The International Institute of Social Studies is hosting the third edition of The Hague Humanitarian Studies Centre’s One-Day Conference, in cooperation with KUNO, which will look at how global political currents affect the work of humanitarian actors and researchers.
- Speaker
- Date
- Friday 12 Sep 2025, 09:30 - 18:00
- Type
- Conference
- Spoken Language
- English
- Room
- Aula B
- Location
- International Institute of Social Studies
Global political currents are buffeting humanitarian action and humanitarian studies in multiple contexts across the world, with decisions taken in places like Washington severely affecting everyday humanitarian actors.
For humanitarian actors and researchers, these new times require adapting, reworking and remixing of humanitarian activities to ensure adherence to principles like ‘do no harm’, and continuing to work in vulnerable and fragile places. A major concern is the status of respecting and upholding International Humanitarian Law, including the protection of medical and humanitarian workers.
At the same time, humanitarianism has a strong focus on localized responses, with contextual actors and affected populations being required to take more and more of the brunt of funding cuts, and more and more of the tasks associated with humanitarian programming.
The questions that will be approached during this conference are:
- How can humanitarian studies adapt and remix within these new contexts?
- Where does power lie now, as the responsibilities and complications pile up?
- What is the role of academia/researchers in these challenging times?
- And how can we see the positive within a sea of negative headlines?
This third edition of The Hague Humanitarian Studies Centre’s One-Day Conference brings together humanitarian scholars and practitioners to share their knowledge, pose questions and exchange ideas.
Speakers
Keynote speaker
Tammam Aloudat, CEO of The New Humanitarian.
Dr Aloudat, a Syrian-Swiss physician with over two decades of experience at the forefront of international humanitarian organisations, is a leading advocate for decolonizing global health and advancing humanitarianism. He started his humanitarian career as a volunteer for the Syrian Red Crescent, and then with the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) in Iraq after the invasion in 2003. Over the last 20 years, he has worked in emergencies ranging from conflicts and forced displacement to disasters and disease outbreaks – from Darfur to the Indian Ocean tsunami to the Haiti earthquake. His most recent role was as President of MSF Netherlands and as a member of MSF's International Board.
Panel
More about the organizers
The Hague Humanitarian Studies Centre (HSC) is a hive of initiatives and activities aimed at academic and applied research; teaching and training; networking, outreach and advocacy.
KUNO is the Platform for Humanitarian Knowledge Exchange. It operates as a dynamic and inclusive collaborative network that connects humanitarian practitioners, academics, policymakers, civil society actors, and other relevant stakeholders.
