M. Zakaria Maiga

After spending two years working with the NGO Action Against Hunger, Mr Maiga joined the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in 2003, starting in the DRC as an economic security delegate in charge of emergency relief, then serving in the same role in Darfur.

He went on to work as a protection delegate in Sri Lanka and a field delegate in Zimbabwe, before becoming deputy head of the ICRC's diplomatic delegation in Ethiopia, promoting the ICRC's activities with the African Union.

From 2011, he held the position of deputy head of operations in Geneva, overseeing missions in Ethiopia, Eritrea, Somalia, Kenya, and Chad.

Between 2014 and 2017, he returned to the field as deputy head of delegation in Senegal and Sri Lanka.

In 2018, he returned to Geneva to manage a project on diversity, equity, and inclusion, before going on to coordinate operations for the Sahel region.

In 2024, Mr Maiga retired from the ICRC following a mission in Côte d'Ivoire as security and crisis management coordinator. He holds a diploma in humanitarian logistics from Bioforce in Lyon and a master's degree in development and international cooperation from the Sorbonne University in Paris.