Washington Humanitarian Forum

The CSIS Humanitarian Agenda is hosting the first annual Washington Humanitarian Forum on September 19th, 2019. This full-day conference will focus on humanitarian challenges that sit at the intersection of United States national security and foreign policy priorities. This year’s theme is Unlocking Humanitarian Access – Opportunities for U.S. Leadership.
 
The Washington Humanitarian Forum will include the launch of a report produced by the CSIS Task Force on Humanitarian Access. The Task Force, co-chaired by Senator Todd Young (R-IN) and Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ), looked at ways in which denial, delay, and diversion prevents humanitarian assistance from reaching the most vulnerable populations, and vice versa, in conflict-affected areas. The Task Force report analyzes challenges in priority countries for the United States and includes recommendations for how United States leadership can mitigate the most pressing access challenges.

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AGENDA

 

8:00 a.m. – 8:30 a.m. | Check-in and Coffee Networking

 

8:30 a.m. – 9:15 a.m. | Opening Plenary

• Video Address: Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ) and Senator Todd Young (R-IN)
• Introductions: J. Stephen Morrison, Senior Vice President and Director, Global Health Policy Center, CSIS
• Opening Keynote: Mark Lowcock, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs 
• Moderator: Kimberly Flowers, Director, Humanitarian Agenda & Global Food Security Projects, CSIS  

9:15 a.m. – 10:15 a.m. | Task Force Report Launch

• Ambassador Ertharin Cousin, former Executive Director, UN World Food Programme
• Patricia McIlreavy, Vice President for Policy and Practice, InterAction 
• Dr. Paul B. Spiegel, Director, Center for Humanitarian Health, Johns Hopkins University 
• Anne Witkowsky, former Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Stability and Humanitarian Affairs, Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy, U.S. Department of Defense 
• Moderator: Kimberly Flowers, Director, Humanitarian Agenda and Global Food Security Project, CSIS 

10:15 a.m. – 10:30 a.m. | Networking Coffee Break

 

10:30 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. | Morning Breakout Panels

 
The Humanitarian Implications of Cyber Conflict

• Colonel Gary Corn, Director and Adjunct Professor, Washington College of Law, American University
• Shanthi Kalathil, Senior Director, International Forum for Democratic Studies, National Endowment for Democracy
• Moderator: James Andrew Lewis, Senior Vice President and Director, Technology Policy Program, CSIS

Yemen’s Crisis

• Dr. Aisha Jumaan, Founder and President, Yemen Relief and Reconstruction Foundation
• Peter Salisbury, Consulting Senior Analyst on Yemen, International Crisis Group
• Sheba Crocker, Vice President for Humanitarian Policy and Practice, CARE
• Moderator: Jon Alterman, Senior Vice President, Zbiegniew Brzezinski Chair in Global Security and Geostrategy, and Director, Middle East Program, CSIS

Access in the Hot Zone: Navigating the DRC Ebola Outbreak

• Admiral Tim Ziemer, Senior Deputy Assistant Administrator, Bureau for Democracy Conflict, and Humanitarian Assistance, USAID
• Ella Watson-Stryker, Humanitarian Representative, Médecins Sans Frontières
• Jeremy Konyndyk, Senior Policy Fellow, Center for Global Development 
• Moderator: J. Stephen Morrison, Senior Vice President and Director, Global Health Policy Center, CSIS 

12:00 p.m. – 1:00 p.m. | Lunch

 

1:00 p.m. – 2:30 p.m. | Afternoon Breakout Panels

 
The Growing Humanitarian Access Challenge in Eastern Ukraine

• Alexander Hug, Former Deputy Chief Monitor, Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine, Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE)
• Melinda Haring, Editor, UkraineAlert, Atlantic Council 
• Margot Ellis, Senior Deputy Assistant Administrator, Europe and Eurasia, USAID 
• Moderator: Heather Conley, Senior Vice President for Europe, Eurasia, and the Arctic; and Director, Europe Program, CSIS 

Rethinking Nigeria’s Response to the Boko Haram Crisis

• Brandon Kendhammer, Associate Professor of Political Science, Ohio University
• Fati Abubakar, Documentary photographer and Public Health Worker 
• Ambassador Alex Laskaris, former Deputy to the Commander for Civil-Military Engagement, U.S. Africa Command 
• Dafna Hochman Rand, Vice President for Policy and Research, Mercy Corps 
• Moderator: Judd Devermont, Director, Africa Program, CSIS 

A New Age of Humanitarian Reporting?

• Heba Aly, Director, The New Humanitarian
• Arwa Damon, Senior International Correspondent, CNN
• Sherine Tadros, Head of New York Office & UN Representative, Amnesty International
• Moderator: Jacob Kurtzer, Deputy Director and Senior Fellow, Humanitarian Agenda, CSIS 

2:30 p.m. – 2:45 p.m. | Networking Coffee Break

 

2:45 p.m. – 3:30 p.m. | Closing Remarks

• Closing Keynote: Jan Egeland, Secretary General, Norwegian Refugee Council
• Moderator: Kimberly Flowers, Director, Humanitarian Agenda & Global Food Security Project, CSIS 

 

This event was made possible through the support of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).