War Child is the specialist charity for children in conflict, delivering high-impact programmes that are rebuilding lives across Afghanistan, Iraq, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Central African Republic and Yemen.
The Director of Programmes and Advocacy was a newly created position, responsible for the impact War Child UK makes through delivering services to children, families and communities. The appointee would be accountable for the development of a rigorous, effective and impactful integration of programmes and advocacy effort, and would be a key part of the War Child UK Senior Leadership Team responsible for long term strategic development of its organisation and culture.
Candidates needed to bring leadership experience from conflict affected locations, effectively leading and managing teams across a number of disciplines and geographies, including child protection. In addition, we were seeking high level advocacy success with governments, the UN and other agencies, as well as a wide range of donors.
Colette Fearon was appointed to the position from Oxfam, where she was Deputy Humanitarian Director in the Oxfam Global Humanitarian team. Her career prior to this at Oxfam included time as Country Director for Yemen, and she was additionally seconded to Syria as Crisis Manager. Her earlier career was spent in regional positions at CAFOD and Progressio amongst other roles.