Hugo Slim’s delves into the origins of contemporary humanitarianism, recounting its journey through the 18th and 19th centuries, when a mutual sense of humanity and a shared moral community were embraced. 

He highlights the milestones of this historical road towards humanitarianism: the recognition of wounded soldiers and prisoners of war, the attention that arose to non-combatant civilians and refugees, followed by the invention of human rights, IHL, and the humanitarian principles. He celebrates the sector’s growth, its ability to save lives, and the knowledge it has accumulated about suffering and need, whilst also acknowledging the sector’s criticisms.

Furthermore, Slim addresses the current challenges and opportunities for the humanitarian sector, describing it as being at a pivotal crossroads. He notes the increasing perception of humanitarian organisations as overly bureaucratic and questioned their legitimacy. Issues such as dependency on funding from Western governments and the growing competition from businesses addressing global poverty are also raised. He explains that the metaphor of a “crossroads” represents the critical decisions the humanitarian sector must make, offering three potential paths for its future, which are:

1. The War Road: A return to the roots of war-focused humanitarianism was suggested. This path would involve organisations specialising in conflict response, prioritising safety, legal frameworks, and neutral or non-neutral approaches to crisis.
2. The Climate Road: Slim describes this as a transformative approach, urging humanitarians to adopt a broader, earth-focused mission and prioritise climate emergencies over wars. He emphasizes the importance of viewing humanity as part of a larger ecological system and argues for the integration of environmental sustainability into humanitarian work, in the form of an all-life humanitarian approach.
3. The Unknown Road: This is presented as an open-ended path, inviting creativity and innovative ideas. Potential directions include focusing on migration and mobility, strengthening regional responses in Europe, or developing partnerships in a multipolar world.

Throughout his speech, Slim urges the sector to seize this moment of reflection and reorganisation, encouraging (I)NGOs to focus on their core strengths, enhance local capacities and cost-effectiveness, and remain committed to liberal humanitarian values. He concludes by reinforcing the idea that the crossroads is not a new phenomenon for the sector but a recurring point of decision-making, always intersecting with new challenges and opportunities.

In the webinars 'The decolonization of aid' KUNO, Partos, and The Institute of Social Studies (ISS) take one step back and approach the discussion on the decolonization of aid in a series of talks. Step by step, we highlight an aspect of this debate. We ask two experts to engage in a conversation with one another to explore the controversies and perhaps find some common grounds.

This fifth dialogue focusses on the role of the donor with regards to the decolonisation of aid with Smruti Patel (Founder & Director Global Mentoring Initiative and Founder and Member of Alliance for Empowering Partnership) and Dirk-Jan Koch (Professor International Trade & Development Cooperation at Radboud University Nijmegen)

The webinar is moderated by Kiza Magendane (The Broker).

In the webinars 'The decolonization of aid' KUNO, Partos, and The Institute of Social Studies (ISS) take one step back and approach the discussion on the decolonization of aid in a series of talks. Step by step, we highlight an aspect of this debate. We ask two experts to engage in a conversation with one another to explore the controversies and perhaps find some common grounds.

This podcast is the recording of the opening statements of Smruti Patel (Founder & Director Global Mentoring Initiative and Founder and Member of Alliance for Empowering Partnership) and Dirk-Jan Koch (Professor International Trade & Development Cooperation at Radboud University Nijmegen).

The full webinar with Patel and Koch is available under the title Decolonisation of aid: Dialogue #5 – The role of the donor (October 2021).

In the webinars 'The decolonization of aid' KUNO, Partos, and The Institute of Social Studies (ISS) take one step back and approach the discussion on the decolonization of aid in a series of talks. Step by step, we highlight an aspect of this debate. We ask two experts to engage in a conversation with one another to explore the controversies and perhaps find some common grounds.

This podcast is the recording of the opening statements of Aarathi Krishnan (Strategic Foresight Advisor at UNDP) and Hugo Slim (Senior Research Fellow at University of Oxford).

The full webinar with Krishnan and Slim is available under the title Decolonisation of aid: Dialogue #4 - an ethical perspective (September 2021).

In the webinars 'The decolonization of aid' KUNO, Partos, and The Institute of Social Studies (ISS) take one step back and approach the discussion on the decolonization of aid in a series of talks. Step by step, we highlight an aspect of this debate. We ask two experts to engage in a conversation with one another to explore the controversies and perhaps find some common grounds.

This fourth dialogue focusses on ethical and moral perspectives related to the decolonisation of aid with Aarathi Krishnan (Strategic Foresight Advisor at UNDP) and Hugo Slim (Senior Research Fellow at University of Oxford).

The webinar is moderated by Kiza Magendane (The Broker).

The International Humanitarian Studies Association (IHSA) recently published a special issue of International Migration journal, based on contributions to their conference in The Hague (2018). On the 9th of September IHSA and KUNO organized a webinar in which key findings of a special issue of the International Migration Journal on 'Politics, humanitarianism and migration to Europe' were presented.

When some one million people crossed the Mediterranean in the course of 2015 to seek refuge, European countries called it a crisis. Yet the real crisis was created by European immigration and asylum policies and by the challenges they posed for aid providers. The Covid-19 pandemic has worsened the violence experienced by people seeking safety in countries such as Italy, Greece, France, Belgium, Germany, Norway, and the UK.

Policies such as strengthening border controls, the externalisation of borders, and a focus on smuggling and trafficking rather than on the causes of forced migration all result in humanitarian crisis. The new reality affects humanitarian organizations, including the criminalisation of assistance provision, as well as the rise in resistance and activism by newly created volunteer groups.

Speakers: prof. Thea Hilhorst, dr. Susanne Jaspars, Marte Welander, Francesca Pusterla, Gonzalo Vargas Llosa, and Adil Izemrane.

In the webinars 'The decolonization of aid' KUNO, Partos, and The Institute of Social Studies (ISS) take one step back and approach the discussion on the decolonization of aid in a series of talks. Step by step, we highlight an aspect of this debate. We ask two experts to engage in a conversation with one another to explore the controversies and perhaps find some common grounds.

 This podcast is the recording of the ‘superb’ (as indicated on Twitter) opening statement of Tammam Aloudat (Director Global Health Centre).

Aloudat: 'Decolonisation could be an entire divorce of the idea that someone has a real idea of what is better for the other'.

 The full webinar with Aloudat is available under the title Decolonisation of aid: Dialogue #3 - a humanitarian aid perspective.

In the webinars 'The decolonization of aid' KUNO, Partos, and The Institute of Social Studies (ISS) take one step back and approach the discussion on the decolonization of aid in a series of talks. Step by step, we highlight an aspect of this debate. We ask two experts to engage in a conversation with one another to explore the controversies and perhaps find some common grounds.

This third dialogue focusses on the perspective from humanitarian aid with Nanette Antequisa (director ECOWEB and active member of A4EP) and Tammam Aloudat (Director Global Health Centre).

The webinar is moderated by Kiza Magendane (The Brooker) and Thea Hilhorst (International Institute of Social Studies, Erasmus University).

In the webinars 'The decolonization of aid' KUNO, Partos, and The Institute of Social Studies (ISS) take one step back and approach the discussion on the decolonization of aid in a series of talks. Step by step, we highlight an aspect of this debate. We ask two experts to engage in a conversation with one another to explore the controversies and perhaps find some common grounds.

 This scond dialogue focusses on the perspective from development cooperation with Tulika Srivastava (Director Women’s Fund Asia) and Lydia Zigomo (Global Programmes Director at Oxfam International).

The webinar is moderated by Kiza Magendane (The Brooker) and Thea Hilhorst (International Institute of Social Studies, Erasmus University).

In the webinars 'The decolonization of aid' KUNO, Partos, and The Institute of Social Studies (ISS) take one step back and approach the discussion on the decolonization of aid in a series of talks. Step by step, we highlight an aspect of this debate. We ask two experts to engage in a conversation with one another to explore the controversies and perhaps find some common grounds.

This first dialogue focusses on a historical perspective with Arua Oko Omaka (fellow at the Alex Ekwueme Federal University, Nigeria) and Bertrand Taithe (professor History of Humanitarian Aid Manchester University, UK).

The webinar is moderated by Kiza Magendane (The Broker) and Thea Hilhorst (International Institute of Social Studies).

De Covid-19-crisis is een ongekende uitdaging voor de wereld. Het zal zeker ook het ​​werk van internationale noodhulp veranderen. Deze ontwikkelingen komen aan de orde in het Covid Café, een initiatief van Oxfam Novib en KUNO. 

In deze aflevering van het KUNO Covid Café vertellen Michiel Servaes (directeur van Oxfam Novib) en Tineke Ceelen (directeur van Stichting Vluchteling en voorzitter van KUNO) hoe Covid hun werk in de humanitaire sector verandert. Het gesprek wordt gefaciliteerd door Peter Heintze, coördinator van KUNO. 

Hier vind je andere podcasts van KUNO: https://www.kuno-platform.nl/themes/podcasts/ 

Meer informatie over Oxfam Novib kun je vinden op hun website: https://www.oxfamnovib.nl/