Anouk Delafortrie Regional Information Officer, is currently based in Dakar, covering West and Central Africa for the European Union’s humanitarian aid office.
From a childhood dream of becoming a war reporter to amplifying the voices of people affected by conflict, displacement, and climate shocks, Anouk’s career has been shaped by a steadfast commitment to humanitarian storytelling. Today, her work focuses on West Africa, a region facing overlapping crises, yet marked by resilience, solidarity, and hope.
Anouk’s path into the humanitarian sector began almost by accident. After university, she found herself working as a press officer for Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) during the humanitarian “boom” of the 1990s, a time defined by the Rwandan genocide, the Srebrenica massacre, and famine in South Sudan. ‘I didn’t want to work in advertising or copy news wires at a local TV station,’ she recalls. ‘It somehow aligned with my childhood dream of becoming a war reporter. Those early experiences were so profound that I never looked back.’
West Africa faces recurring crises, from conflict to food insecurity
West Africa is not an easy place to stay motivated. Worsening humanitarian needs, shrinking aid budgets, limited media interest, and restricted field access make her work challenging.
‘But then I think of the people I meet: the Sudanese widow protecting her babies, the elderly Malian man who survived a hanging, the Nigerian girl rebuilding her life in Cameroon,’ Anouk explains. ‘I feel a responsibility to help tell their stories and keep advocating for international and European solidarity with those who need our impartial help.’
The realities on the ground have changed dramatically since Anouk first worked in the region 13 years ago. Back then, the focus was mostly on food and nutrition crises and epidemics. Returning after a decade, she was struck by the deteriorating context: violence and spreading insurgency now drive suffering on an almost unimaginable scale. Restricted access means she cannot reach all areas, but she travels where she can; Mauritania, to highlight the influx of Malian refugees, or Chad’s border with Sudan, and collaborates with local storytellers who can reach places she cannot.
How EU support makes a difference
Among the stories that have stayed with her is that of Happy, a woman Anouk met in northern Cameroon. Fleeing on foot, heavily pregnant, after extremists attacked her Nigerian village and killed her husband, Happy arrived at a refugee camp hosting thousands dependent on humanitarian aid. With EU support, she accessed healthcare, registration, and protection services.
‘Happy delivered safely in the camp and named her daughter Hope, a reminder that even in the darkest moments, people can still have faith in the future,’ Anouk says.
Chad tells a similar story of resilience amid indifference. Refugees from Sudan’s Darfur region have been arriving again since 2023, 20 years after the first genocide. Anouk recalls working there in 2004, when journalists lined up to visit MSF health centres.
‘The contrast with today’s near-total indifference to the massacres and human-induced famine could not be more striking. Many refugees arrive traumatised, robbed, and starving. Without EU-funded aid, large numbers would go hungry and fall ill.’
EU support, she notes, helps people overcome mental trauma, regain mobility with prosthetics and physiotherapy, and access education and birth registration, small but vital steps toward rebuilding a life.
The power of local solidarity, extraordinary courage and resilience
Years of fieldwork have also taught her the power of local solidarity.
‘Helping someone start a small business or earn a modest income can make the difference between staying trapped in aid dependency and rebuilding a life,’ Anouk declares.
She has witnessed extraordinary courage and resilience in displaced communities, yet she is careful not to romanticise it. Humanitarians must identify those too weak, too old, too young, or too traumatised to survive with dignity on their own.
Environmental pressures add another layer of hardship. Droughts, floods, and desertification are increasingly frequent in the Sahel, devastating livelihoods and straining refugee settlements.
In Mauritania, Malian refugees now volunteer alongside the host community in a joint fire brigade to limit the damage caused by ‘bush fires’ that burn through hectares of pasture each year. EU-funded disaster preparedness projects help mitigate such shocks, but Anouk sees the human impact firsthand. ‘6 brothers dividing a small plot of land in Niger or Burkina Faso; it becomes nearly impossible to sustain a family,’ she explains.
Addressing misconceptions about the region
What does she wish Europeans better understood about West Africa? That hunger, war, and displacement are not inevitable. Change is possible, but it requires leaders who prioritise people’s wellbeing over power or profit.
And that life in the region is not just suffering, it is full of joy, vibrancy, music, art, entrepreneurship, and community spirit.
‘People look out for each other because crises can strike anyone at any moment,’ Anouk shares.
Looking ahead, Anouk’s hope is simple yet profound: that tolerance prevails, that impunity ends, and that children, women, and men can choose their own destiny and live in safety, stability, and dignity.
'Ultimately, my hope is that people will no longer need aid. But that is total utopia, so we humanitarians must keep grinding on.’
