Coming and recent events
Please check below for updates on upcoming events, including details on how to sign up and watch online.
Upcoming events |
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Check back here for details of our upcpming events.
Did you miss something you wanted to attend? Check out the audio and takeaways for recent events, below.
Past events |
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| Thursday 18 June 2020 | When the West falls into crisis: Rethinking humanitarianism in the midst of #BlackLivesMatter and COVID-19 |
| Tuesday 31 March 2020 | Burkina Faso's Spiralling Crisis |
| Thursday 19 March 2020 | How will COVID-19 impact crisis zones? |
| Monday 20 January 2020 | Ten humanitarian crises and trends to watch in 2020 |
| Thursday 27 June 2019 | In conversation with The New Humanitarian: The Grand Bargain – where to now? |
| Monday 13 May 2019 | From the Ground Up: Local and indigenous approaches to humanitarian aid and disaster risk reduction |
| Wednesday 10 April 2019 | Launch of the Fragile States Index 2019 |
| Friday 22 March 2019 | From the ground up: the state of local aid |
| Thursday 21 March 2019 | IRIN becomes The New Humanitarian |
| Tuesday 29 January 2019 | The future of the UN's agency for Palestine refugees |
| Thursday 8 November 2018 | Countering Militancy in the Sahel: What Works? What doesn't? |
| Wednesday 7 November 2018 | Media's Local and Global Contributions to Peacebuilding |
When the West falls into crisis: Rethinking humanitarianism in the midst of #BlackLivesMatter and COVID-19
#BlackLivesMatter, COVID-19, and the fragility of democratic institutions in America are converging to challenge our assumptions of how we define a crisis.
The globalisation of vulnerability – made clear by the coronavirus pandemic and a global anti-racism movement – is putting into question traditional conceptions of humanitarian aid too.
As suffering and violations of rights in the West become more visible, it’s hard to argue that “we” are helping “them”. And many of those communities in need are looking for social justice and functioning institutions, not bags of rice and plastic sheeting.
Will this historic moment force a rethink of international solidarity?
Watch the recording or read the takeaways.
Speakers:
Candace Rondeaux, in Washington, DC, who spent years as an analyst with the International Crisis Group before joining the Center on the Future of War and New America’s International Security Program as senior fellow, while also being a columnist at the World Politics Review, on why America is a fragile state.
Award-winning writer and filmmaker Uzodinma Iweala, CEO of The Africa Center in New York and author of Beasts of No Nation – on the links between racism in the US and flawed assistance abroad and why philanthropy should be recast as reparations.
Aid worker and member of Black Women in Development, Angela Bruce-Raeburn, regional advocacy director for Africa at the Global Health Advocacy Incubator in Washington, DC – on why this is a turning point in which ‘white saviour’ aid is losing the little credibility it had left.
Abby Maxman, President and CEO of Oxfam America, which is prioritising local humanitarian leadership to “fight inequalities, power and privilege” in aid – on how the humanitarian system must shift to operate in this brave new world.
With additional insights from Nairobi and Geneva:
Cartoonist and political commentator Patrick Gathara, who has worked on stabilising Somalia and navigating political strife in his own country, Kenya – on the irony of it all.
Degan Ali, CEO of Adeso, an NGO trying to change the way people think about and deliver aid in Africa – on why it has taken so long for the sector to face up to its racist and colonialist roots.
Humanitarian foresight advisor Aarathi Krishnan – on alternative futures for humanitarian action.
Moderated by Heba Aly, Director of The New Humanitarian.
Burkina Faso's Spiralling Crisis
How will COVID-19 impact crisis zones?
Ten humanitarian crises and trends to watch in 2020
In conversation with The New Humanitarian: The Grand Bargain – where to now?
A breakfast curtain raiser to the annual Grand Bargain meeting
Thursday 27 June 2019, 7:30 – 9:00 am
The Humanitarium, ICRC, 17 Avenue de la paix, 1202 Geneva, Switzerland
Three years on, the Grand Bargain – a unique agreement between the largest aid donors and humanitarian agencies – remains the reference for improving the effectiveness and efficiency of humanitarian action. But the annual self-reporting exercise, as well as feedback from people affected by crises, both show mixed results in terms of delivering tangible results on the ground.
Has the Grand Bargain delivered all it can to improve the lives of those in need? Where should signatories focus their efforts in the next two years to really shift the needle?
The New Humanitarian held a frank, no-holds-barred conversation for a window into the discussions to follow behind closed doors. Over coffee and croissants, attendees heard a handful of ‘pitches’ on the best way to push the aid reform agenda forward, based on new research into localisation, perceptions of affected communities and humanitarian business models, and voted for their pick. The outcome was shared publicly to inform the rest of the day’s discussions at the official Grand Bargain meeting.
The discussion was moderated by Ben Parker, Senior Editor for The New Humanitarian (formerly IRIN News), in conversation with:
- Birgitta Tazelaar, Deputy Director-General for International Cooperation, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands, representing the incoming Eminent Person of the Grand Bargain, Minister Sigrid Kaag
- Katie Sams, Director of External Resources, International Committee of the Red Cross
- Jeremy Konyndyk, Senior Policy Fellow, Centre for Global Development and former director of the Office of US Foreign Disaster Assistance
- Sema Genel Karaosmanoğlu, Chair of the Leadership Council, NEAR Network
- Rachel Scott, Team Lead and Senior Policy Analyst for Crises and Fragility, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development
- Bonaventure Gbétoho Sokpoh, Head of Policy, Advocacy & Learning, CHS Alliance
If our similar Grand Bargain curtain raiser two years ago is any indication, we’re likely to draw a full house, so please RSVP to reserve your spot:
This event was co-hosted by The New Humanitarian (formerly IRIN News) and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).
LAUNCH OF THE FRAGILE STATES INDEX 2019
Wednesday 10 April 2019, 18:15 - 20:00
Auditorium A1B, Maison de la Paix, Chemin Eugène-Rigot 2A, Geneva, Switzerland
Following a tumultuous year around the globe, Cameroon, Brazil, the United Kingdom, and Venezuela are among the countries that have fallen furthest down the Fragile States Index (FSI), an annual ranking carried out by The Fund for Peace and published with The New Humanitarian (formerly IRIN News).
On Wednesday 10 April 2019, we discussed the findings of the 15th FSI and its relevance to the humanitarian sector at the Graduate Institute’s Centre on Conflict, Development and Peacebuilding (CCDP). The event, jointly convened between the Graduate Institute, The New Humanitarian, and Fund for Peace, featured a briefing on the FSI and its findings for 2019 and a panel discussion on the changing humanitarian focus on fragile states and the role of the media in chronicling the immediate and long-term impact of social, political, and economic pressures on lives and livelihoods around the world.
Missed the event? Watch the livestream on our website.
About the Fragile States Index:
The FSI annually highlights the current trends in social, economic and political pressures that affect all states, but can strain some beyond their capacity to cope. Linking robust social science with modern technology, the FSI is unique in its integration of quantitative data with data produced using content-analysis software, processing information from millions of publicly available documents. The result is an empirically-based, comprehensive ranking of the pressures experienced by 178 nations. The Index is used by policy makers, civil society, academics, journalists, investors, and businesses around the world.
Humanitarian needs are soaring and donor funds aren't keeping pace. Local aid workers are pushing to take a leading role on the front lines of crises, but is the global aid sector prepared for change?
The New Humanitarian has been boosting its reporting on locally driven humanitarian action, ensuring that the voices of local humanitarians are heard. Our coverage explores how local aid is taking shape, examines the aid sector’s stalled “localisation” reforms, and sparks discussion on what it means to be a humanitarian in 2019.
Our latest webinar, “From the ground up: the state of local aid”, on Friday 22 March, heard how local responses are evolving, asked tough questions about mistrust and risk in the aid sector, and challenged perceptions – both local and international – of what makes a humanitarian response effective.
The discussion was moderated by Irwin Loy, Project Editor for The New Humanitarian. Our panelists included:
- Regina Salvador-Antequisa, executive director for ECOWEB, a civil society organisation based in Mindanao, in the Philippines
- Sune Gudnitz, associate director for strategy and partnerships with RedR Australia, a humanitarian training organisation, and former head of UN OCHA in the Pacific
- Evans Onyiego, director for Caritas Maralal in northern Kenya
Thank you for your interest in our webinar. In case you missed it, catch up with the full audio recording:
Support for this coverage has been provided by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
Tuesday 29 January 2019, 18.30 CET
The future of the UN's agency for Palestine refugees
Heba Aly, Director of IRIN, was in discussion with Pierre Krähenbühl, Commissioner-General of UNRWA (United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees).
Catch up with the livestream from Tuesday, 29 January at 18.30 CET.
We’ve all seen the images of angry young people brandishing guns in the name of religion. But what drives them to join militant movements, and what may convince them to disengage?
IRIN News has been broadening its coverage of insurgent conflicts in Africa’s Sahel region to better understand the causes of violent extremism and its humanitarian impact. Our reporting aims to help identify interventions that could help build tolerance, reconciliation, and a sustainable peace.
Our recent webinar "In Conversation with IRIN: Countering Militancy in the Sahel", on Thursday 8 November at 13:00-13:40 CET, discussed some of the findings from our five-nation reporting project. We explored what works and doesn’t work to counter violent extremism, talking with analysts and journalists who work in the region.
The discussion was moderated by Obi Anyadike, IRIN’s editor-at-large, who is a regular commentator on Boko Haram for media outlets around the world.
Our panelists included:
- Chika Oduah, journalist and writer focusing on the Boko Haram insurgency in northeastern Nigeria
- Idayat Hassan, director of the Abuja-based Centre for Democracy and Development
- Ryan Cummings, a director at risk mitigation firm Signal Risk and an independent analyst specialising in terrorism and political instability in Africa
Participation is free and open to all.
Thank you for your interest in our webinar. In case you missed it, catch up with our key takeaways.
Support for this project has been provided by the Open Society Initiative for West Africa.
In this age of clickbait, fake news and competing headlines, there is a greater need for quality journalism than ever before. News coverage of humanitarian crises in particular has a role to play in informing local populations as well as international decision-makers.
Our special afternoon event in Geneva on Wednesday 7 November at 13:00-14:15 at the UN Palais brought together a group of prominent local and international journalists for a debate on the contributions that the media can make to peacebuilding.
The discussion was moderated by Stéphane Bussard, Geneva Correspondent for Le Temps, and speakers included:
- Josephine Schmidt, Executive Editor of IRIN News and a former Editor at the New York Times
- Obi Anyadike, Editor at Large, IRIN News and OSF Fellow on Nigeria
- Michel Beuret, Head of Editorial at Fondation Hirondelle and former Reporter for RTS
- Martin Faye, Fondation Hirondelle’s Representative in Mali
To get the latest #GVAPeaceWeek updates, follow us on Twitter (@IRINNews)