02/12/2021

ALIMA welcomes its newly appointed Chief Executive Officer, a doctor committed to caring for the most vulnerable

Research & innovation

Doctor Moumouni Kinda, Director of Operations at ALIMA (The Alliance for International Medical Action) was appointed as the next Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the humanitarian medical organisation. Dr. Kinda took office on February 1, 2021, at ALIMA’s operational headquarters in Dakar, Senegal, in order to be as close as possible to the field to respond to medical emergencies in Africa. He will take the place of ALIMA’s co-founder and current CEO, Augustin Augier, who has successfully completed his mandate.

“We are pleased that Moumouni was appointed as the next Chief Executive Officer of ALIMA,” said Dr. Richard Kojan, president of ALIMA and intensive care specialist. “Over the past eight years, he has been an integral part of this organization, and we value his principles and professional engagement, his managerial approaches with fellow staff, and his commitment to the communities we serve – always putting the patients first.”

Dr. Kinda first joined ALIMA in 2012, after many years of experience in the humanitarian aid sector. He holds degrees from several universities, including the University of Ouagadougou in Burkina Faso and Deakin University in Australia. At ALIMA, Dr. Kinda first worked on medical and nutritional projects in his home country of Burkina Faso, before taking on new roles in other countries, including project coordinator and country representative, followed by program manager for the medical desk at ALIMA’s operational headquarters. In 2019, Dr. Kinda became ALIMA’s Director of Operations, responsible for defining, implementing and overseeing operational programs in ALIMA’s countries of intervention.

His years of experience in both field operations and at headquarters, has given Dr. Kinda an extensive knowledge of the organisation’s challenges, and sufficient experience to properly lead the organisation and ensure the achievement of ALIMA’s objectives.

“As a medical organisation implementing a new model of humanitarian aid, ALIMA promotes local expertise and talent,” says Mathieu Dufour, member of ALIMA’s Board of Directors. “In this sense, Moumouni’s career path is an impressive one, representative of our desire to bring this model to the next level.”

Continuity of ALIMA’s governance

The departure of Augustin Augier and the appointment of Dr. Kinda comes at the end of two years of rapid and ambitious growth for ALIMA, including the fight against coronavirus in its 12 countries of intervention, expanding its budget and areas of interventions, implementing new research projects, launching its first major brand awareness campaign, and committing to reducing its carbon footprint as part of an environmental approach.

“I am very happy that Dr. Kinda is taking over the leadership of our NGO, Augustin Augier says. “We have worked together for many years and he is, in my opinion, the ideal candidate because he perfectly embodies the values of ALIMA. I have complete confidence in him to carry out this new role and to meet the challenges in the coming years.”

Augustin Augier, one of the founders of ALIMA will remain on the Board of Directors.

“During his mandate as CEO, Augustin managed to successfully engage the management team to rapidly grow our NGO and achieve impressive results, while facing humanitarian crises and new challenges, such as COVID-19,” says Frédéric Lemoine, member of the Board of Directors and Treasurer of ALIMA. “We extend our warmest congratulations to him and thank him for the quality of his commitment to our organization as CEO. We are delighted to be able to again include Augustin among our Board members, so that, together, we can continue the adventure that began in 2009.”

Ready to take on new challenges

Dr. Kinda’s appointment as ALIMA’s CEO comes at a time when the challenges and needs within the humanitarian sector are urgently increasing: the degradation of the security situation in many African countries, the impact of climate change, and, most recently, the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. More people are in need of emergency medical aid. The need to be better prepared, and to find better solutions – to transform humanitarian medicine – is more important than ever.

“Since joining ALIMA, I still truly believe in ALIMA’s model, which offers a different approach – one that aims to strengthen humanitarian action in Africa by increasingly involving beneficiaries and local staff, and contributes to the improvement of the health of the most vulnerable populations through a commitment to medical research,” Dr. Kinda says.

Moving forward: ALIMA’s vision and future

As the next CEO of ALIMA, Dr. Kinda, in line with ALIMA’s strategic framework, plans to strengthen the role and reputation of ALIMA, which is currently a key player in humanitarian action and medical research in Africa. This includes strengthening ALIMA’s actions in the fight against certain diseases that plague Africa, such as hemorrhagic fevers like Ebola and Lassa fever, and continuing to develop research initiatives to improve the health of the most vulnerable populations, including pregnant women and malnourished children. And also to prepare ALIMA to fight the dire consequences of climate change on communities.

“One of the priorities of our organization is the continuation of our commitment to better involve communities and local actors in the humanitarian response,” Dr. Kinda says. “The impact of our work and our actions must be better known so that ALIMA continues to be recognized as an important actor at the international level – an NGO that is transforming humanitarian medicine.”

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