pursuing a Master of Advanced Studies in Peace Building from Swisspeace and the University of Basel.

Patrick Somxaysana Vilayleck is the Operations Manager for the Africa region. He has been engaged in humanitarian action since 1999, with the French Red Cross in Turkey and with Médecins Du Monde in Afghanistan. From 2003 to 2018, Patrick led field operations at the International Committee of the Red Cross in various capacities, as head of mission and head of office in Rwanda, the former Yugoslav Republic, Guinea, Burundi, Myanmar, Lao PDR, Pakistan, and in Geneva as head of sector for cooperation and coordination.

From 2018 to 2021, he directed his consultancy firm “SPV Consulting – For the Non-Profit sector”, providing strategic and operational humanitarian advisory services to organisations and individuals in Africa (Nairobi and Dakar), Asia (Bangkok), Europe (Geneva), Middle East (Amman) and Australia (Melbourne).

Patrick holds an Executive Certificate in Public Leadership from the Harvard Kennedy School of Government, a Master of Arts in Contemporary History from the University Paris XII and a Bachelor of Arts in Business Administration from the University of Perpignan (France) and Freiburg-im-Breisgau (Germany).

Brett first started working as a humanitarian in 2004 when deployed to Darfur, Sudan with Médecins Sans Frontières. Over the next 15 years he worked in a wide range of medical emergencies including communicable disease outbreaks, malnutrition, surgical interventions for war wounded, cross-border remote medical programming, and internally displaced people (IDP) and refugee responses including primary and secondary care in places such as Ethiopia, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of Congo, Nigeria, Haiti, Philippines, Chad and most recently in Jordan as Head of Mission for the Syria crisis.

His focus at the CCHN is on Public Health in Conflict, looking at specific challenges and dilemmas related to the current health crisis and its social and humanitarian impact. He is lead on the project for Negotiating Access for COVID-19 Vaccination in Conflict Settings.

Brett holds a Master of Science degree in International Relations from the London School of Economics and Political Science. He currently resides in Dakar, Senegal.

Maude is managing the Pressure Management, Community of Care and Mentoring projects and collaborates in the Systemisation project. She has more than 15 years of experience as Executive Assistant and Information Management Officer in several ICRC Departments. She is also a certified Coach, Hypnotherapist, graduate in Neuro-Linguistic Programming and IPMA Project Manager.

Eugenia joined the CCHN in January 2021. She provides support in the organisation of the Training of Facilitators, fostering community engagement and coordinating the pool of facilitators, and carries out research for the Regional Think Tanks on current challenges in humanitarian negotiation. Previously, she worked in human rights research, policy analysis and events organisation for INGOs and the EEAS. She holds a master’s degree in Human Rights and Democratisation from the European Inter-University Center of Human Rights.

Zineb joined the CCHN in September 2021 as a Digital Hub Officer. She is responsible for supporting CCHN online events and community engagement for the Middle East and North Africa region. Before joining the CCHN, Zineb worked at the Center on Conflict, Development, and Peacebuilding in Geneva as a Research Assistant. Previously, she worked for UN agencies and INGOs on fundraising, partnerships, and event management. She holds a master’s degree in International Affairs from the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies.

Ryan joined the CCHN in January 2022 as a Operations Associate for Latin America and the Caribbean region. He supports the organization of online activities to foster community engagement and capacity building in the field of humanitarian negotiation. Previously, he worked in different NGOs promoting access to education in Uganda, in the Swiss Embassy in Argentina and his most recent experience before joining our team was as a Project Manager in refugee camps in Calais, Northern France.

Frédéric joined the CCHN in January 2021 as an Operations Associate. He is responsible for supporting CCHN online events and community engagement for the Subsaharan African region. Previously, he worked as Project Assistant at the Swiss-African Business Circle, as Prospective Watch Officer at the French national agency for professional training (AFPA), and as Logistician at Triangle Génération Humanitaire.

Frédéric holds a Master’s Degree in International Security and Defence from the Université Grenoble Alpes (France) and a Bachelor's in Logistics and Facility Management from Institut Bioforce (France).

Nemhoilhing (Hoi) Kipgen joined the CCHN in July 2022 as an Operations Associate for Asia. She supports the CCHN’s engagement with humanitarian professionals in Asia.
Before joining the CCHN, Hoi worked as a graduate research assistant for the Knowledge and Innovation Exchange (KIX) Europe, Asia and the Pacific (EAP) hub in Geneva. In the past, she worked as a Youth Development Specialist with the United States Peace Corps in Thailand and also as an AmeriCorps member in Tulsa, Oklahoma. She holds a master’s degree in International Development Studies from the Geneva Graduate Institute (IHEID).

Thaer joined the humanitarian sector in 2010 as a volunteer with the Lebanese Red Cross and since then worked with multiple humanitarian organisations such as IFRC, Oxfam, DRC, and IOM in Lebanon, Iraq, South Sudan, Yemen, and in a regional capacity covering Libya, Tunisia, Western Sahara, and Sudan. He joined the CCHN team in May 2022.

Thaer’s expertise includes humanitarian protection response and coordination, capacity building and development, access and negotiations, and most recently, durable Solutions coordination.

Alina Poliakova joined the CCHN in July 2022 as an Operations Associate for Europe. She is responsible for supporting CCHN events and community engagement in this region.
Previously, Alina worked in a variety of NGOs and organisations, including MSF, OECD - focussing mostly on promoting access to health care, and peacebuilding, as well as working on emission reduction targets and infrastructure development.
She holds a Master's Degree in International Affairs from the Geneva Graduate Institute (IHEID).

Claude Bruderlein is a Strategic Advisor to the President of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and a Senior Researcher on negotiation practices at the CCHN. He served as Director of the Centre of Competence on Humanitarian Negotiation (CCHN) from its inception in 2016 until 2021.

Claude has been engaged in international humanitarian action since 1985. From 1990 - 1995, he worked in humanitarian assistance and protection with the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in Iran, Israel and the Occupied Territories, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Yemen as well as in Geneva as a legal advisor to ICRC operations. In 1996, he joined the United Nations in New York as Special Advisor on Humanitarian Affairs. He worked particularly on humanitarian access in Afghanistan and North Korea as well as the humanitarian impact of sanctions at the Strategic Planning Unit of the Executive Office of the UN Secretary General.

Claude maintains a faculty research and teaching appointment on frontline negotiation at the Harvard University Kennedy School of Government and T.H. Chan School of Public Health.

Sofia Mueller focuses on managing research and policy projects, building partnerships, and developing a strong network around the CCHN. She has been working at the CCHN since 2019. Previously, she was a Project Coordinator for Initiatives of Change Switzerland, focusing on storytelling and migration.

Sofia holds a Master’s Degree in Public Management and Politics from the Universities of Lausanne and Bern and a Bachelor’s Degree in International Relations from the University of Geneva.

Working for over a decade with nonprofits, governments, foundations, and in academia across the globe, Maura learned how organisations succeed and how they fail in creating systemic change. She brings these lessons to CCHN as a researcher exploring complexity in humanitarian negotiation. Coming to CCHN from Harvard University, Maura supports thematic research at CCHN including migration, vaccination in conflict, environmental hazards, and negotiating in complex environments. She brings her background as a mixed methods researcher with an emphasis on qualitative analysis to projects while working with her CCHN colleagues to bridge theory and practice.