“Humanitarian Transition: current status of a concept being challenged by crises”: a look back at the 2023 international conference

Some key figures:

• 1 entire day of debates, marking 10 years of research going to the heart of vulnerabilities (2013 – 2023)
• 5 thematic round tables
• 34 panelists, a dozen of them international
• 175 face-to-face registrations
• 475 remote registrations
• 19 countries connected
• Around 10 humanities disciplines involved

A Look Back at the Foundation’s 10 Years of Activities in Pictures (2013 – 2023)

Co-organised with the Institut de recherche pour le développement (IRD) and Sciences Po’s School of International Affairs (PSIA) ) Paris, this international conference brought together over a hundred stakeholders in humanitarian action, solidarity and research in the humanities and social sciences, both face-to-face and remotely. On the theme of “Humanitarian transition: current status of a concept being challenged by crises”, the conference welcomed experts from 9 countries and connected participants from countries as diverse as Cameroon, Norway, Canada, Burundi, Benin, Côte d’Ivoire and Switzerland.

In keeping with the Foundation’s mission, this special 10th anniversary edition provided a forum for reunions and exchanges, and encouraged dialogue between a wide range of players (humanitarian NGOs, National Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, public-private partnerships) and academic researchers from disciplines as complementary as sociology, anthropology, history, political science, law, economics and medicine, while ensuring parity of voices to open up avenues for better action together.

Humanitarian Transition in 5 Roundtables

Each of the day’s 5 roundtables provided an opportunity to look back over the Foundation’s ten years of scientific activities, the results of research carried out by theme, the territories studied, and to compare the views and practices of local, national and/or international players on the various dimensions of humanitarian transition:

1. Humanitarian transition ten years on: the challenges of a local and international field of study
2. Epidemics and health beyond medicine: what can be done to overcome the obstacles to health care utilisation
3. Exiles and hospitality: the migratory experience in question
4. Risks and Disasters: thinking about and dealing with disasters
5. Research challenges: Conducting research on and with humanitarians: what are the ethical, financial and methodological issues?

For this very special 10th anniversary edition, the Foundation and its partners succeeded in rallying around them and mobilizing a significant part of the community of humanitarian researchers and practitioners. Guests participated actively, either in person or remotely via the online discussion platform.

Youth Perspectives

At the end of the first round table, six students from the Master in Human Rights and Humanitarian Action at Sciences Po’s School of International Affairs (PSIA) took part in a role-playing exercise on the future of humanitarian action. They take us to the year 2050 in a TV show, hosted by one of the year’s top journalists, to show us that solidarity is not an option, but has become an obligation.

You can watch the replay of their contribution in the “Humanitarian Transition” round table (from 2h 03 min).

All six then attended all the day’s roundtables and wrote a summary report, which you can download below. For each round table, they present the context and issues, the main points of the discussions, and the proposals for moving from dialogue to action.

Thank you to Giordano Cani, Nathan Charles, Stephanie Haenseler, Hannah Miller, Annabelle Renoult-Lebrun et Evelyn Whitmey.

The day ended with the prize-giving ceremony for the Foundation’s 2023 research awards. The year’s four prize-winners received their awards in the science lounges of Campus St-Thomas d’Aquin, following the final round-table discussion. Congratulations to :

• Ryoa Chung, Philosopher, full Professor and co-Director of the Centre de recherche en étihique (CRE), Vice-President of the Canadian Philosophical Association
• Jan Verlin, Sociologist, Geopolitics of Risk Chair, ENS
• Firmin Kra, Anthropologist, Teacher-Researcher at the Université Alassane Ouattara de Bouaké (Côte d’Ivoire)
• Alice Desclaux, Health Anthropologist, Research Director at IRD

Finally, the Foundation would like to thank Mr. Sébastien Pimont, Dean of the Sciences Po Law School, Mr. Christopher Rassi, Chief of Staff and Director of the Office of the Secretary General of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), Mr. Philippe Da Costa, President of the French Red Cross Foundation, Mrs. Valérie Verdier, President and CEO of the Institut de recherche pour le développement, Professor Jean-François Mattei, Honorary President of the French Red Cross, Professor Francis Akindès, Vice-Chairman of the Scientific Advisory Board of the French Red Cross Foundation, Dr Françoise Fromageau, Vice-Chairman of the French Red Cross Foundation, and Professor Eric Delaporte, Vice-Chairman of the Scientific Advisory Board of the French Red Cross Foundation, for their presence and their contributions to the opening and closing speeches of the day.

A Look Back at the Day in Pictures, a Film Review