How to protect civilians?
SUCCESSFUL: Protection of civilians and humanitarian challenges were on the agenda when NUPI and the Norwegian Centre for Humanitarian Studies organized a public event at Litteraturhuset in Oslo in April.
SUCCESSFUL: Protection of civilians and humanitarian challenges were on the agenda when NUPI and the Norwegian Centre for Humanitarian Studies organized a public event at Litteraturhuset in Oslo in April.
April 27 and 28, the Norwegian Institute of International Affairs (NUPI) and the Norwegian Centre for Humanitarian Studies (NCHS) hosted a successful two day event to mark the end of the Protection of Civilians research project, funded by the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs through the Research Council of Norway’s HUMPOL program.
A one-day public seminar entitled Humanitarian Changes, Humanitarian Challenges and the Protection of Civilians at Litteraturhuset was followed by a day-long internal workshop to discuss project findings, chaired by Jon Harald Sande Lie (NUPI).
The seminar was introduced by Ole Jacob Sending (NUPI) and moderated by Benjamin de Carvalho (NUPI), with introductory remarks from the Research Council of Norway. In his Keynote “Humanitarianism and the political marketplace”, Professor Alex de Waal focused particularly on the second Sudanese civil war. Following de Waal, the second main speaker, Dr. Olivia Rutazibwa offered comments on the topic of “Ethical Retreat and Humanitarian Crises”. In particular, Dr. Rutazibwa explored the topic of ethical foreign policy as well as the need for greater reflexivity in the field of humanitarian studies.
Project leader and previous Director for the Norwegian Center for Humanitarian Studies Kristin Bergtora Sandvik (PRIO) then gave a presentation of the main findings from the project. The presentation was followed by a panel discussion with Alex de Waal, Olivia Rutazibwa, Kristin Bergtora Sandvik and Jon Harald Sande Lie, who all responded to questions from the audience.
The seminar can be viewed at YouTube: