Seminar: Er den humanitære bistandssektor i rette form?

TIME: Wednesday, 16 May, 15.30 – 17.00

VENUE: Danish Institute for International Studies, Main Auditorium, Strandgade 71, ground floor, Christianshavn, 1401 Copenhagen K

TIME: Wednesday, 16 May, 15.30 – 17.00

VENUE: Danish Institute for International Studies, Main Auditorium, Strandgade 71, ground floor, Christianshavn, 1401 Copenhagen K

The past decade has brought profound changes to the world of humanitarian aid. The contexts of operation have changed, expectations to what aid can/should do have grown, and the complexity of operations has increased as new types of private, governmental, and non-governmental actors have joined the field.

While the humanitarian sector is thriving in terms of employment and budgets, the question is if it is fit for its purpose and the conditions of today, and how it may change in the coming years.

Few are as well placed to discuss these issues as Peter Walker, Director of the Feinstein International Center which has been carrying out research on humanitarian crises for some 14 years.

The presentation pulls together seven of the key lessons the research has uncovered about how agencies work today and what this tells us about their fitness for dealing with future crises in this more globalized world of ours.

Speaker:

Peter Walker is director of the Feinstein International Center at Tufts University and Rosenberg Professor of Nutrition and Human Security. He is director of the Center since September 2002 and active in development and disaster response since 1979.

Peter has worked for a number of British-based NGOs and environmental organizations in several African countries, as well as having been a university lecturer and director of a food wholesaling company.

Peter joined the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies in Geneva in 1990 where he was Director of Disaster Policy for 10 years before moving to Bangkok as Head of the Federation’s regional programs for Southeast Asia.

He has published widely on subjects as diverse as the development of indigenous knowledge and famine early warning systems to the role of military forces in disaster relief.

Peter was the founder and manager of the World Disasters Report and played a key role in initiating and developing both the Code of Conduct for disaster workers and the Sphere humanitarian standards.

Programme:

15.30-15.40: Introduction; Finn Stepputat, Senior Researcher, DIIS

15.40-16.20: Fit for Purpose: Seven Things I Wish I had Known Ten Years Ago; Peter Walker, Director, Feinstein International Center

16.20-17.00: Q & A

The seminar will be held in English.

Participation is free of charge, but registration is required. Please use the online registration form on the website no later than Tuesday, 15 May at 12 noon.