This week, as we celebrate International Women’s Day on 8th March, we are spotlighting some of the impactful women at UK-Med that work amid disasters and crises. From operations to health, capacity building to WASH, Anna, Anastaiisia, Shaimaa, Amy and Mel all play vital roles within the humanitarian field.
Based in our HQ and on projects across the world, they have kindly shared their experience and thoughts from working in the sector:
Anna Daniell
Operations Coordinator, Anna Daniell, has worked for UK-Med for over six years. Sharing her views on the importance of operational roles, Anna explains where the passion for this work comes from;
“Operations are the backbone of the work that we do as an organisation – it brings together all the other elements…to ensure that everything runs smoothly on the ground and that ultimately, the clinicians can focus on their lifesaving work.”
“Working in the humanitarian sector, especially in emergency response, it’s the kind of job where what you see on the news will often directly translate into what we are working on as an organisation”
As part of a predominantly female team, Anna highlights how working within operations gives her a sense of pride;
“Statistically humanitarian crises disproportionately affect women and girls, so as a woman in this sector, I am really proud to be working as part of a larger effort to help improve things when disaster strikes.”
Anastaiisia Cherneha
Anastaiisia, a member of our Ukraine team, lives and works amid conflict, giving her a unique insight into the humanitarian sector:
Anastaiisia explains that through her work she can see “UK-Med’s operations from a strategic perspective while also being present in the places where help is delivered. Witnessing the direct impact on beneficiaries gives me a profound sense of purpose and reinforces the importance of what we do.”
“When the war began, my life changed dramatically, and I felt a strong need for my work to have a greater purpose beyond just benefiting me personally. When I came across a vacancy at UK-Med’s Ukraine team, I applied, and that decision became a turning point in my career.”
There are of course challenges to being a woman in the field and the idea of balancing professional and personal commitments. Anastaiisia, however, counters that it is “precisely our adaptability, emotional resilience, and dedication that make women an integral part of humanitarian response efforts.”
Shaimaa Saqer
Shaimaa is from Gaza and has experienced the sheer devastation of seeing her home reduced to rubble while working for UK-Med:
Discussing the importance of WASH in conflict settings, Shaimaa details how UK-Med is providing outreach to local communities in Gaza as the “environment suffers from serious public health concerns during the ongoing conflict” which is exacerbated by the lack of access to clean water supplies.
Shaimaa works as a WASH engineer in our Gaza programme. Water, Sanitation and Health are fundamental in ensuring we can deliver quality healthcare that is safe and accessible. “Everything that affects health of patients and hygiene of medical facility is considered “WASH responsibility”, Shaimaa emphasises.
“Despite of the unacceptable life conditions that we suffer from, I must be strong enough, well organized, well managed to can be good mom and good boss. Here at UK-Med, we are working as a cooperative team in a supportive environment of development to achieve the success to the medical facility.”
Amy Leach
Amy is a Programme Officer within the learning and capacity team, she reveals her reasons for joining the sector and the importance of preparing those in the field:
“I find it incredibly rewarding to contribute to teams to build the skills they need to make a difference in emergency situations. I’m proud to contribute to UK-Med’s incredible work in preparing and supporting responders, ensuring they can deliver assistance where it’s needed most.”
“Humanitarian work can be challenging, and being a woman in this field does come with its own unique challenges. However, UK-Med is a woman-heavy organisation, and it’s inspiring to work alongside so many talented and experienced women in both operational and leadership roles. The sector has made progress in recognising the value of women in humanitarian response, but there’s still work to be done to ensure equal opportunities, particularly in traditionally male-dominated roles.”
Melanie Johnson
Deputy Health Director Mel says she enjoys the variety of her work – “in the last two months alone I’ve been on the ground as a medical coordinator in a conflict zone, in the Middle East presenting at a conference on behalf of WHO and in our Manchester office working with fantastic HQ team to send healthcare where it’s needed most. I get to meet incredible, dedicated national and international staff whilst still having opportunities to develop my passions for teaching and technical work.”
The humanitarian sector is full of amazing opportunities but as Mel goes on to say that although she’s “always had a passion for medicine and humanitarian work, like many, didn’t see role models or people I knew working in the sector when I was in the careers process.” This lack of representation is a barrier many women face when choosing career paths, therefore losing out on these incredible opportunities before starting the journey.
“Whilst there have been great improvements, there are still challenges for women looking to build sustainable careers in the sector – not least in deployable and leadership roles…We need diverse viewpoints and perspectives in order to hear and serve all areas of our populations at risk – when women’s voices aren’t sought and considered it’s often the rights and needs of women that are overlooked, especially in healthcare.”
Looking ahead
Each year UN Women give the day a theme and in 2025 it’s ‘For ALL women and girls: Rights. Equality. Empowerment’. This concept highlights how we need to listen to and include women from all different backgrounds, especially in crisis and high-risk environments.
As Anna pertinently mentioned, women and girls are disproportionately affected by crises compared to their male counterparts, and women are also underrepresented in the humanitarian workplace. UK-Med aims to redress that balance within our workforce, the delivery of our programmes, and our work with local staff.
We celebrate them and all our colleagues driving our response efforts, not only today, but throughout the year.
