Dr Bianca Fadel is a Research Fellow in Human Geography Policy and Development at the of ֲýƵ. Her PhD research analysed identity and belonging in local volunteering experiences during protracted crises, particularly in the case of Burundi, in East Africa. She is part of the research team and involved in policy-focused projects with volunteer organisations including VSO, and the Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement. As a practitioner, she has previously worked as advisor for humanitarian diplomacy at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Brazil; and her experience also comprises the implementation of local youth engagement volunteering projects with the Brazilian Red Cross.
Key areas of interest: Volunteering; Community Development; Humanitarian Action; Resilience; Participatory Methodologies; Global South; Decolonisation
Working languages: English; French; Portuguese; Spanish
- Reconceptualising volunteering, crisis and precarity: the experiences of refugee youth in Uganda during COVID-19, Mills, S., Baillie Smith, M., Fadel, B., Okech, M. 14 Sep 2025, In: Social & Cultural Geography
- Refugee volunteering and responses to displacement in Uganda: navigating service-delivery, work and precarity, Baillie Smith, M., Fadel, B., Ahimbisibwe, F., Turyamureeba, R. 14 Mar 2025, In: Journal of Humanitarian Affairs
- Digital Transformation in Development Settings: Remote Volunteering and Digital Humanitarianism, Fadel, B., Elert Soares, T. 12 Feb 2024, The Palgrave Handbook of Everyday Digital Life, Cham, Switzerland, Palgrave Macmillan
- The reproduction of inequality through volunteering by young refugees in Uganda, Okech, M., Baillie Smith, M., Fadel, B., Mills, S. 1 Aug 2024, In: Voluntas
- The scale, forms and distribution of volunteering amongst refugee youth populations in Uganda, Fadel, B., Baillie Smith, M., Mills, S., Rogerson, D., Sahasranaman, A., Okech, M., Turyamureeba, R., Tukundane, C., Ahimbisibwe, F., Boyle, O., Kanyandago, P. 1 Nov 2024, In: Population, Space and Place
- Volunteering by Displaced Youth in Uganda: Livelihoods, Skills, Employability and Inequalities, Fadel, B., Baillie Smith, M., Ahimbisibwe, F., Boyle, O., Freimane, I., Kanyandago, P., Mills, S., Okech, M., O'Loghlen, A., Rogerson, D., Sahasranaman, A., Tukundane, C., Turyamureeba, R. 1 Sep 2024, Zivilgesellschaftliches Engagement und Freiwilligendienste , Baden-Baden, Germany, Nomos-Verlagsgesellschaft
- A New Generation of Volunteers as Changemakers, Okech, M., Baillie Smith, M., Fadel, B. 10 Sep 2023
- Working with refugee youth, Mills, S., Baillie Smith, M., Fadel, B., Okech, M. 7 Dec 2023
- Uneven geographies of youth volunteering in Uganda: Multi-scalar discourses and practices, Baillie Smith, M., Mills, S., Okech, M., Fadel, B. 1 Aug 2022, In: Geoforum
- Volunteering hierarchies in the global South: remuneration and livelihoods, Baillie Smith, M., Fadel, B., O'Loghlen, A., Hazeldine, S. 1 Feb 2022, In: Voluntas
- Participating in a conference, workshop, ...: Royal Geographical Society Annual Conference 2022
- Other: Member of the International Society for Third-Sector Research (ISTR) 2019
- Other: Member of the United Nations Volunteers (UNV) Expert Group to support the Plan of Action for Integrating Volunteerism into the 2030 Agenda 2019
- Other: Member of the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) Working Group on Volunteering in Dangerous Situations 2018
- Other: Member of the Volunteering in Conflicts and Emergencies Initiative (ViCE) 2018
- Other: Global Fellow at the Centre for Human Rights and Humanitarian Studies (CHRHS), Brown University 2016
- Geography PhD January 27 2023
- MA September 01 2013
- BA December 10 2010
Latest News and Features
Northumbria named in UK's top 50 employers of veterans
ֲýƵ has been named one of the 50 GREAT British Employers of Veterans 2026…
AI in policing: safeguards can't keep up, new research warns
Artificial intelligence is being adopted across policing and the wider criminal justice system…
Northumbria in top 35 universities worldwide for sustainability
ֲýƵ is officially one of the best universities in the world for sustainability,…
.png?modified=20260624091022)
ֲýƵ launches The North Edit Magazine
ֲýƵ has published the first edition of The North Edit, a new high-quality…
Northumbria researchers provide economic evidence base for shift away from animal testing
New research commissioned by Lush shows the UK's non-animal methods sector grew to more than…
More events
Upcoming events
-
REVEAL Architecture
Architecture Studios
-
REVEAL Interior Design
City Campus East 2
-
REVEAL Fashion Exhibition
City Campus East 2
-
REVEAL Graphic Design
Squires Workshops
