HUMANITARIAN NEWSLETTER
July 7 - July 21, 2014 
Training Humanitarians Around The World
HUMANITARIAN SPOTLIGHT:
WFP OPERATIONS IN SYRIA

For over three years, the ongoing civil war in Syria has devastated the lives of millions of civilians. A human rights organization estimates that 160,000 people have lost their lives due to the conflict. There are nearly 3 million Syrian refugees who have fled to neighboring countries and 6.5 million internally displaced persons who remain within the country, putting the total number of Syrians forced to flee their homes around 9 million, almost half of the population. According to the United Nations, by the end of 2014, three quarters of the Syrian population are expected to require humanitarian aid or assistance.  

 

The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) has been working in Syria since 1964 bringing food assistance to the country. Currently, WFP is reaching nearly 4 million people per month in Syria with vital food assistance, and is helping hundreds of thousands of refugees who have fled into neighboring countries. Recently, WFP's Syria Country Director, Matthew Hollingworth (IDHA 1), spoke with the BBC's Jeremy Bowen in a video interview about the ongoing work of WFP in Syria as part of a larger story on the suffering civilians in the city of Aleppo.  

 

Speaking of the importance of WFP's work and mission, Hollingworth explains that "for many of the people you will have met who have been displaced two, three, four, five times over the last three years of war, [food] is the mainstay of everything that they can give to their families. Without this there is no question that we would start to see really serious cases of malnutrition." For more information, read the IIHA Humanitarian News Brief.
IIHA COMPLETES ITS 4th HUMAN RIGHTS IN HUMANITARIAN
CRISES COURSE

The Institute of International Humanitarian Affairs (IIHA) completed its 4th Human Rights in Humanitarian Crises (HRHC) training course at Fordham University in New York. The course was directed by Larry Hollingworth, C.B.E., IIHA Humanitarian Programs Director; Florian Razesberger (IDHA 20), Ph.D., Legal Officer for the Human Rights Review Panel at EULEX Kosovo; and Elisabeth Wickeri, J.D., Executive Director at the Leitner Center for International Law and Justice at Fordham Law School.

 

Instructors gave a wide variety of lectures on issues relating to humanitarian actors' obligations to respect, protect, and promote human rights under International Humanitarian Law (IHL). Larry Hollingworth presented on combatants' Rules of Engagement and the legal use of force, using specific instances from the recent wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. Elisabeth Wickeri taught students about the binding U.N. charters relating to IHL and their implications for states. Her personal experience working in China, where she monitored human rights and reported to the U.N., was used as a case study. Florian Razesberger lectured extensively on Human Rights Monitoring, where he incorporated his own experiences as a monitor of detainees in Afghanistan from 2011-2012.

 

Guest lecturers included Anthony Land, Ph.D., Senior Tutor for the Center for International Humanitarian Cooperation (CIHC) and Marc Garlasco. Currently a Senior Military Advisor for the U.N. Human Rights Council, Mr. Garlasco discussed his work and recent investigations of war crimes and human rights violations in international conflicts. 
Missed our Child Migration Panel?
Watch the video!
Child Migration and Central America: A Humanitarian Crisis
 Child Migration and Central America: 
A Humanitarian Crisis

For more information about this ongoing situation,
read the IIHA Humanitarian News Brief.

IDHA GRADUATES URGED TO BE INSTRUMENTS OF PEACE
 

Balancing peace with justice is not an easy task, but it's the only way to navigate the fraught world of international diplomacy, Ibrahim Gambari told the 43rd graduating class of Fordham's International Diploma in Humanitarian Assistance (IDHA) on June 27.
HUMANITARIANISM & ACADEMIA
Call for Papers

Second Call for Proposals Open! - Research for Health in Humanitarian Crises (R2HC)  

Deadline: July 10, 2014

 

Noteworthy Articles &  

Research Opportunities

 

Lord David Owen Speaks to IDHA 43 at Fordham University

 

Evidence Aid - How to Get Involved? 

Read more to find out how you can use Evidence Aid's resources, promote their findings, and input your research and ideas into their growing body of evidence.
ALUMNI UPDATES
Maureen Mupeta Kombe (IDHA 38 Graduate and IDHA 39 Tutor) recently completed her dissertation, "The Dual Burden of HIV, AIDS and Depression: Perspectives of Health Care Providers", towards her Masters in Social Work (MSW) at the University of Pretoria, South Africa. She will graduate in September with a specialization in health care (clinical/ medical social work).
Andy McElroy (IDHA 16) has recently published an article, "Kyrgyz Republic Assesses Over 3,000 Schools"
discussing how the Kyrgyz government is set to embark on a comprehensive five-year safe schools programme to provide a safer learning environment for the children. 
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JULY 6 - 12
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JOB/INTERNSHIP
OPPORTUNITIES
World Humanitarian Summit 2016

The UN Secretary-General will convene the first-ever global humanitarian summit in Istanbul in 2016. The goal of the World Humanitarian Summit is to find new ways to tackle humanitarian needs in our fast-changing world. This three-year initiative is being managed by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) and Dr. Jemilah Mahmood, International Diploma in Humanitarian Assistance (IDHA) Honoris Causa recipient, will head the WHS Secretariat at the United Nations headquarters in New York. The summit will set a new agenda for global humanitarian action. It will focus on humanitarian effectiveness, reducing vulnerability and managing risk, transformation through innovation, and serving the needs of people in conflict. 

 WHS 2016 Update

 

June was a busy month for the World Humanitarian Summit. On June 19th and 20th, the WHS held its first regional consultation meeting in Abidjan, C�te d'Ivoire (Ivory Coast). A number of exciting decisions came out of this West and Central African Regional Consultation event.

The WHS discussions continue on with a series of live webinars organized in collaboration with Professionals in Humanitarian Assistance and Protection (PHAP), which will include key humanitarian specialists from around the world. The next webinar will be held on Friday, July 11th and will feature U.N. Emergency Relief Coordinator, Valerie Amos.
 
If you would like to listen to the archived sessions of previous WHS webinars, you can find them along with summaries here.  
NEW YORK EVENTS

PLURAL+ Youth Video Festival 

Monday, July 7, 2014 - July 18, 2014 |

1:00 PM - 4:00 PM (EDT)

 

Organized by the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations (UNAOC), this video festival will screen youth-produced content from around the world related to migration, diversity and social inclusion.

 

For more information: Please visit PLURAL+ Youth Video Festival 

 

To register: Please email Syed Kazmi at skazmi@iom.int 

 

Location: 22 East 42nd Street, 48th Floor (on Lexington Ave) 
Global Launch of the UNDP MPTF Office Report on Financing Recovery for Resilience

July 10, 2014 | 1:15 PM - 2:00 PM

 

Join UNDP's Multi-Partner Trust Fund Office this Thursday, July 10th from 1:15pm to 2:00pm for the global launch of the Report - Financing Recovery for Resilience: Enhancing the coverage, capitalization and coherence of pooled financing mechanisms for recovery to strengthen synergies between humanitarian, development and climate finance. The Report is based on a mapping and comparative analysis of humanitarian, development and climate adaptation pooled financing mechanisms at the global and country level. It highlights practical steps to enhance the effectiveness of country-level development pooled financing mechanisms for recovery.

 

Copies of the Report will be made available in the room. 

For more information: Please click here or to read the Abstract on Financing Recovery for Resilience Report    

To register: Please email Biljana Vasic at biljana.vasic@undp.org

Location: United Nations Headquarters, North Lawn Buuilding, Conference Room E (2nd Floor), New York, NY, 10017 
IMPACT Summer Academy for Emerging Global Leaders

Wednesday, July 16, 2014 | 

9:00 AM - 6:30 PM (EDT)

 

IMPACT Leadership 21 is a movement and a platform committed to accelerating and transforming women's global leadership at the highest level of influence in the 21st century.

This event is a full day leadership workshop designed for young leaders on how to navigate the challenges of a diverse, hyper-connected world. 

To register: Please visit Impact Leadership 21

Location: 777 United Nations Plaza | New York, NY 10017

65th ANNUAL UN DPI/NGO CONFERENCE
2015 and Beyond: Our Action Agenda
Wednesday, August 27 - Friday, August 29, 2014  
 
The 65th Annual UN DPI/ NGO Conference will take place at a critical time in the post-2015 process. As the international community strives to achieve the Millennium Development Goals while formulating the post-2015 development agenda including the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), 2015 is recognized to be a once-in-a-generation opportunity for transformational change. The purpose of this Conference is to harness the strategies, expertise and resources across the broadest spectrum of civil society to move poverty eradication, sustainability, human rights and climate justice into the mainstream discourse, and spark sustained public demand for lasting political action in support of an ambitious outcome from the post-2015 sustainable development process.
 
For more information: Please click here.

Location: United Nations Headquarters, New York, USA
Monday, September 22 - 
Tuesday, September 23, 2014
 
The high-level plenary meeting of the United Nations (UN) General Assembly, to be known as the World Conference on Indigenous Peoples (WCIP), to be held in 2014 in order to share perspectives and best practices on the realization of the rights of Indigenous peoples, including to pursue the objectives of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, and invites the President of the General Assembly to conduct open-ended consultations with member states and with indigenous peoples' representatives in the framework of the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, as well as, the Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and the Special Rapporteur in order to determine the modalities of this meeting, including indigenous peoples' participation at the Conference (A/RES/65/198).

For more information: Please visit UN WCIP 

 

Location: United Nations Headquarters, New York, USA
Machik Weekend

Friday, November 21- Sunday, November 23, 2014 

 

Machik Weekend is an annual gathering for dialogue, exploration and understanding among people who share a passion for the ideals of service and civic engagement in Tibet. It is a unique space to share and learn about path-breaking service projects, dynamic leaders and resilient communities in Tibet. 

For more information: Please visit Machik Weekend

To register: Please click here and follow the prompt.

Location: Fordham University, NY 
NATIONAL EVENTS

Monday, August 4 - Friday, August 8, 2014

 

This path-breaking seminar to be held from August 4-8, 2014 at the Goldman School of Public Policy, at the University of California, Berkeley, will focus on using a rights-based approach to setting and measuring policy to achieve gender equity. The program is recommended for emerging and established leaders in government and non-governmental sectors (non-profits), committed to developing results-based policies to achieve gender equity at local, state, or national levels. 

 

For more information: Please visit aiwid women's rights.

Location: University of California, Berkeley 
Wednesday, November 19 -
Thursday, November 20, 2014

The Aid & International Development Forum's 6th annual Disaster Relief Summit is the world-leading gathering for international humanitarian experts at relief agencies, NGOs and charity associations, UN and government agencies, development banks and donors and innovative technology and service providers. AIDF summits are designed to create a mutual platform to facilitate and encourage exchange of thoughts, share expertise and present the lessons learned through first-hand experiences. The summit strives to enable quicker and better response during crisis and catastrophes in a more effective, sustainable and cost-efficient way.

 

To register: Please register online here.

Location: Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center, 1300 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, Washington DC, 20004, USA
INTERNATIONAL EVENTS
Humanitarian action in Fragile Contexts: New actors in the Humanitarian Space

Tuesday, July 8, 2014 | 5:30 PM (BST)

 

This discussion will address how emerging actors--non-Western or faith-based influence INGO's decisions regarding security risk management and how traditional actors engage with these newcomers. The speakers will also address the idea of "humanitarian space" and with whom should we share it.

For more information: Please visit European Interagency Security Forum 

 

To register: Please contact Raquel Vazquez at eisf-research@eisf.eu 

 

Location: King's College, London
Tuesday, July 8, 2014 | 10:30 AM - 1:00 PM (GMT+01 (BST))

Significant progress in education has been made across the globe over the past decades. Many nations have stepped up efforts to improve their education systems, with the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) focusing particular attention on completion of primary schooling and improving gender equity, and Education for All setting a broader ambitious agenda. This public event takes us beyond discussions on global goals to examine political and socio-economic factors that drive education progress at a national level, looking particularly at improvements in quality at primary level and expanding access to post-primary education. 

 

For more information: Please visit the Overseas Development Institute.  

To register: Please click here and follow the prompt.

Location: 203 Blackfriars Road, London, SE1 8NJ, UK
'Towards Human Development':
A Book in Honour of Sir Richard Jolly

Thursday, July 10, 2014 | 12:00 PM - 2:00 PM (GMT +01 (BST))

 

Overseas Development Institute invites you to join a book signing/ honoring of Sir Richard Jolly. He has been an advocate for human development over many years and his book Toward Human Development looks back at his achievements and ahead to some of the great challenges now facing governments in their policies toward development and equality. 

 

For more information: Please visit Overseas Development Institute 

To register: Please click here and follow the prompts.

Location: 203 Blackfriars Road, London, SE1 8NJ, UK
Women, Migration and Development: Investing in the Future

Thursday July 17 - Friday, July 18, 2014

 

This international conference aims to highlight solutions for improving the protection of migrant's rights. It will focus on women migrant workers and challenges in developing lasting policy solutions.  

For more information: Please visit the Overseas Development Institute

To register: Please click here and follow the prompts.

Location: 203 Blackfriars Road, London, SE1 8NJ, UK 

Humanitarian Innovation Conference

Saturday, July 19 - Sunday, July 20, 2014

  

This conference aims to provide a platform for discussion and debate, bringing together actors from UN agencies, NGOs, academia, and both the public and private sectors. It will discuss ideas traditionally used in the private sector to improve the responses in emergencies, protracted crisis and post-conflict recovery and how humanitarians have turned to innovative solutions to face critical challenges in the field.

 

To register: Please visit the Oxford University website 

For more information: Please contact hiproject@qeh.ox.ac.uk 

Location: Parks Road, Keble College | University of Oxford, OX1 3PG  
Tuesday, September 16 - Thursday, September 18, 2014

In 2013, the Humanitarian Partnership Conference brought together universities and NGOs working in the humanitarian sector. The result was multiple collaborations and ongoing conversation. This year, the 3 day conference wants to take this conversation to the next level by expanding stakeholder representation and engagement and addressing topical issues in the world of Humanitarian Assistance.

 

For more information: Please click here or contact Sheila Waruhiu at s.waruhiu@savethechildren.org.uk.

Location: Nairobi, Kenya
Monday, November 3 - Wednesday, November 5, 2014

The 2nd international Conference on Urban Sustainability and Resilience will be held at University College London from November 3rd - 5th, 2014. The inaugural conference took place in 2012 and was a great success, generating a high level of interest and a stimulating agenda-setting debate.
For any additional questions or topic suggestions: Please email usarconference2014@ucl.ac.uk.

For more information: Please visit the website. 

 

To register: Please click here.

 

Location: University College London, Chadwick Building, Gower Street, London, WC1E 6BT, UK
ONLINE EVENTS
The Future of Humanitarian Action - Live Q&A on the World Humanitarian Summit with Valerie Amos

Friday, July 11, 2014 

 

The World Humanitarian Summit (WHS) in Istanbul, Turkey in 2016 - as well as the regional consultations leading up to it - is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to bring people and groups together over the next two years to think through and try to find better ways to address humanitarian challenges that happen as a result of disasters and conflicts, building on successes, and learning from mistakes.

 

During this special one-hour live online event, Ms. Amos will share her vision for the World Humanitarian Summit and the outcomes hoped for from the global event in Istanbul in 2016.

 

For more information: Please click here.

 

To register: Please click here and follow the prompts.
Enhancing Humanitarian Accountability via the 'Constituent Voice' Approach
Tuesday, July 22, 2014 | 10:00 AM (EST)

Join us, as Nick van Praag of Ground Truth Solutions discusses how their constituent voice approach can help improve the quality and accountability of aid provided to crisis-affected populations. Through this 1-hour webinar, participants will learn: 
  • How to make people the focus of program design and performance
  • How to bring together traditional social science models of participation with an approach to feedback adapted from the customer satisfaction industry
  • How aid agencies can effectively listen to those in need and integrate what they learn into the design and implementation of their programs

For more information: Please visit DisasterReady.org and sign up for free to see all available resources.

 

To register: Please click here and follow the prompts.
Thursday, July 24, 2014 | 2:00 PM - 3:30 PM (BST)

This edition of ALNAP's Urban Webinar series focuses on the use of mapping in urban humanitarian response. It will address broader questions of how humanitarians can harness technology to help them understand complex urban systems, what different types of mapping are available to humanitarians and what needs to change in order to better integrate mapping efforts into humanitarian response. It will then highlight the Rapid City Profiles created by UN Habitat and how these are contributing to the Syria Response. Two presentations will be followed by a Q&A session, during which we invite the audience to submit questions in advance or in real time, as well as to contribute their own experiences of mapping urban response. 

 

For more information: Please visit the ALNAP website.  

To register: Please click here and follow the prompt.
Invitation to the 2014 Climate, Buildings and Behavior Symposium Situations of Armed Conflict
Wednesday, October 8 - Friday, October 10, 2014
  

This event will bring together real estate professionals from for-profit and non-for-profit firms, building industry experts and behavior change researchers from across the country to explore the science and practice behind successful approaches from enhancing sustainable practices, reducing energy consumption, and significantly lowering the cost of operations in multi-family residential and commercial buildings. 

 

For more information: Please visit the Garrison Institute website.  

To register: Please click here and follow the prompt.