Written by Naomi Richardson

Back in February, GECCo had the pleasure of being invited to the Humanitarian and Conflict Response Institute (HCRI) Careers Fair at the University of Manchester. This event brought together local and international humanitarian and human rights organisations to speak with students about life in these sectors and how they could get involved. 

We set up our table (complete with fancy new banner!), and checked out our company on nearby stalls. We were thrilled to speak to so many attendees, including undergraduate and master’s students, passionate and interested in building a career in humanitarianism. Discussing the approach to disaster and humanitarian response from a non-medical perspective really highlighted the importance of cohesive working between teams and logisticians in these settings. This was emphasised again during later discussions with the UK-Medand MSF teams about their approach to mobilising teams in emergencies, and the massive logistical and management team behind any medical response. 

We were able to find out more and build connections with local Manchester-based organisations, and those further afield. Rethink, Rebuild Society are doing an amazing job of supporting refugees/migrants here in Manchester, and organising Syrian cultural events, as well as establishing schools back in Syria. Action for Humanity is responding to emergencies, as well as conducting much needed development and peace-building activities across the world. Both Mines Advisory Group and The Halo Trust are carrying out the incredibly important work of clearing landmines and restoring livelihoods in communities affected by conflict. There were many more organisations carrying out fascinating and worthwhile activity in the humanitarian sector.

It was also great to catch up with the Faculty of Remote, Rural and Humanitarian Healthcare team. We spoke about their ‘Introduction to Humanitarian Healthcare Course’ (currently available for free online), and the importance of setting standards in humanitarian response. 

We recognised from speaking with attendees that it can often feel challenging to know how to build a career around humanitarian work, especially finding available opportunities. There is clearly an enormous amount of amazing work happening and the importance of speaking to as many people as possible to find out more, at events like this, cannot be overstated. The work that GECCo colleagues have been getting up to across the globe comes from a pursuing that interest and continually asking questions – you never know what might come up!

We hope that by providing a network for multi-disciplinary collaboration, GECCo serves to connect individuals involved in all aspects of emergency care that are interested in global health and we would encourage everyone to get involved!