Kristien joined the ICRC in 2020 serving as an armed forces delegate in various contexts including Central African Republic, Cameroon, Chad, and Gabon. Before joining the ICRC, Kristien served 20 years in the Belgian Armed Forces with deployments in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. She holds a master’s degree in political science and international relations from the Université Libre de Bruxelles and a master’s in Social and Military Sciences of the Royal Military Academy in Brussels.