Day 1 - 3 June 2026

*The agenda is still under development and subject to change. If you are interested in running a session, please get in touch with us here.

08:30 | Registration desk opens

09:00-09:35 | Morning coffee/networking

09:35-09:45 Opening remarks

Nicholas Rutherford

Managing Director

AidEx

Haroon Hussein

Fundraising Manager

Al-Khair Foundation

09:45-10:15 Opening Keynote

Jeremy Hopkins

Deputy Regional Director Eastern and Southern Africa

UNICEF

Jeremy Hopkins is half Kenyan and half British and graduated with a MA in Arabic and Social Anthropology (Edinburgh) and a MSc in Development Studies (SOAS – University of London).

He started his career with WFP in Somalia and then moved to UNICEF also in Somalia as a Child Protection specialist but with an overview on Youth, HIV and C4D portfolios. He worked again as a child protection specialist in Mozambique after which he was a Deputy Representative in Central African Republic, Yemen and Somalia (again!).

He has been acting as South Sudan Representative for a short while, Representative in Burundi, Representative in Egypt and currently the Deputy Regional Director in Eastern and Southern Africa Region.

Outside the professional realm Jeremy enjoys music, travelling, surfing and photography.

10:15-11:30 Economic inclusion as anticipatory action - Building resilient livelihoods in fragile contexts

Rozina Haque

Director, Ultra-Poor Graduation and Livelihoods

BRAC International

Sazini Mojapelo

Chief Executive Officer

Village Enterprise

(Moderator) Janet Ngombalu

Country Director Kenya

Christian Aid

Elizabeth Mukami

Technical Advisor for Economic Inclusion

International Rescue Committee (IRC)

Susan Poni Lado

Senior Fragility and Resilience Officer

African Development Bank (AfDB)

Maike Striffler

Co-Founder & Purpose Pool Lead

Relevant Ventures Uganda

11:30-12:00 | Coffee break

12:00-13:00 Locally led pooled funds – The solution to the funding and power imbalance crisis or another model that struggles to scale?

(Moderator) Wendy Pierre

Head of Emergency Unit, Operational Development and Private Partnerships

Première Urgence Internationale

Albashir Adan Ibrahim

Executive Director

Organization for Sustainable Development Africa (OSDA)

Sarah Dalrymple

Humanitarian Adviser Sudan

Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO)

Hannah Tigerschiold

Fund Director

Sudan Locally Led Pooled Fund

13:00-14:30 Lunch & networking break

14:30-15:00 Keynote – Redefining the Role of Philanthropy - Reshaping humanitarian–development partnerships in a changing East African landscape

Paulin Basinga

Head of Africa

Gates Foundation

Dr. Paulin Basinga leads the foundation’s work across the African continent. Assuming this role in March 2024, Paulin brings extensive experience gained through his country and global level engagements. Before this role, he held the position of foundation’s Global Director of Program Advocacy and Communications (PAC) based in Seattle. In this role, Paulin orchestrated strategic advocacy initiatives and forged valuable partnerships with advocacy teams in S/E Asia and Africa.

Before his PAC role, Paulin served as the foundation’s Director of Health for Africa, leading a dedicated team in devising and implementing comprehensive country plans to advance health priorities across the continent. As the foundation’s country director in Nigeria, Paulin revitalized critical partnerships and advanced health, nutrition, agriculture, gender, and financial inclusion priorities, aligning them with the Nigerian government’s Human Capital Development Agenda.

Paulin’s journey with the foundation began in 2012 as a Senior Program Officer on the HIV team. Here, he worked on the HIV Efficiency and Effectiveness Initiative, pioneering strategies to maximize the impact of the foundation’s investments in combating HIV/AIDS. Subsequently, he transitioned to the Integrated Delivery team, overseeing investments in community and child health before assuming the role of Deputy Director of the Country Primary Health Initiative team - covering Ethiopia, Nigeria, Senegal, Burkina Faso and other countries.

In 2015, Paulin was seconded to Rwanda to assume a pivotal role as Senior Advisor to the Rwanda Biomedical Centre within the Rwandan Ministry of Health. During this tenure, he provided crucial decision support for health sector reforms in Rwanda.

Before joining the foundation, Paulin served as Deputy Director of Research at the National University of Rwanda’s School of Public Health. Here, he led groundbreaking research initiatives addressing HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, and maternal and child health, contributing significantly to efforts to strengthen Rwanda’s healthcare systems.

15:00-16:00 Breaking the endless cycle - Is anticipatory action and disaster risk financing ready to move East Africa beyond crisis response?

Andrea Berloffa

Senior Emergency and Rehabilitation Officer

FAO

Safia Verjee

Executive Director - International Center for Humanitarian Affairs (ICHA)

Kenya Red Cross

Emma Karhan

Head of Public Private Partnerships

Aon

Rineke van Dam

Regional Humanitarian Coordinator for the Horn of Africa

The Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs

(Moderator) Luca Rossi

Deputy Chief, Regional Office for Africa

UNDRR

16:00-16:30 Coffee break

16:30-17:45 Localisation that works – What has actually moved the needle and can it scale?

This session will include a dedicated interactive segment inviting short interventions from the floor, examining localisation solutions with clear potential to scale. This panel focuses on submitted success stories from audience interventions.