Challenge for Humanitarian action in conflicts
Date/Time
Date(s) - 23/03/2024
12:30 pm - 1:45 pm
Categories
On 23 March Warwick District UNA will host a meeting by Mr Martin Barber, Associate Fellow of International Security Programme at Chatham House, on the subject
Challenge for Humanitarian action in conflicts
The meeting will be both live and online. The live venue will be
Leamington Spa Baptist Church, Chandos Street, Leamington Spa, CV32 4RN
Click here for the link to the online version.
Dr Barber will be speaking on the role of humanitarian principles – humanity, impartiality, neutrality and independence – and their role in increasingly complicated armed conflicts. In an armed conflict, the safety, dignity, and livelihoods of civilian populations is the most pressing action and yet often the most difficult to ensure. The ‘humanitarian principles’ exist to enable humanitarian organizations which comply with them to distinguish themselves from parties to the conflict in order to provide humanitarian aid to civilians. Martin will also cover the role and work of UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). OCHA is a UN body established in December 1991 by the General Assembly to strengthen the international response to complex emergencies and natural disasters.
Martin is a retired senior UN official. He served as director of the United Nations Mine Action Service (UNMAS) at UN Headquarters from 2000 until 2005. Before that, he was chief of policy in the UN Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).
From 1996 to 1998, he was Deputy Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General in the UN Mission in Bosnia and Herzegovina. From 1989 to 1996, he worked with the UN Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Assistance to Afghanistan, serving as UN Humanitarian Coordinator in 1995-6.
More information about him at https://www.chathamhouse.org/about-us/our-people/martin-barber