The BIPOC Manager #46 - Allyship & Humanitarian Aid, with Cynthia Keza Birikundavyi
Allyship requires courage.
It’s that person who steps up from the crowd when they view injustice, when someone is treated unfairly because of their background.
This is important, as it’s in the day-to-day experiences of our lives that we shape who we are and who we become.
At the same time, there’s also a need to address the deeper power structures that lead to discrimination.
In this insightful episode of the BIPOC Manager Podcast, Cynthia Keza Birikundavyi, a humanitarian expert and diversity advocate, discusses the critical elements of true allyship, particularly in humanitarian aid.
• Recognizing Privilege: Allies must recognize their own comfort in spaces and question whether others, particularly marginalized voices, have equal access and influence.
• Systemic Change in the Aid Sector: The humanitarian aid sector often mirrors societal inequities. Cynthia highlights the need for a shift in focus from international actors with resources to local communities, ensuring aid efforts are equitable and sustainable.
• Storytelling and Community Care: Through her theater work, Cynthia underscores the importance of storytelling as a way to foster community care, encouraging empathy and understanding. She calls for leaders to embrace vulnerability and work intersectionally across gender, race, and other identity markers to create spaces of collective success.
By giving a voice to people, we give power to the people.
"In order for true allyship to exist, we need to commit to that uncomfortable positioning and address the need for change by discussing equitable resource distribution, inclusive leadership, and asking: Who gets to stay where, what is the norm, and who are we doing it for?"
00:00 - Introducing Cynthia Keza Birikundavyi
01:00 - Allyship at the interpersonal and at the organizational/structural levels
05:02 - The experience in the humanitarian aid sector, power dynamics
09:54 - Cynthia as a playwright, giving a voice to others
14:02 - Storytelling as a way to focus on community care and to change the different narratives of scarcity
16:23 - Getting in touch with Cynthia
Bio:
Cynthia Keza Birikundavyi is a Canadian-Burundian Humanitarian Assistance Specialist, Writer and Diversity and Inclusion Advocate.
With over 10 years of experience in governmental and non-governmental organizations, Cynthia’s work has spanned across 4 continents in various fields such as Camp Management, Mine Action, and Emergency Medical Response with organizations like Médecins sans Frontières, the UN Mine Action Service, Oxfam and UNHCR, UN Refugee agency. She currently works as an Independent Consultant for non-profit organizations.
She is the Founder and President of Theatre for a Cause Geneva, a Swiss-based association that raises awareness and funds for local charities through the performing arts. She co-authored and curated and published two original plays, Journal du Confinement and What I Know About You 2020, currently available on Amazon worldwide.
Website: tfacgeneva.com/
Cynthia: www.linkedin.com/in/cynthiakbirikundavyi/