Why cash is king in emergency responses
Isabel Gomes explains five ways why cash trumps donated goods in humanitarian disasters
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Isabel Gomes
Global Lead for Disaster Management
"After responding to crises in 18 countries over 25 years, I am more passionate than ever about alleviating suffering when disasters strike."
Isabel Gomes oversees the organisation’s humanitarian responses, with a focus on decreasing the vulnerability of millions of children before, during and after disasters.
Currently based in Geneva, Switzerland, Isabel’s experience spans 25 years in the humanitarian sector, with recent experience in global donor engagement, resource development, strategy, operations and policy.
After beginning her career working with demobilised soldiers in Angola, Isabel worked in a variety of roles responding to humanitarian crises across 15 countries and some of the world’s most difficult and challenging contexts, including East Timor, Liberia, Sudan, Pakistan, Indonesia and Mozambique.
Isabel has a degree in International Relations and a Master’s Degree in International and Community Development. She speaks Portuguese, English, Spanish and French.
5 things we have learned responding to earthquakes
The lessons Isabel Gomes shares about responding to an earthquake are not what you might expect.
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Back to school in Switzerland. What about the Sahel?
Huge gaps in children’s education globally are hard to reconcile as Isabel reflects on the worsening situation in parts of West Africa.
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What does it mean to be a humanitarian?
On World Humanitarian Day, we talk to Isabel Gomes about the highs and lows of being an aid worker.
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COVID-19 needs to be a digital driver
By Isabel Gomes, Global Director for Humanitarian Operations Exciting new opportunities to test, develop and expand the use of digital technology must be...
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As we welcome the UN Global Humanitarian Response Plan, much more still needs to be done
Isabel Gomes, Global Director for Humanitarian Operations, analyses the UN's Global Humanitarian Response Plan and its efforts to ensure the most...
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How COVID-19 affects children – and why we’re so worried
As thirty million children’s lives are threatened by secondary health impacts of the virus, recognising humanitarian workers as ‘essential’ becomes even...
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Coronavirus: Plans for a unique humanitarian response
An unprecedented threat to children needs unprecedented action
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Every drop in the ocean matters: what 20 years as a female humanitarian has taught me
Twenty years of humanitarian work later, I still could not imagine doing anything else. It has taken me to some of the most difficult and challenging...
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