Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs
Center for Human Rights and Humanitarian Studies (CHRHS)

Civilian-Military Humanitarian Response Workshop

Friday, August 25 –
Saturday, August 26, 2017

Invitation Only

Invitation Only

The  “Civilian-Military Humanitarian Response Workshop,” is hosted by Brown University’s Humanitarian Innovation Initiative (HI2) and the U.S. Naval War College’s Civilian-Military Humanitarian Response Program (HRP). This is the second in a series of workshops designed to explore current and future challenges in civilian-military humanitarian responses, including natural disasters, complex emergencies, and routine humanitarian engagements. As a follow-on to the inaugural October 2016 workshop held in Newport, Rhode Island, this event will convene over 100 participants with the aim to improve civilian-military humanitarian responses by meeting the following four objectives:

  1. Enhance the response capacity of UN OCHA, USAID OFDA, humanitarian NGOs, Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, international militaries, and other key organizations through supporting a Community of Practice in civilian-military issues and promoting information sharing that can inform policy and processes during humanitarian crises.
  2. Expand and strengthen a network of practitioners, academics, and leaders who routinely work civilian-military engagement in the humanitarian space.
  3. Highlight key opportunities for professional education, training, and development for key decision makers to identify the best practices associated with overcoming cultural, policy, technical, and legal challenges for coordination and information sharing.
  4. Develop a comprehensive research agenda focused on civilian-military coordination considering international approaches to effecting solutions.

Participants will spend much of the event in one of eight working groups examining key areas of civilian-military engagement in the humanitarian space: Military Integration into Humanitarian Response; Pandemics; Global Health Engagements & Security Cooperation Activities; Urbanization; Information Communications Technologies;  Ethics, Gender, & Vulnerable People; International Humanitarian Law & Attacks on Aid Workers; and Climate Change & Sea Level Rise.