Karen Helene Bjørnestad

Thematic expertise: Humanitarian protection

Geographic expertise: Great Lakes and West Africa, Central and South Asia and Europe

Languages: Norwegian, English, French, Italian and German

Karen H. Bjørnestad is an experienced leader and negotiator with more than 25 years of international leadership responsibilities in countries affected by armed conflict, political instability and humanitarian crises. She has negotiated with authorities, military actors and partners in conflict and post-conflict contexts, including work on protection and advocacy, access, corruption prevention, legal rights and institution building.

Karen H. Bjørnestad has signed agreements and MoUs with several ministries and partners in Europe, Africa and Asia, including Ukraine, Pakistan, South Sudan, DR Congo, Niger and Afghanistan. She has experience with risk management and work on the protection of civilians, IDPs in refugee camps and due to displacement, human rights, gender-based violence, child protection and advocacy work.

She has worked through several platforms with governments, UN organizations, EU/ECHO and national and international institutions, like the International Red Crosses (ICRC/IFRC).

Karen Helene Bjørnestad recently retired and is actively working on ProBono Projects and mentoring.