Kristin Barstad has been working in the field of humanitarian affairs for over 10 years and has been a child protection adviser at the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) for the past five years. She is involved in the protection of children in war or disaster zones (Democratic Republic of Congo, Chad, Sudan, Haiti etc…).
Among other things, she assists the ICRC in preventing child recruitment by armed groups in war ravaged countries, helps in tracing and reuniting children with their family members in crisis situations, ensures adequate health services are provided to child victims, and most importantly helps spread awareness to protect children caught up in such situations.
Kristin Barstad has previous experience working with the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) (mainly as a Community Services Officer) – both at field and Headquarters level as well as for the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF). While at UNICEF, she worked on issues related to the Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC). Prior to joining UNICEF, she worked for several years at the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the Human Rights and Humanitarian Assistance departments.