London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine

Join us for the Health in Humanitarian Crises Centre’s annual event, which will be a discussion on the topic: “Priorities of donors too often influence the what, where, and how of humanitarian aid and research”.

Amidst increasing awareness of the need to decolonise and localise aid, it is more important than ever to consider the role of donors in humanitarian aid and research. This discussion will explore the tensions of sharing power and decision-making in the humanitarian sector to examine how donors might be positioned.

The event will be followed by a drinks reception at 19:30 - 20:30 in G90.

Chair

Marc DuBois, Independent Humanitarian Analyst & Senior fellow at SOAS University of London

Marc is based in London; and a Senior Fellow at SOAS (University of London’s School of Oriental and African Studies). His work often explores the ‘big picture’ – the culture, architecture and politics of humanitarian action, and their relationship to its principles and operations. 

Speakers

Heba Aly, CEO, The New Humanitarian

A multimedia journalist by training, Heba spent one decade reporting from conflict zones before moving into management. Her work took her to places like Syria, Afghanistan, Iraq, Chad and Libya; and she received a grant from the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting for her work in northern Sudan. Heba has worked with The New Humanitarian in different capacities since 2007, including as field correspondent and Middle East Editor, and played a key role in planning and executing IRIN’s spin-off from the United Nations to become an independent media organisation. Her recent TEDx Talk – "Stop Eating Junk News" – drives home the importance of responsible journalism from crisis zones. 

Lydia Poole, Associate Director at the Centre for Disaster Prevention

Lydia leads work on evidence, policy and learning. She is a specialist in crisis financing policy and has authored a range of influential policy studies for multilateral organisations, governments and NGOs. Lydia also has a practical background in humanitarian response including having worked in a coordination role with UN OCHA in South Sudan and managed NGO emergency humanitarian healthcare programmes in South Sudan, Sudan, Sierra Leone and Myanmar. 

Sorcha O’Callaghan, Director of the Humanitarian Policy Group at the Overseas Development Institute (ODI)

Sorcha leads research into rights in crises, humanitarian system reform and financing, and resilience in climate and conflict affected environments. A specialist in displacement, civilian protection and humanitarian action in protracted crises, she has worked extensively in East Africa and her policy, academic and media work has been published widely. Prior to HPG she was Head of Humanitarian Policy at the British Red Cross and previously coordinated the Sudan Advocacy Coalition, an NGO policy and advocacy consortium in Sudan. With a background in law, Sorcha has also worked in the refugee and asylum sector in Ireland.

Dr. Ahmad Jan Naeem, Former Deputy Minister of Public Health in Afghanistan

Ahmad Jan is a medical doctor with expertise in health systems development in conflict and post-conflict settings, in particular, policy and strategy development in public health, and monitoring and evaluation of public health programs. He has vast experience working with NGOs, donors, and government. He worked for the Ministry of Public Health from 2003 to 2020 as Director of Health Care Financing and consultant for contracting for primary healthcare services. During his 37-year career, he has worked for both government and NGOs.