Meet the Member: Gordon Denoon

Gordon initially studied and worked in Australia, before beginning his humanitarian career with CARE and undertaking his first deployment to Iraq. Since then, Gordon has spent more than 15 years in the field, in a number of contexts across Africa, the Middle East and Asia, including two years as RedR UK's regional director for Sub-Saharan Africa.

His most recent mission was in March 2015, when he was called to respond to Yemen’s humanitarian crisis as the Senior Humanitarian Affairs Officer for the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). 

At that stage, an escalation of conflict led to an increased humanitarian presence, however insecurity and other constraints meant that most of the humanitarian community was based in Amman, Jordan, and humanitarian aid was delivered in hard-to-reach areas through remote monitoring. As a result, Gordon was responsible for managing humanitarian coordination in Yemen by leading the remote tracking of commercial shipping, logistics and cargo for the humanitarian community.

Throughout his career in the sector, Gordon emphasised that many of the challenges for aid workers remain the same: "Do more with less, find innovative solutions and navigate complex contexts." He adds, however, that "recent events have shown an increasing danger for aid workers as traditional concepts of impartiality, neutrality, and independence are under increasing stress."

Gordon is a Member of both RedR UK and RedR Australia, and speaks highly of his RedR Membership: "RedR has given me the opportunity to undertake high quality and relevant training in the aid sector. I find RedR a great networking opportunity and it gives my CV some additional credibility."

Gordon recently accepted a position as a Humanitarian Adviser, working with the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.