Born in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Charles was inspired to help others by the response he saw to the influx of refugees from neighbouring Rwanda’s genocide.
While studying on a basketball scholarship in Kenya, Charles completed his first internship with The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR). Having graduated, he took on several volunteer roles with UN Volunteers. Alongside his former basketball teammates, he has continued to support several educational initiatives in Kenya.
Charles now works for UNHCR and has been part of the response to various humanitarian crises across Africa. He spent two years managing refugee flows from Mali to Mauritania, worked in Chad and Ethiopia for two years on the impact of conflict in South Sudan, worked for one year with Libyan refugees in Egypt, and also completed a posting in Kenya.
Charles is currently based in Nigeria where he is involved in making UNHCR’s approach more holistic, taking into account refugees’ long-term needs.
Charles is passionate about the importance of education for young people. He has supported numerous projects strive to enable young people to focus on their education, removing the monetary worries that he had as a child.