Collaborating for Children in Crisis: Unlocking Opportunities for Greater Impact
Dr Chris Berry, MBE
Senior Education Adviser, Education in Emergencies and Protracted Crises (EiEPC) lead, Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office
Dr. Chris Berry is currently the FCDO policy lead for education in emergencies and protracted crises. In this role he has strategic oversight of the UK’s investment in Education Cannot Wait and liaises with Advisers and posts on the emergency education response in countries such as Ethiopia, Myanmar, Sudan, Syria, Pakistan and Ukraine.
Chris has been working in the field of education and international development since 1983 when he went to Sierra Leone as a volunteer English teacher. He worked in Indonesia, the Turks and Caicos island and Belize before taking some time out do a PhD looking at learning outcomes in multi grade schools in the Caribbean. He worked on a multi grade research project with Professor Angela Little for a year before joining DFID as an education adviser in early 2003. His first job was in the fragile states policy team in London. He then worked overseas in Tanzania and Ethiopia, was the education cadre head of profession, and led the education recovery post Ebola in Sierra Leone.
Dr Aala El-Khani
Independent Consultant, UNODC
Dr Aala El- Khani is a humanitarian psychologist passionate about meeting the needs of caregivers and their families globally by conducting research, providing training and evidence-informed resources. She has authored a number of family skills interventions and parenting resources for the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) as well as several other international organisations and academic institutions. She is an independent consultant for numerous international organisations, including UNODC and War Child. She graduated with a PhD in Clinical Psychology from the University of Manchester, Division of Psychology and Mental Health, where she is now an honorary Research Associate. Aala is a global master trainer of seven international psychosocial, family skills, and trauma recovery interventions. She is highly experienced in developing, adapting, training, and implementing these interventions in challenged settings such as war and displacement contexts. She has led family skills training in over 15 countries.
Mr Khayam Husain
Co-Founder, Karachi Relief Trust Pakistan
Mr Khayam Husain is a co-founder of Karachi Relief Trust (KRT) – a volunteer organisation engaged in Disaster Relief and Rehabilitation in Pakistan. Post 2010-11 Superflood, KRT built and donated over 7000 homes to flood affectees. In 2023, KRT embarked on a course to rehabilitate 500 flood-destroyed villages. KRT intends to build 25,000 and provide health care, education and livelihood in partnership with other NGOs. He has served as Chairman of the Board of the Public Interest Law Association of Pakistan (PILAP). Also, he serves on the board of NOWPDP (helping people with disabilities), Charter for Compassion and AISEC. He is a Certified Director from the Pakistan Institute of Corporate Governance and is an Independent Director at Thal Limited (House of Habib).
Prof Fatima Waziri–Azi
Director-General, National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons Nigeria
Prof Fatima Waziri–Azi is an esteemed academic, legal practitioner, and human rights activist. Currently serving as the Director-General of the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP), she holds the position of Professor of Law at the Nigerian Institute of Advanced Legal Studies. Prof Waziri–Azi's professional experiences encompass diverse roles, including working as an Attorney & Program Officer at Human Rights Law Service & Olisa Agbakoba Legal in Lagos, a Legal Associate at the New York City Administration of Children Services, Division of Legal Services in New York, and a Legal Fellow at Transparency International USA in Washington, D.C. She has also worked as a Researcher at the Presidential Advisory Committee Against Corruption (PACAC). In 2016, she established the Safe Haven Foundation, an organisation dedicated to safeguarding the rights of women and children.
Dr Isang Awah
Head of Advocacy, Global Parenting Initiative
Dr Isang Awah is the Head of Advocacy at the Global Parenting Initiative, based at the University of Oxford’s Department of Social Policy and Intervention. In this role, she works with national governments, UN agencies and the NGO and FBO sectors to support the uptake of evidence-based, playful parenting programmes, and empowers and supports the GPI national research teams to lead on advocacy for the uptake of the Parenting for Lifelong Health programmes. Isang also hosts a radio programme on parenting on XL106.9FM every Tuesday at 9.20 am (GMT+1).
Isang’s research interests include social issues and literacy, especially in the Global South, and she is dedicated to improving outcomes for children and young people. In the past few years, she worked on the development and testing of ParentApp for Teens, an open-source, mobile application parenting intervention that is based on the Parenting for Lifelong Health Teens programme. Additionally, she led the dissemination of the COVID-19 parenting resources in West and Central Africa during the COVID-19 pandemic.
As founder of MyRainbowBooks Limited, Isang introduced personalised storybooks in Nigeria that are tailored for African children and also initiated the nationwide annual creative writing competition for children in Nigeria. Isang holds a PhD in Education from the University of Cambridge, U.K. She also holds degrees from Harvard University, U.S.A., and the University of Uyo, Nigeria.
