Conference on Dutch approach to humanitarian action

A day after the parliamentary debate on humanitarian assistance, Clingendael and KUNO jointly organised a conference on future choices for humanitarian action. Using the frame of a crossroads moment in which political changes, funding changes, and the increasing calls for system reform demand critical reflection and discussion. 

Senior management from various Dutch-based humanitarian organisations, policy makers from the Dutch MFA, academics and students showed up in great numbers. The day was opened by Suying Lai, Chair of KUNO, who invited all participants to have an open-mind and collaborative spirit.  Erwin van Veen, head of Middle East programme at Clingendael then shared 10 geo-political and geo-economic trends that affect humanitarian assistance. The opening session was rounded off by a keynote from Dr Hugo Slim, who differentiated between war humanitarianism (going back to basics), climate humanitarianism (understanding and including the enormous threat of climate change in our humanitarian efforts) or to keep charting on as we were where different crises can prompt different types of humanitarianism.  

The audience then split into four round tables under Chatham House Rules, which were opened by various experts and practitioners

1. On humanitarian principles, opened by Professor Thea Hilhorst and Raphael Gorgeu
2. On Security and Access, opened by Barbara Boekhoudt from Stichting Vluchteling and Nic Lee, executive director of INSO
3. On Working with Others, opened by Yannick du Pont from the AIV and Anita Kattakuzhy from NEAR
4. On The Scope of Humanitarian assistance, opened by Dr Hugo Slim and Rolf Wijnstra from the MFA

The round tables produced recommendations for policy makers and humanitarian practitioners alike to a panel who were invited to give their first reflections on the recommendations. The panel was moderated by Leela Koenig, head of humanitarian negotiations at Clingendael. 

The day ended again with Suying Lai, who thanked all participants and invited all to continue these discussions and reflections in the months to come.