pages/backgrounds/logo_var.svg

The Humanitarian Finance Forum is a global network of professionals working in humanitarian finance. We provide a platform for collaboration, learning, and advocacy. Contact us today to learn more about our work and how you can get involved.

pages/seo_background/clilpr0m50003dc6z9f8fg120.png

Humanitarian Finance Forum Contact Us | Connect with Us to Learn More

pages/backgrounds/clmkbr4gt000jfc6zdvri7lyh.png

Bringing together experts with AidEx participants to share public and private perspectives around the new and rapidly developing field of innovative finance, and to explore addressing funding needs for projects in LIC/FCSA settings.

AidEx 2023 - Innovative Finance Side Event

pages/backgrounds/clm6efgbc000hfc6zd4xbe8cx.jpg

Public service provision in fragile states often involve a complex network of external development agencies, NGOs, and domestic institutions. This session explore building effective partnerships in these high-risk areas.

pages/seo_background/clm6eeiep000ffc6zfttjc3e1.jpg

Social Outcomes Conference 2023

pages/backgrounds/cljmplyg60003oc6zargeboqi.jpg

Roberta Bove joined GAIN as Nutritious Food Financing Programme Lead in September 2021. With over 15 years of work experience in supporting SMEs in Sub-Saharan Africa with technical assistance, impact investing, international development and corporate finance, Roberta brings a unique perspective to lead N3F work in catalysing private sector financing to help scale up the production and sale of locally produced nutritious foods in Sub-Saharan Africa. Besides N3F, Roberta leads GAIN&rsquo;s broader work on Innovative Finance for nutrition.

infocard/cljmy2qzd000boc6zbmlmdul5.jpg

Roberta Bove

Marijke joined GAIN&rsquo;s Nutritious Foods Financing team in March 2022. Building on her food safety background and food- and agribusiness financing experience, she manages provision of technical assistance to N3F SMEs in Sub-Saharan Africa and coordinates GAIN&rsquo;s broader work on innovative finance for nutrition.

infocard/cljmy3wd6000foc6zgb0l4n5w.JPG

Marijke Zonnenberg

Itamar is an Impact Investment Manager at iGravity, an advisory firm specialised in impact investing and innovative financing for development. An investment specialist with strong experience in SME investments, Itamar previously co-founded a financial advisory boutique for startups and SMEs in Latin America.

infocard/cljsr9mf5000loc6z5myu46q0.jpeg

Itamar Ahrenbeck

Helen currently serves on the Board of the Humanitarian Finance Forum and the Advisory Board of the University of Geneva's Executive Program in Strategic Philanthropy. &nbsp;With more than 30 years' of experience in the humanitarian and public health sectors, Helen is also a Senior Research Associate with the Overseas Development Institute (ODI) and a mentor in the Global Thinkers Forum mentorship program.

infocard/cljsr1qvc000joc6zftw0d3f7.png

Helen Alderson, Moderator

In this Spotlight event, the authors of the Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN) latest report: Innovative Finance for Nutrition, will discuss the main findings of the report and real-time novel financing models being explored.

Innovative Finance for Nutrition: Developing and deploying novel approaches to scale funding for nutrition

pages/backgrounds/clj42d2x6002l7h6ze9cqb07j.png

Forum Chairman Cyrus Ardalan will moderate the panel discussion "Private capital in recovery, reconstruction, and modernization of Ukraine: building common vision 2033"

Ukraine Recovery Business Day

pages/backgrounds/clhvxbvz000010r1b58qt7p4w.jpg

The 10-week LBS project aimed to examine the issues and barriers to expanding the use of commercial insurance

Applying Insurance Beyond Natural Hazards - Final Presentation

pages/backgrounds/clhvxhjo90001w81bahv53wl2.png

Sebasti&aacute;n Welisiejko is an Argentinian economist specialized in economic development, impact investment, public policy, conflict, and urban economics. From January 2020 Sebasti&aacute;n acts as Chief Policy Officer at the Global Steering Group for Impact Investment (GSG). He also heads the Secretariat of the Impact Task Force (ITF) established under the 2021 UK presidency of the G7. Previously, he notably served as Secretary of State for Socio-Urban Integration at Argentina&rsquo;s Ministry of Health and Social Development and as Coordinator of Projects at Argentina&rsquo;s Cabinet Office was the inaugural Executive Director of the GSG and Chief Economist of The Portland Trust, a British NGO promoting peace and stability.&nbsp;

infocard/clj2yaout002h7h6zalzx08ri.jpg

Sebasti&aacute;n Welisiejko

Liz Muange works in the ICRC as an Innovative Finance Adviser within the New Financing Models Unit seeking new technical and funding partnerships for the Water and Habitat unit which implements large urban infrastructure projects across fragile and conflict settings. Before joining the ICRC, she worked in different blended finance programmes across East Africa focused on urban infrastructure development, trade and agriculture. She has experience working with various donor-funded programmes with USAID, FCDO, EU and the Dutch government. She has over 15 years of experience in finance and investment advisory, structuring blended finance projects, project management and evaluation, entrepreneurship development and risk management. She has an Executive Education from the University of Oxford on Impact Measurement, a Master in International Relations from the Catholic University of Milan, Italy and a B. Comm (Hons.) from the University of Nairobi. She is an alumni member of the Global Future Council Cities of Tomorrow of the World Economic Forum.&nbsp;

infocard/clj2yecvj002j7h6zeldydtyp.jpg

Liz Muange

The Global Steering Group for Impact Investment (GSG) makes the case for prioritising urban informality as a core area for impact and development, and emphasise the contribution this would make to achieving the UN SDGs. Over 1 billion people live in slums and informal settlements across the Global South, without formal access to potable water, sewage, or electricity, amongst other deficits.

The Forum explores the role of impact in scaling capital mobilisation to fund slum-upgrading programmes globally.

Informal Settlements: No Longer Invisible

pages/backgrounds/clhvxvcsi0007w81b7o8635ob.jpg

Simon is responsible for developing alternative financial instruments to unlock private capital in support of humanitarian challenges for the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC). He is the Executive Director and co-founder of the Humanitarian Finance Forum, and Advisor to the Humanitarian Innovative Finance Hub (HIFHub) in Copenhagen. Prior to IFRC, he managed a &pound;45 million blended social investment fund at Access Foundation and chaired the Investment Committee of Community Impact Partnership until 2020. He has significant experience in social/impact investing, following a career in banking and international capital markets where he advised and arranged all types of investments. He was awarded a scholarship for his MBA at London Business School and is a graduate of Trinity College, Dublin.
Read More

infocard/clj2y5x7r00297h6zek5paedn.jpg

Simon Meldrum

Lindsay manages key institutional accounts and business development efforts with governments and bilateral organisations with a focus on climate finance, gender-lens investing and forced displacement. She joined Acumen in 2014 as part of the Office of the CEO, where she led strategic relationship management and special projects for Jacqueline Novogratz. In this role, Lindsay was on the development team for energy access impact fund KawiSafi Ventures and managed its investor relations. Prior to Acumen, Lindsay served in the U.S. House of Representatives as a congressional aide. She is a candidate for a master's degree in Social Business and Entrepreneurship from the London School of Economics and holds a bachelor's from Miami University.

infocard/clj2y6uq3002d7h6zg0qo0smp.jpg

Lindsay Camacho

Forum director Simon Meldrum was invited to speak at the London Business School's Social Impact Conference

Innovating for Impact: The Future of Philanthrophy

pages/backgrounds/clhvy4hxf0001fg1b747bgwoz.jpg

The Forum will speak at the Small State Research Program in Georgetown University Qatar

Innovative Finance & Small States in Humanitarian Response

pages/backgrounds/clili96wd000z7x6z4e0yanf8.jpg

The Forum is building a project partnership from its cross-sector expert community to examine technical issues with an aim to develop and expand commercial insurance applications to humanitarian challenges and social issues

Applying Insurance Beyond Natural Hazards

pages/backgrounds/clildmh8x00017x6z84rtcdh3.jpeg

Forum Board member Helen Alderson joined an expert convening to advise on equity models available for the pandemic agreement.

Equity Consultation: WHO Pandemic Agreement in Geneva

pages/backgrounds/clhvymt370003zt1bfcj97fue.jpg

Cristina Stefan is the Lead Risk Finance Adviser at the Centre for Disaster Protection (CDP). She is a finance, risk and actuarial expert with over 12 years experience in various global insurance and consulting institutions across Europe and the U.S. Cristina has experience in the design of alternative risk transfer products and building risk management solutions aimed at closing the financial gap for disaster response. She has been involved in the World Bank-led financial response to the 10th Ebola outbreak in Democratic Republic of Congo. She has experience in projects such as PEF 2.0 transactions, development loan operations in emerging markets, disaster risk finance products and derivatives.

infocard/clj2y1vzk00237h6z7noyb8ab.webp

Cristina Stefan Centre for Disaster Protection

Emma Karhan is the Head of Public Private Partnerships for Aon UK. She joined Aon 4 years ago after working for Guy Carpenter, MMC, for over 15 years. Emma has worked across both reinsurance and retrocession in her career and has had great success in building practices in areas of Terrorism Reinsurance, specialising in the private-public partnerships. She is focused now on how to create impact and build solutions to support climate change and the humanitarian agenda. Emma is leading the climate change approach for Aon Re UK and is working with the Red Cross on the Innovative Humanitarian Finance Roundtable.

infocard/clj2y2fz500257h6zae2vdcv9.jfif

Emma Karhan

The Forum sits down with Cristina Stefan and Emma Karhan to discuss a groundbreaking approach to utilising

IFRC Disaster Response Emergency Fund: Engaging Private Sector Insurance to Scale Capacity

pages/backgrounds/clhvyyznp0009zt1b1xvogti9.png

On October 25, Devex will bring its expert analysis and journalism to bear on this urgent topic