FELIX OMUNU

The work

Humanitarian response planning, strategic coordination, advocacy, and resource mobilisation.

In a sentence

I work with teams that make humanitarian plans more relevant to community needs and worth funding

Currently

Juba, South Sudan — between coordination meetings.

I am a humanitarian specialist with more than seventeen years of experience across the United Nations, international NGOs, and the Government of Uganda. My work today centres on humanitarian response planning and strategic coordination in South Sudan.

I bring stakeholders together at the country level to build a shared understanding of humanitarian needs, then facilitate the process of turning that understanding into common response systems. Alongside government, the UN, national and international NGOs, and affected communities, I coordinate the response itself — through the Inter-Agency Standing Committee clusters that work multisectorally to meet those needs.

Beyond planning and coordination, I develop advocacy messages and humanitarian policy. As I often say: "whatever you do doesn't make sense if lives are lost" — so the first objective is always to save lives, then help people rebuild them.

Principles

Four threads
of the work.

I bring people to a shared understanding of need, then help build the response together. The work falls into four places.

Two decades
in the field.

A short list of the emergencies I've responded to. The full record runs longer; these are the ones that shaped how I work.

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Field documentation, South Sudan — supplied later.

01 · Current—South Sudan · 2023–Present

South Sudan response planning & coordination

I lead strategic planning and coordination for South Sudan's humanitarian response — building a shared understanding of needs among government, UN agencies, and NGOs, then facilitating the Inter-Agency Standing Committee clusters that turn it into a common response. The operation has taken on new urgency as the conflict in Sudan pushes more people across the border into a system already stretched thin.

02 · Ethiopia · 2019–2021

Tigray crisis emergency response

Humanitarian access into Tigray was effectively under siege — food aid and assistance could not get through. I worked on advocacy with the Government of Ethiopia and parties to the conflict to open access, and helped move commodities that became a lifeline for the region.

03 · Pakistan · 2022

Pakistan monsoon flood response

The 2022 monsoon floods were unlike anything I had witnessed — whole buildings carried away by floodwater, homes washed out completely. I worked with the response effort to help affected communities access assistance and begin rebuilding.

04

Northern Uganda — LRA crisis response

Provided assistance to over two million people displaced into IDP camps by the Lord's Resistance Army conflict — a region now recovered and rebuilding, from Gulu to Kitgum to Pader.

Early 2000s

05

Darfur, Sudan — displacement & protection

Led a team of humanitarian workers in the deep field, providing assistance and protection advocacy for communities displaced into IDP camps.

Darfur

06

Iraq — ISIS crisis displacement response

Worked on protection and humanitarian assistance for people fleeing ISIS attacks across Iraq, helping communities survive displacement and begin rebuilding.

Iraq

A career
in the field.

Seventeen years across the UN, INGOs, and the Government of Uganda. Six countries. The long form is on request; the short form is below.

2023 —

Current

2022

2019 — 21

Iraq

Darfur

Early 2000s

Where it began

Seventeen years,
in the round.

Numbers I keep because someone, sometime, will ask. They are not the work — the people behind them are.

17

Years across the UN, INGOs, and the Government of Uganda.

6

Countries: Uganda, Sudan, Iraq, Ethiopia, Pakistan, South Sudan.

2M+

People displaced by the LRA crisis in northern Uganda, where I began.

≤6

Months a response should take before recovery begins.

What the field
has taught me.

Insights from seventeen years of humanitarian operations — on motivation, numbers, resilience, and dependency.

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Featured reflection

It's not about the numbers.

"It's not about the numbers, because behind those numbers are lives. Behind those numbers are families." When a crisis is reported in a headline figure, people get lost comparing it to the next one — a thousand here, a hundred thousand there. Humanitarian work has taught me to see past the number and to the person behind it.

Read the reflection →

A passion
for humanity.

Every person has a right to life, to prosperity, and to a fulfilling life. Crisis interrupts that right — through natural hazards, or through conflict caused by other people's decisions.

A right to life

Rights a crisis interrupts

Every person has a right to life, to prosperity, and to a fulfilling life — whether that crisis is a flood, an earthquake, or a war none of them chose.

The principle of humanity

We reach people simply because we are human

We respond to human suffering wherever it is found, whether in government-held areas or areas held by other parties.

Faith in the hardest places

God guides my steps

Sometimes I'm deployed into very hard contexts. I go knowing God gives me wisdom, guides my steps, and will protect me — and that keeps me going.

Pride in small things

Water, food, a classroom

When I see displaced children with access to water, food, and education, it gives me reason to be proud of what I do — and reason to celebrate humanity.

Felix is a well rounded professional. He has excellent communication and people management skills, which are crucial to his coordination function. Felix is very personable and approachable. He is A Star performer, highly regarded by his peers and supervisors.

I like to connect and talk humanitarianism with professionals around the world. If you're one of them, it would be my pleasure to connect with you.

Direct

Send an email. Would love to connect with you.

Elsewhere

LinkedIn /felix-omunu-487b122b ReliefWeb /contributors Substack /notesfromthedesk