New realities of politics and humanitarianism: between solidarity and abandonment
The COVID-19 pandemic has had a major impact on humanitarian needs and responses in the last year and put solidarity to the test. It also brought out in sharper relief ongoing issues around accountability, localization, and the politics of humanitarian action. Many of these topics are reflected in the conference programme. The conference will also be an opportunity to continue the discussion about power relations within the humanitarian sector, and the ethics of partnerships.
Panel themes:
- Theme 1 – Health and the Environment
- Theme 2 – Localising Humanitarian Studies
- Theme 3 – Political Economy and Politics of Humanitarianism
- Theme 4 – Technology and Innovation
- Theme 5 – Migration, Displacement and Refugees
Groupe URD contributes in three panels :
Are we making aid work better for people affected by crisis?
Participation of Véronique de Geoffroy, Groupe URD
November 3th, 2021
11.00 – 12.30 CET
Room 24
Last year, CHS Alliance published the Humanitarian Accountability Report 2020 which examined the degree to which organisations are meeting the Core Humanitarian Standard on Quality and Accountability (CHS) Commitments, the sector trends and highlighted the need for further strengthening of policy and practice to increase the sector’s accountability to people affected by crisis.
Recent work explored the state of accountability and protection from sexual exploitation, abuse, and harassment (PSEAH).
In this session, we will bring together CHS application enablers and organisations applying the CHS to share their experience on the application of the standard and the way it is contributing to making aid work better for people affected by crisis.
Join this session to discuss, challenge and contribute to set:
– Where are we and we are heading on the quality and accountability?
– How safe is the aid environment for people affected by crisis?
– How is the application of the Core Humanitarian Standard helping to improve our work?
– How to progress on the most challenging CHS commitments?
Lost in Quantification? Armed Conflict Databases and Humanitarian Practices
Participation of François Grünewald, Groupe URD
November 5th, 2021
11.00 – 12.30 CET
Amphithéâtre Albert Sorel
The main objective of this roundtable is to explore how humanitarian practices, studies, and representations are shaped (or not) by big data and quantitative analysis: To what extent does the quantification of conflict trend affects the humanitarian field? Do practitioners regularly rely on such analyses to inform their thinking on conflict? Does this quantification trend make sense and is useful for civil society actors and crisis-affected people? Can we detect differences in how conflict is understood by those who rely on ‘big data’ as opposed to those who base their assessments on qualitative, expert knowledge of a given region? What impact does quantification have on visions of conflict within the broader NGO community? What possible “futures” of conflict and related normative commitments do quantitative studies help to imagine and justify?
Local and spontaneous forms of solidarity, what inspiring changes for the aid sector?
Presented by Valérie Léon, Groupe URD, within the panel “Communities matter: Examining the role of informal support networks in humanitarian response”
November 5th, 2021
15:30 – 17:00 (GMT +2)
Room 21
Spontaneous initiatives of solidarity and mutual aid seem natural. In the event of a disaster, aren’t the people affected the first to clear away the rubble and help the injured? Let us remember the citizens and collectives organising the rescue of migrants on the coast of Lesbos or the assistance in Calais and Paris. During the pandemic, local initiatives were innumerable, replacing or filling in the gaps left by states.
The terms also abounded – mutual aid, self-help… – to designate forms of solidarity, which are attracting growing interest, but they are not really appropriated or integrated into the sector’s practices.
Local responses have also taken on a political mission in favour of socio-political change or the defence of rights. Could there be a shift towards supporting informal and localised forms of activism?
Not only do these initiatives question the established humanitarian architecture, but they are inspiring for the future of international solidarity.
Following on from recent work and the Autumn University on Humanitarian Aid, Groupe URD proposes to :
- Highlight innovative approaches to responses by affected communities (Haiti, Lebanon) and diasporas.
- To reflect on the implications for conventional aid actors and the aid sector.