Navigating the limits and evolving role of humanitarian aid

Gaza, Sudan, and if not aid, what?

The New Humanitarian and Refugees International are hosting two panel discussions on the state and future of humanitarian action, held on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly 2024.

Panel 1: Gaza, Sudan, and the limits of humanitarian action

In both Gaza and Sudan, humanitarian advocacy, diplomacy, and action have failed to mitigate spiraling human catastrophes. Why? It’s time to have a brutally honest conversation about the factors preventing aid organisations from mounting meaningful responses in both contexts. What do these failures say about the sector overall, and does the definition of humanitarianism need to expand to incorporate other forms of action that can help alleviate human suffering?

Panel 2: If not aid, then what?  

Can power truly shift in a sector whose origins are rooted in colonialism? If not, what lies beyond the international aid system as we know it? This panel, convened by The New Humanitarian, the Center for Transformational Change and Refugees International, will examine the systemic limitations of the current global aid architecture, whether it can evolve for the better, and what comes next.

Speakers

Eric Reidy, editor and reporter, Migration and Special Coverage for the The New Humanitarian will moderate the first session. The second event will be led by Lina Srivastava, founder of the Center for Transformational Change and co-host of The New Humanitarian’s upcoming podcast, Power Shift.

• Alex de Waal
  Executive Director of the World Peace Foundation at Tufts University.
• Arwa Damon
  Ex-CNN Senior Correspondent President & Founder of INARA 
• Aarathi Krishnan
  Founder of Raksha Intelligence Futures Former Head of Strategic Foresight at UNDP Asia-Pacific
• Thaer Ahmad
  Palestinian-American emergency medicine physician Board member of MedGlobal.
• Alex Gray
  Director of International Funds, The Center for Disaster Philanthropy
• Hanin Ahmed
  Emergency Response Room volunteer and Sudanese activist
• Jeremy Konyndyk
  President of Refugees International, humanitarian advocate
• Nadine Saba
  Co-founder and director of Akkar Network for Development

Notes

These two events are being hosted by The New Humanitarian and Refugees International on the sidelines of the 2024 UNGA. For those not able to be in New York in person, you can join online. Register here