John F. Wain

John F. Wain

Senior Officer at Ukraine Shelter Cluster

Born in Ireland, John is a Chartered Surveyor with a background in Construction project management, he has a master’s degree in Post Disaster mitigation & re-construction. He has worked in this field in Europe, Australia, America, Asia, Africa, Caribbean and middle East. He started his career working in the private sector and after shifting to the humanitarian sector in 1995 collaborated with NGOs in India, Kenya, South Sudan, Sri-Lanka, Somalia, and Haiti primarily delivering post disaster / post conflict-built environment projects in complex settings. John joined UNHCR in 2013, operating as Senior Emergency Shelter Officer, developing technical guidance and strategies providing global coverage to Country offices. He was focal point for settlement planning and gained significant knowledge in delivering sustainable, up-to-standard technical responses in human settlements, from acute emergencies to longer-term inclusion, benefitting refugees, IDPs and their host communities, seeking improved integration, resilience, and solutions. During HIS 8 years at UNHCR HQ, John deployed as surge capacity to several significant emergency contexts, most notably: Cameroon establishing the Minawao Settlement, supporting the Syrian response, Azraq & Zaatri camps in Jordan, Gaziantep, cross border response. Supporting the Mediterranean crises in Serbia and Greece. Bangladesh, establishment of core technical teams, planning and developing of the Kutupalong camp. Ethiopia, Tigray developing a shelter response strategy.

John returned to being field based in 2021 where he successfully completed the role of Senior Shelter cluster coordinator in Yemen assisting development of a multi-year strategy and is currently functioning as the Senior shelter & NFI cluster coordinator in Ukraine : https://sheltercluster.org/group/116/follow with responsibility for delivery of all objectives focusing on emergency shelter & NFI response, Winterization and adequate housing solutions linking to longer term development projects.