04 June 2008

GPPi holds first “Transatlantic Dialogue on Humanitarian Action”

The Global Public Policy Institute, Berlin (GPPi) held its 1st “Transatlantic Dialogue on Humanitarian Action” (TDHA) from 2 - 3 June 2008 at the Harnack-Haus in Berlin-Dahlem. The event, entitled “Learning from the field: Fostering effective transatlantic action on disaster relief and preparedness”, was conducted in partnership with the Johns Hopkins University Center for Transatlantic Relations, and with support from the European Commission and the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Develoment (BMZ). The TDHA conferences are part of GPPi’s recently launched 18-month research and dialogue program entitled “Raising the bar: Enhancing transatlantic governance of disaster response and preparedness” conducted in partnership with the Johns Hopkins University Center for Transatlantic Relations. More information on the research program can be found at www.disastergovernance.net.

This conference was designed to launch the program, present its key goals and work program components, and in particular to discuss and receive feedback on preliminary research results as well as to feed field experiences into the research and dialogue program. Panel discussions and working groups during the conference were structured along the four key research themes that are being pursued as part of the “Raising the Bar”-Program: Linking Relief, Rehabilitation, and Development (LRRD); Improving Humanitarian Performance through Learning; Business Engagement in Humanitarian Action; and Civil-Military Relations in Disaster Response.

Opened by Manuel Bessler of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, and Ambassador Busso von Alvensleben from the German Foreign Office, the conference continued with many notable speakers including Anne Richard from the International Rescue Council, James Darcy from the Overseas Development Institute, Herta Daeubler-Gmelin, Head of Humanitarian Aid Committee for the German Parliament and Ross Mountain, the Secretary-General’s Deputy Special Representative to the Democratic Republic of Congo. The final conference report will be available online in the coming weeks at www.disastergovernance.net.

To download the conference booklet, including the list of participants, please click here.

For some images from the conference, please click here.

For more information, please contact Kelly Johnson.

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