Bernd Burwitz

Humanitarian Affairs Officer

OCHA Office in Iran

Dezember 2019 - Mai 2020

My experiences as a humanitarian affairs officer

I first deployed internationally as an election observer in Bosnia and Hercegovina in 1997, at a time when I was still working in the private sector. This formative experience led me to completing a master’s degree in conflict resolution at the University of Bradford, with the goal of working internationally. To this, I added a European Master of Politics and Policy at the University of Leuven. I have worked in international organisations since 1999 – before ZIF was created – with long-term deployments to Afghanistan, Bosnia and Hercegovina, Kosovo, North Macedonia and other short-terms deployments. After four years in Fiji, I have returned to Armenia with my family and am looking forward to being geographically closer to what’s happening in the world. Here, too, I am working in an international environment.

My deployment and tasks in Iran

It was ideal that I was able to go on a standby deployment as humanitarian affairs officer for OCHA shortly after moving to Armenia. I reported to the UN Resident Coordinator (RC) in Iran. Iran is plagued by natural disasters, and even during my six months in-country there were earthquakes, floods and locust infestations. Sadly, Iran is currently suffering heavily under COVD-19. Although Iran has highly experienced institutions that deal with natural disasters, the 2019 floods that affected more than ten million people, tested its limits and opened the door for international support. It is important to keep in mind that the economic sanctions against Iran hamper the government’s response to natural disasters. As the OCHA office was understaffed, my main task was supporting the RC with regard to humanitarian aid. Among other things, this involved inter-agency coordination, reporting on projects and developing instruments for future humanitarian intervention. Overall, an excellent experience.

My interest in this type of work

In the past, I underwent ZIF pre-deployment training for humanitarian operations. I was attracted by the possibility of deploying at short notice to a place where help is sorely needed potentially anywhere in the world. Especially in a time where there seems to be more extreme weather, such as tsunamis, earthquakes, hurricanes, fires, and so on, I expect there will be more deployment opportunities. I enjoy working in an intense environment, where results are visible immediately.

„During my deployment, I learned just how often Iran is hit by natural disasters. Unfortunately, this is hardly reported in the media.“