A conversation in December 2025 with Hilaire Avril, EU Regional Information Officer for Latin America & the Caribbean
For more than 2 decades, Hilaire has worked across the humanitarian sector - from India to Africa, from the media room of Médecins Sans Frontières to the remote jungles of Colombia. Today, he leads the EU’s humanitarian communication work in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC), a region where overlapping crises, entrenched violence, and recurring natural disasters shape daily life for millions.
His path into humanitarian aid required a bit of effrontery.
Starting out with a sense of purpose
In 1999, after spending 6 months in India witnessing extreme poverty, he walked into the Médecins Sans Frontières office in France and "offered" to volunteer.
'I literally pushed open the door, went to the reception and annoyed the poor receptionist to death saying: "I’m your new volunteer," until she got rid of me, by sending me to the Communication department on the third floor.’
Before joining the European Commission, he worked as a journalist in Africa and later moved to Latin America, where he began his work with the EU.
Staying motivated when news is difficult
‘The humanitarian and development system is in a state of depression,’ he says frankly. ‘National civil societies too.’
So where does motivation come from?
‘From the people around you.’
Visiting projects, meeting partners, seeing practical solutions in action - that is what resets his energy.
‘Especially when those partners are local people helping their neighbours,’ he adds. It's about helping those who help. Whether responding to disasters or to violence, the drive to "leave the world a bit less messy" remains central to his work.
Navigating overlapping crises
Working in LAC means grappling with layers of crises, often decades long.
Extreme violence in Colombia, Haiti, Mexico or Central America, Ecuador and South America, remains one of the primary drivers of humanitarian needs. Armed groups use brutality strategically to control communities and territory. This is compounded by increasingly extreme natural hazards, as well as:
- chronic poverty
- food insecurity
- attacks on education
‘It’s easy to lose sight of LAC,’ he says.
‘But it’s healthy to go back to basics: we treat needs. We help people who are displaced - provide basic health care, feed those who can’t afford food, protection for targeted communities, get kids back in school, support for those on the move, fleeing persecution or atrocities.’
Giving a voice to affected people is, for him, still one of the most vital parts of the job.
Humanitarian funding cuts: what it means for the region
Recent reductions in humanitarian funding have had a major impact. 70% of humanitarian budgets in Latin America and the Caribbean previously came from the United States - so the downturn hit hard.
But the US is not the only actor shifting priorities. At the same time, the situation for communities affected by violence, displacement, and disasters has not improved. In many places, it has deteriorated sharply, influenced by geopolitical tensions and the growing power of organised crime.
In this context, the EU works to align with other donors but cannot fill all the remaining gaps. ‘We have to go back to basics and redefine priorities that no one else is addressing.’
Local solutions that inspire
When asked about local initiatives, he doesn’t hesitate: ‘Many.’
Most humanitarian workers in LAC are local, something he finds profoundly moving in a region marked by deep inequities.
He mentions Haitian doctors helping brutalised communities, and Colombian medical teams navigating the jungle on small hospital boats to reach people confined by armed groups. They anchor their boats discreetly, they provide life-saving care, risking their own safety.
‘They are the only ones reaching those communities. National authorities would not be allowed in by armed groups. It’s humans caring for other humans.’
How EU support makes a difference
By 2026, EU humanitarian aid will have funded 3,000 projects, since 1994 in Latin America and the Caribbean alone. But EU humanitarian assistance in LAC goes far beyond funding.
Equally important is the technical expertise the EU provides:
- building the capacity of humanitarian teams and national institutions
- strengthening disaster preparedness
- and helping partners better prevent and respond to crises
And in a time of shrinking budgets, EU support helps sustain multilateral cooperation - building long-term partnerships that matter when disasters strike or when violence escalates.
Addressing misconceptions about the region
If there is one misconception, he wishes Europeans better understood, it is the scale and severity of violence driven by organised crime.
‘These are not usual conflicts as International Humanitarian Law would traditionally define it,’ he explains, ‘but the effects are the same, sometimes worse.’
Entire regions of Haiti, Colombia, and Mexico are controlled by armed groups. The brutality is intentional and systematic. In Haiti, he notes ‘a surge in horrific rates of sexual violence,’ including extreme assaults against minors - both victims and perpetrators.
This violence traumatises communities for generations yet is still underestimated by policymakers outside the region.
The image that stayed with him
He pauses when asked about a moment that has stayed with him.
He recalls taking a media crew to southern Colombia in 2017.
In one small village once targeted by armed groups, the UN’s FAO was running a simple but transformative project. Years of coca cultivation had replaced traditional agriculture, leaving families dependent on armed groups even for food.
FAO teams were teaching villagers how to grow diverse crops again, and to prepare for disaster and shortages.
In the middle of the jungle, a chef in full uniform ran cooking classes.
‘Food security was just the tip of the iceberg, the project rebuilt the community,’ Hilaire remembers. ‘People grew food and cooked it together. They trusted each other again. It gave them back some resilience.’
As our conversation ends, one thing becomes clear: behind every statistic, every crisis, every report from the field, there are people: those who endure, those who help, and those who carry the stories forward.
For Hilaire, this work is not about heroics but humanity: the quiet determination to make things "a bit less messy" for those facing the hardest realities.
And in Latin America and the Caribbean, that determination remains essential.
