Ms Ida Marstein will be joining the Disaster Law team as Programme Coordinator for Africa in early May and will be based in the IFRC’s Africa Zone office in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
In her position, Ms Marstein will be responsible for ensuring the implementation of the work of the Disaster Law Programme in Africa, at the country level as well as in appropriate regional fora. She will further be responsible for connecting disaster law advocacy with disaster management, humanitarian diplomacy and other related initiatives of the Africa Zone. This includes providing support on disaster law issues to governments, capacity building of National Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies and other relevant actors and advocating for regional action on disaster law issues by key regional organizations, including the African Union and relevant regional economic cooperation bodies.
“I look forward to taking on the role as Disaster Law Programme Coordinator for Africa and to advocating for legal preparedness for disasters on the African continent,” Ms Marstein says. “I will be working together with Red Cross and Red Crescent National Societies and governments in countries with ongoing IDRL initiatives and will establish new ones in states that request our support in developing a proper legal framework to ensure an effective delivery of international relief in relation to disasters. In this role, I also intend to build partnerships with relevant stakeholders in order to strengthen and coordinate the efforts of different actors in the field of disaster response law and disaster risk reduction.”
Ms Marstein is not new to the RC/RC Movement. Before joining the Disaster Law Programme, she worked in Norwegian Red Cross’s international law unit. In her role as legal adviser, she provided legal opinions concerning international human rights law, international humanitarian law as well as domestic legislation relevant to vulnerable groups. Prior to that, she gained field experience in the Philippines, where she worked with the Royal Norwegian Embassy to strengthen Norway and the Philippines’ bilateral relations and to observe the political, economic and human rights situations in the country. Ms Marstein holds a Master of Laws (LL.M.) with a specialization in international law from the University of Oslo, Norway, a Diploma in International Studies from Sciences Po, Paris, France as well as a B.A. in Development Studies from Agder University College, Kristiansand, Norway.
The Disaster Law Programme is pleased to welcome Ida to the team and wishes her all the best in her new role.