Global Friday Presents

Chiran Livera
Senior Operations Manager,
International Operations,
Canadian Red Cross

BIO:  Chiran is the Canadian Red Cross’ senior operations manager with International Operations. Prior to this role, he worked as an international aid worker in Latin America, the Caribbean and West Africa coordinating disaster operations for the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies.

He has responded to major emergencies including the tsunami in South Asia, earthquake in Haiti, Ebola crisis and others such as hurricanes, food insecurity and floods, and refugee and displaced persons crises. His experience has primarily involved leading the emergency phase of operations in analysing needs assessments, developing coordination frameworks and designing and managing plans of actions. He has a degree in political science from Simon Fraser University and speaks French, Spanish and Sinhala.

ABSTRACT:  Each year, millions of people face the devastating impacts of emergencies. In 2017, crises in Iraq and Yemen, food insecurity in Somalia and East Africa, displacement in Myanmar and Bangladesh, and hurricanes in the Caribbean and US made it a busy year. These headline stories were complemented by dozens of other emergencies that affected communities across the world. The Canadian Red Cross as part of the largest humanitarian organization responded to these emergencies. Chiran Livera, manager with the international emergencies team of the Canadian Red Cross will talk about the relief and recovery work happening on these emergencies. He will highlight successes, challenges and collaborations from his first-hand experience responding and will share stories of devastation and hope from humanitarian responses.

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Global Friday gratefully acknowledges funding from the Dean of CASHS.