Humanitarian Action Summit: Part I

Yesterday, the Harvard Humanitarian Initiative kicked off the 3rd Humanitarian Action Summit in Cambridge, MA. The Summit brings together International NGOs and United Nations Organizations as well as others involved with humanitarian assistance, specifically related to humanitarian health.

Today the 7 working groups are conducting panel discussion. The three I attend will be

• Civilian Protection in Conflict
• Human Resources for Humanitarian Health
• Humanitarian Health Information Management

I am assisting the Information Management Working Group as a co-Rappatour. Working groups will be publishing their proceedings in the journal Prehospital and Disaster Medicine.

This is a great opportunity to get a big picture view of humanitarian assistance (HA) activities. What has struck me is that HA is more than just emergency relief in acute crises. These situations are incredibly complex and require a great deal of coordination and multiple skills.

Check back soon for more updates from the Summit!