From World Expo to Humanitarian Hub
- Marine Ronzi
- Aug 11, 2025
- 6 min read
Updated: Nov 18, 2025
What happens when a World Expo pavilion, a trusted long-term partnership, and a bold vision for National Society sustainability come together? Loumbila is the story of how an architectural landmark from Milan became a lifeline for the Burkina Faso Red Cross, a place where volunteers are trained, communities empowered, and a National Society strengthens its autonomy through innovation, social enterprise, and immersive storytelling. It is a case study in resilient humanitarian development and foresight-driven cooperation.
A Partnership Forged Over Time
The transformation of Monaco’s Pavilion from the 2015 Milan World Expo into a humanitarian centre in Burkina Faso did not begin with Loumbila. It emerged from years of collaboration between the Monaco Red Cross (MRC) and the Burkina Faso Red Cross (CRBF), a partnership quietly and patiently cultivated under the thoughtful leadership of Claude Fabbretti, Head of International Programmes at the MRC.
Long before the pavilion was dismantled in Milan, both National Societies were already working side by side on initiatives that strengthened branches, built volunteer capacities, and extended essential services to communities. Commercial first aid, community programmes, training of trainers, governance support, and early preparedness efforts had already anchored the two organisations in a shared understanding of each other’s realities. These were stepping stones in a long-term approach to National Society Development (NSD), shaped by trust and mutual respect.
During my years as International Programmes Coordinator, I had the privilege to support this collaboration, helping to articulate needs, mobilise partners, and reinforce the communication channels that sustained the relationship. The shared commitment of Claude Fabbretti and Lazare Zoungrana, Secretary General of the Burkina Faso Red Cross, laid the foundation for what would later become one of the most ambitious humanitarian infrastructure projects in West Africa.
A Transformative Answer to NSD Priorities
Burkina Faso is a country where humanitarian needs shift rapidly, shaped by demographic change, climate pressures, and evolving regional dynamics. In this context, the Burkina Faso Red Cross plays a central and respected role as an auxiliary to the public authorities, supported by a vast volunteer network deeply rooted in communities. As its programmes expanded, strengthening its organisational resilience and sustaining its capacity became increasingly important. The question facing CRBF was how to consolidate its autonomy, reinforce its nationwide training systems, and continue delivering high-quality services grounded in local leadership and community trust.
From an NSD perspective, sustainability (financial, operational, and institutional) was essential. The National Society needed a model capable of generating local income, retaining trained staff, expanding its volunteer base, and maintaining services during shocks. Loumbila became the answer to these structural challenges.
Once the political and financial commitments were secured, the Monaco Pavilion was carefully dismantled in Milan, transported across continents, and reconstructed on a 6.5-hectare site just outside Ouagadougou. Its transformation into a regional humanitarian training centre was an intentional investment in the long-term future of the Burkina Faso Red Cross: a multi-purpose complex designed to train volunteers, improve livelihoods, support youth development, and generate domestic resources through hospitality and event services.
This hybrid design, combining humanitarian purpose with economic viability, is what makes Loumbila a rare and remarkable NSD-aligned model. By integrating hotel rooms, bungalows, event spaces, a restaurant, and a semi-Olympic swimming pool into a training campus, the centre effectively became a social enterprise that strengthens the National Society’s autonomy, even in periods of instability.
The Loumbila Centre was officially inaugurated on 12 January 2018 in the presence of H.S.H. Prince Albert II, H.S.H. Princess Charlene of Monaco, and the then President of Burkina Faso, Roch Marc Christian Kaboré, attended by his wife, Sika Bella Kaboré. The ceremony marked far more than the opening of a building. It signalled the launch of a new model of international cooperation, one in which humanitarian infrastructure is rooted in community needs and shaped by local leadership.
A Centre with Multiple Missions
The Loumbila Centre is now a regional reference point for humanitarian training. It delivers:
Red Cross/Red Crescent training in first aid, aquatic rescue, and operational preparedness for West African National Societies and partners.
Community integration training, such as swimming lessons to reduce drowning risks, and agroecology, marketing, and microcredit courses to improve livelihoods.
Professional training in hospitality and catering, offering a practical learning environment that connects participants directly to job opportunities.
Innovation, Storytelling, and Immersive Communications
The project’s success is rooted in strong partnerships, from technical collaborators and donor foundations to institutional allies. My role involved building and maintaining these alliances, notably through the communication dimension, aligning interests, and ensuring that the centre’s operations integrated humanitarian purpose with economic viability.
To support fundraising and broaden the project’s visibility, I built creative partnerships with artists, filmmakers, and a design school. Over several years, students worked on Loumbila as a real-life assignment, producing visual concepts and communication materials that helped bring the centre’s story to wider audiences. Their fresh perspectives added creative strength to the initiative and demonstrated how design and humanitarian action can meaningfully intersect.
As the project progressed, so too did the need to convey its impact to donors, governments, and Movement partners.
For that purpose, I travelled to Loumbila with a filmmaker to create a comprehensive suite of immersive, multilingual storytelling tools. We produced a 360° virtual tour, a 3D walkthrough, a short documentary, and a series of testimonies capturing the voices of trainers, young people, staff, and community members. These materials were designed not simply to inform, but to allow audiences far from Burkina Faso to “enter” the centre, feel its atmosphere, and meet the people whose lives and work shaped it.
The visibility of Loumbila reached a turning point during the 2019 Statutory Meetings in Geneva, which included the International Conference of the Red Cross and Red Crescent, the Movement’s highest-level diplomatic gathering. Held every four years, the International Conference brings together the States party to the Geneva Conventions, the leadership of the 190+ National Societies, and senior representatives of the IFRC and ICRC. It is a unique forum where humanitarian diplomacy, international humanitarian law, and global policy commitments are shaped collectively.
As President of the Monaco Red Cross, H.S.H. Prince Albert II attended the International Conference, underlining Monaco’s long-standing commitment to international humanitarian cooperation. His presence created an ideal moment to highlight Loumbila as a pioneering example of sustainable humanitarian infrastructure and National Society Development.
To seize this momentum, we organised a dedicated ‘Red Talk’ as an official side event of the Conference. The session brought together the Secretary General of the Burkina Faso Red Cross, senior representatives of the Monaco Red Cross, and the CEO of the Azalaï Hotels Group. It allowed partners, States, and Movement leaders to understand how Loumbila blends architectural innovation, revenue-generating services, and community-centred training to reinforce the long-term resilience of the Burkina Faso Red Cross.
The “Red Talk” was followed by an official visit to the Loumbila exhibition stand, where delegates, guided by colleagues from Burkina Faso Red Cross, explored a VR reconstruction of the centre and saw first-hand how the facility contributes to local capacity, volunteer development, and organisational autonomy.
A few years later, the centre’s environmental ambitions were further strengthened when its agroecology and microcredit activities received a micro-grant from Climate.Red TV, an initiative of the IFRC Solferino Academy supporting community-led climate innovation.
A Social Enterprise Strengthening Local Leadership
Since opening, Loumbila has become a reference point for training across West Africa. Volunteers and staff come to learn first aid, aquatic rescue, preparedness, leadership, hospitality, and agroecology. The centre also hosts community swimming lessons designed to reduce drowning risks, as well as livelihood and entrepreneurship modules that strengthen local economies.
What makes Loumbila exceptional is that it continues to finance a significant part of its own operations through its hospitality services. This revenue supports the Burkina Faso Red Cross in delivering programmes, maintaining critical services, and investing in the next generation of volunteers and staff, even during times of political instability or reduced external funding.
Loumbila reflects the core principles of the IFRC’s National Society Development framework: empowerment through local leadership, strengthened volunteer structures, domestic resource mobilisation, and sustained organisational growth. It embodies what can happen when innovation, partnership, and storytelling converge to serve a long-term vision.
Today, it stands as a living example of how two National Societies united by trust, respect, and a shared belief in local capacity can create something lasting, meaningful, and transformative.
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