ICVA 2023 Annual Conference

(UTC)

Venue

Maison de la Paix

Organiser

ICVA

Categories

Conference

Language

English, French, Arabic

Subject

humanitarian financing
Annual Conference
Grand Bargain
Localization
Nexus

ICVA’s 2023 Annual Conference will be held on Friday 17 March at Maison de la Paix, Geneva.

The theme of the event will be, The right time and the right place: Improving access to humanitarian quality funding.

This conference is open to all that are interested.  Due to space limitations priority will be given to members of ICVA.

The event will be recorded in English with interpretation in Arabic and French.

ICVA’s Membership Day will be held on Thursday 16 March 2023, at the Ecumenical Centre, Geneva

This event is only open to ICVA members and invited guests.

Overview

Each year, ICVA holds an Annual Conference, which provides an important opportunity for members to connect and discuss issues relevant to the humanitarian sector, as informed by ICVA’s membership base.

On 17 March 2023,  ICVA will host its annual conference on the theme: The right time and the right place: Improving access to humanitarian quality funding. The day before, 16 March 2023, will be the ICVA Membership Day.

Objectives

Main objectives of the conference include:

  • Increase awareness and establish common understanding of the key challenges in humanitarian finance, including the need to look for solutions across the system, not only in increasing funding
  • Examine the options for the future of the Grand Bargain and solidify NGO support for a preferred way forward
  • Discuss the state of the localization, with a particular focus on further joint efforts to ensure effective resources and support are accessible by local partners
  • Support peer exchange on NGO efforts to embed climate action and financing opportunities into humanitarian response.
Agenda
Programme
23 February 2023
ICVA 2023 Annual Conference Programme and Recommended Reading
Subject/ Annual Conference / humanitarian financing / Financing /
Annual Conference Programme
Description

ICVA’s 2023 Annual Conference will be held on Friday 17 March at Maison de la Paix, Geneva. The theme of the event will be, The right time and the right place: Improving access to humanitarian quality funding.

Opening Session

Setting the Scene

This panel discussion will frame the Annual Conference discussions to establish a common understanding of the humanitarian financing gap, the challenges of efficiently and adequately resourcing humanitarian action, and start exploring forward-looking solutions to anticipate trends that increasingly affect the humanitarian space (climate, pandemic response, and the rise of protracted crises), reduce needs, and improve access to quality funding as part of equitable partnerships.

ICVA Annual Conference 2023 - Opening Session 1 in English

Panelists

Amb-Jurg-Lauber
H.E. Ambassador Jürg Lauber
Permanent Representative of Switzerland to the United Nations and to the other international organisations in Geneva Switzerland
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Since 1 September 2020, Jürg Lauber has been the Permanent Representative of Switzerland to the United Nations and to the other international organisations in Geneva. From 2015 to 2020, he served as Permanent Representative of Switzerland to the United Nations in New York. Between 2011 and 2015 he served as head of the United Nations and International Organisations Division in Bern. Between 2009 and 2011 he was Deputy Permanent Representative of Switzerland to the United Nations and other international organisations in Geneva and Permanent Representative of Switzerland to the Conference on Disarmament. Between 2007 and 2009 he served as chef de cabinet to the President of the International Criminal Court in The Hague, Netherlands. As a diplomat he was posted in Bangkok, Bern, Beijing, and the Permanent Mission of Switzerland to the United Nations in New York. Before joining the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA) in 1993 he worked in peacekeeping missions in Namibia (UNTAG) and Korea (Panmunjom). Jürg Lauber has a law degree from the University of Zurich. He was born in 1963 in Horgen, Switzerland.

Martin-Griffith_OCHA
Mr. Martin Griffith
Under Secretary-General of Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, OCHA
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United Nations SecretaryGeneral António Guterres appointed Martin Griffiths of the United Kingdom as Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator in May 2021.

Mr. Griffiths brings extensive experience in humanitarian affairs. Since 2018 he served as the Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for Yemen. Between 2014 and 2018, he served as the first Executive Director of the European Institute of Peace. Between 2012 and 2014, he served as an adviser to all three Special Envoys of the Secretary-General for Syria, and Deputy Head of the United Nations Supervision Mission in Syria (UNSMIS). From 1999 to 2010, Mr. Griffiths was the founding Director of the Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue in Geneva.

He also worked in the British diplomatic service and for various international humanitarian organizations, including UNICEF, Save the Children and Action Aid. In 1994 he became the Director of the Department of Humanitarian Affairs in Geneva and, from 1998 to 1999, served as Deputy to the United Nations Emergency Relief Coordinator in New York. He has also served as United Nations Regional Humanitarian Coordinator for the Great Lakes and in the Balkans.

Mr. Griffiths holds a master’s degree in Southeast Asian studies from the School of Oriental and African Studies at the University of London, and is a qualified barrister.

Sofia-Sprechmann
Ms. Sofia Sprechmann
Secretary General, CARE International
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A leader in international development and a long-serving champion of gender equality, Sofia has almost 30 years of experience working at CARE. She spearheaded CARE’s first program strategy and was integral to placing women and gender equality at the very heart of CARE’s worldwide work.

Sofia, originally from Uruguay, lives in Quito, Ecuador. Having worked in Asia, Africa, the Middle East and Latin America, Sofia unshakable commitment to women and girls is drawn from many years of working alongside some of the worlds most marginalized communities; from domestic workers, women working in the garment sector and survivors of gender-based violence.

Prior to working in international development, Sofía was a Sociologist in the field of public opinion polls and audience research. She holds a B.A. in Sociology from the Universidad de la República Oriental del Uruguay and an MSc in Epidemiology from the University of London/London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.

Taiba-Rahim_NQA
Ms. Taïba Rahim
President, Nai Qala Association (NQA), Member of SC ACBAR
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Ms. Taïba Rahim is an Afghan national and teacher by training. She is the president and founder of the Nai Qala Association, an NGO engaged in education programs in some of the remotest regions of central Afghanistan.

NQA has faced many challenges and had to show great strength. As one of the rare Afghan NGOs led by a woman, it has contributed to important cultural change. Despite the new pressures, NQA remains fully committed and is operational.

She worked previously with the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), in Bosnia-Herzegovina and Afghanistan. In March 2010, she was awarded a prize by the city of Geneva for her work in Afghanistan.

Nai Qala is a non-governmental, non-political, and non-profit organisation founded in 2007 in Switzerland; Nai Qala has an operational office in Kabul with headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland. The association is governed by a board of volunteers with a wide range of experience in humanitarian and development sectors. Nai Qala Association was formally registered with the Ministry of Economy of Afghanistan in 2013.

Ignacio
Ignacio Packer
Executive Director, ICVA
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Ignacio is the Executive Director of ICVA since January 2018. He strengthens the impact and collective voice of ICVA and leads its engagement with the highest levels of the U.N., governments, philanthropies, and civil society actors.

He has been working in the field of development cooperation and humanitarian assistance for over 30 years,  the past 10 years in CEO positions at international aid organisations. Ignacio has worked for Terre des Hommes, the Swiss Tropical Institute, the European Association for Development and Health and Médecines Sans Frontières. As a strong supporter of inter-organisational collaborations, he has led strategic partnerships with these organisations.

He is an expert on human rights and social issues and has been strongly engaged in global advocacy on protection frameworks for people on the move with a focus on children and youth.

Moderator

Stephanie-Youssef
Stephanie Yousef
Deputy Regional Representative for MENA
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Stephanie has 10 years of experience working with local and international NGOs in the MENA region on different advocacy initiatives and research.

Before joining ICVA in 2020, Stephanie worked as the Country Program Manager for HelpAge International in Jordan, with a focus on policies and strategies related to ageing and disability.  She has also worked in the United States House of Representatives as Immigration and International Affairs Specialist. Stephanie has experience on promoting inclusion and localization agendas. She also has experience in conducting trainings on inclusive approaches to humanitarian and development interventions

She has a degree in International Relations focused on the Middle East, and a master’s in Public Administration, both from universities in the US.

Session 1: The Future of the Grand Bargain 

Panel discussion focused on the ongoing dialogue on the future of the Grand Bargain and changes proposed for the process beyond June 2023. The mandate for the current Grand Bargain 2.0 will end in June 2023 and the different signatory constituencies are currently undertaking discussions on adjustments to the Grand Bargain focus, structure, and governance moving forward. A key element of these discussions is the potential to broaden the scope of the Grand Bargain to link the platform more closely with the goals of reducing the humanitarian funding gap and expanding resources for humanitarian action.

Objective:

Participants will hear the perspective of the Eminent Person as well as key leaders from different Grand Bargain constituencies (donor, UN, NGOs) with the goal of understanding the current state of dialogue on the Grand Bargain and the different perspectives on the future.

A Q&A session will allow participants to engage directly with the panel members.

Key questions:

  • How can we make the most effective use of the unique platform offered by the Grand Bargain to improve humanitarian finance?
  • What is needed from NGOs to support the effective implementation of Grand Bargain commitments?
  • How can we collectively overcome reporting challenges in tracking system-wide progress?
ICVA Annual Conference 2023 - Session 1 in English

Panelists

Jan-Egeland
Mr. Jan Egeland
Grand Bargain Eminent Person (pre-recorded keynote address)
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Jan Egeland has been Secretary General of the Norwegian Refugee Council since August 2013, leading humanitarian operations with some 16,000 relief workers, and serving over 9 million people in need across the world. In June 2021, he was appointed Eminent Person of The Grand Bargain initiative. Within this role, he is responsible for promoting and advocating for the advancement of The Grand Bargain’s commitments to better serve people in need. From 2015 to the end of 2018, he was Special Advisor to the UN mediation efforts in Syria and chaired the 23-nation humanitarian task force for the protection of and access to Syrian civilians. Egeland served as UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator 2003-2006 where he spearheaded a reform of the global humanitarian system. He has been Europe Director of Human Rights Watch (2011−2013), Executive Director of the Norwegian Institute of International Affairs (2007−2011) and served as the UN Secretary General’s Special Adviser to Colombia (1999−2001). From 1990 to 1997, he was State Secretary in the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs where he co-organized and co-initiated the Norwegian Channel that led to the Oslo Agreement between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization (1993), as well as peace agreements in Guatemala (1996) and elsewhere. He has received several international awards. In 2006, Time Magazine named Egeland as one of the ‘100 people who shape our world’. 

Kelly-Clements
Ms. Kelly Clements
Deputy High Commissioner, UNHCR
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Kelly T. Clements joined UNHCR as Deputy High Commissioner on 6 July 2015. Clements has been closely involved with refugee and displacement issues throughout her three-decade career.

Before joining UNHCR, Clements was a member of the Senior Executive Service, serving as Deputy Assistant Secretary of State in the Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration (PRM) where she was responsible for humanitarian issues in Asia and the Middle East and global policy and budget. In 2014, she was Acting Deputy Chief of Mission at the U.S. Embassy in Beirut, Lebanon.

From 1993 to 1996, Clements served at the U.S. Permanent Mission to the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland on a Foreign Service appointment. She was Special Assistant to the Under Secretary of State for Global Affairs in 1997-1998. Clements served as a Senior Emergency Officer for Europe, the Newly Independent States, and the Americas, and later as Balkans Assistance Coordinator; she was deployed to Albania in 1999. She worked for the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees in Bangladesh in 1992.

Clements holds a B.A. in International Studies and an M.A. in Urban Affairs from Virginia Tech, USA. She is a national of the United States of America.

AC2023-Session1_Predrag-Avramovic_EU
Mr. Predrag Avramović
Head of Section for Humanitarian and Migration Affairs, Minister-Counsellor (Humanitarian Affairs), EU Delegation to the UN and other IOs in Geneva
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Predrag Avramović currently heads the humanitarian and migration section at the European Union Delegation to the United Nations and other international organisations in Geneva. During his over twenty years in the EU civil service he has also headed the humanitarian section at the EU Delegation in New York and the cooperation section at the EU Delegation in Cuba, and held positions in EU headquarters services including DG ECHO, DG AIDCO (currently INTPA) and DG RELEX (currently EEAS/FPI), working on all parts of the humanitarian-development-peace nexus. Before joining EU institutions in 2000 he worked as a teaching and research assistant at the Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB) from which he holds degrees in Business Engineering (1994) and Political Science (1995). He was a Wiener-Anspach fellow at the University of Cambridge from which he holds an M. Phil. in International Relations (1996). He is married and has four children.  

Marta-Valdes-Garcia_Oxfam
Ms. Marta Valdés García
Humanitarian Director, Oxfam International
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Marta Valdés García is the Humanitarian Director of Oxfam International. She provides leadership for the confederation on the design of quality standards and on the use of evidence to support organizational learning and performance as well as overseeing Oxfam’s surge and advisory support to emergency responses. She is responsible for fostering and driving innovation within technical areas and across sectors.

Ms Valdés García has a background in economics and a master’s degree in Development and Humanitarian Assistance. With over 20 years’ experience in relief and development work, she has led and supported an important number of humanitarian programs in Central America, Africa and in the South Caucasus. She has worked with different INGOs at field and headquarter level and with FAO. During her career, she has engaged in the quality agenda as a food-security advisor, monitoring and evaluation practitioner and advisor as well as in different leadership positions focussing on producing evidence and innovation to improve humanitarian work.

Since April 2019 she co-chairs the IASC Result Group 4 on Humanitarian-Development collaboration.

Moderator

Jeremy R
Mr. Jeremy Rempel
Head of Humanitarian Finance, ICVA
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Mr. Jeremy Rempelis the Head of Humanitarian Finance for the ICVA network, leading policy work focused on the harmonization and simplification of donor conditions for humanitarian financing, improved NGO access to quality funding, and risk management.Jeremy has worked with humanitarian and development NGOs over the past twenty years in roles linked to accountability, monitoring & evaluation, capacity assessment, and audit. Prior to joining ICVA, he spent eleven years with World Vision International where he led the operations audit group and helped to develop capacity assessment processes for national offices. Jeremy holds a bachelor’s degree in Diplomacy from Occidental College, and a master’s degree in Public Policy from the University of California Los Angeles. 

Session 2: Climate Finance and Humanitarian Action

Panel discussion on “Gaps in Climate Financing and implications for humanitarian action.” The session will examine what climate financing is, what is the gap in climate financing in humanitarian contexts and the resulting implications for humanitarian action in such contexts?

Objective:

Improve the understanding of humanitarian actors/NGOs on what climate financing is, what it means in humanitarian contexts, including implications for humanitarian action.

The session will examine some key questions:

  • What is Climate Finance?
  • What is the gap in climate financing in humanitarian contexts?
  • What are the implications for humanitarian action in such contexts?
  • What is the role of humanitarian actors, especially NGOs working in conflict and fragile contexts?
ICVA Annual Conference 2023 - Session 2 in English

Panelists

Azmat
Mr. Azmat Khan
Chief Executive Officer, Foundation for Rural Development (FRD)
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Azmat Khan is the Chief Executive Officer of the Foundation for Rural Development (FRD), a national NGO based in Pakistan. The FRD is implementing different programs associated with climate change, migration and other social services in the north-west of Pakistan. Azmat works with professionals and volunteers to deliver Humanitarian and Development services to the communities where it is needed the most. He is an advocate of principled humanitarian action in Pakistan and contributes significantly to national, regional and global discussions on aid sector reforms, as well as having work experience in program designing, implementation and monitoring and evaluation. Azmat holds an MSc in Development studies from the Institute of Management Sciences (IMSciences), a Bachelor’s degree in Political Science and Law from the University of Peshawar and is currently enrolled in an evening postgraduate degree course in Development Studies at IMSciences Peshawar. 

Catherine-Lune-Grayson
Dr. Catherine-Lune Grayson
Head of Policy Team - Policy and Humanitarian Diplomacy Division, International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC)
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Catherine-Lune Grayson leads the ICRC’s policy team, as well as its climate policy work. She has carried out research on the humanitarian consequences of converging climate risks and armed conflict and co-led the development of the Climate and Environment Charter for Humanitarian Organizations with the IFRC. She has previously focused on the experience of populations displaced by armed conflict and violence. Catherine-Lune has worked in East and Central Africa for several years for the Danish Refugee Council, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs and the United Nations High  Commissioner for Refugees. She is trained in political science (Sciences Po, Paris) and international law (Université de Montreal), and holds a Ph.D in anthropology (Université de Montreal).

Charlene-Watson
Dr. Charlene Watson
Senior Research Associate – Climate and Sustainability Team, ODI
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Charlene Watson works as Senior Research Associate for the global independent think-tank ODI. Charlene has over ten years’ experience in climate finance with research focusing on the complexities associated with channelling and programming climate finance effectively. Her work increasingly considers how all financial flows can become more consistent with climate objectives and the goals laid out in the Paris agreement and is a regular technical contributor to the Biennial Assessment and Overview of Climate Finance flows of the Standing Committee on Finance of the United Nations Framework on Climate Change (UNFCCC). Charlene holds a PhD in Environmental Economics from The London School of Economics and Political Science, an MSc from Imperial College London and an MA in Zoology from the University of Cambridge. 

Isaiah-Toroitich
Mr. Isaiah Toroitich
Head of Global Advocacy, Lutheran World Federation (LWF)
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Isaiah Toroitich leads the organization’s policy and advocacy work on climate change and environment, human rights, gender justice and peace and interfaith action. He coordinates the organizations work and engagement with the United Nations in Geneva and in New York. Before joining the LWF, Isaiah worked with the ACT Alliance as the Head of Advocacy and Development Policy. He has co-authored, edited or otherwise contributed to several publications including: The Paris Climate Agreement, towards a climate-friendly future; Climate change and labour: impacts of heat in the workplace; The Youth Climate Change Handbook; among others. Isaiah is from Kenya and holds an Executive master’s in Advocacy in International Affairs from the Geneva Graduate Institute, a Master of Arts degree in Development Communications from Daystar University, Kenya and a Bachelor of Education degree from Kenyatta University, Kenya. 

Sylvie-Wabbes
Ms. Sylvie Wabbes
Agronomist and Resilience Advisor, Emergency and Resilience Office, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)
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Agronomist, from University of Louvain-La-Neuve in Belgium, with more than 30 years of professional experience in development, humanitarian, climate and environmental management. Working in FAO since more than 15 years, on emergency and resilience for agriculture and food- based livelihoods systems with most vulnerable and fragile countries. Together with public-private and community partners, supports FAO strategic programme on multiple and colliding risks, impacts and emergencies from disaster, climate change, food chain threats and epidemics, socio-economic disturbance and conflicts, with the aim to build resilient agrifood systems. Is the co-leader of the UNFCCC Marrakesh Partnership for Global Climate Action-MPGCA and its Climate Resilience Pathways and is engaged in the UN Food System Summit and its 3 Resilience Alliances. Worked previously on environmental and community development issues in Africa region based in Zambia and Kenya, with World-Wildlife Fund, the International Union for the Conservation of Nature and the European Commission.  

Moderator

Nishanie 2
Nishanie Jayamaha
Learning and Program Coordinator, ICVA

Session 3: Partnerships

This session will explore the modalities of meaningful and equitable partnerships, the simplification and harmonisation of donor conditions, and the role and responsibilities of intermediaries in addition to that of donors. The panel presentation and following discussion will examine how the NGO community can influence donors and intermediaries to fund humanitarian responses in ways that reduce burdens on the system and joint efforts to ensure resources and support are accessible and effectively reach frontline responders as directly as possible.

Objective:

Discuss current partnership challenges and opportunities, with a particular focus on further joint efforts to ensure effective resources and support are accessible by local partners.

Key questions:

  • How can we work better in partnership to address the current challenges in humanitarian financing
  • How can we influence donors and intermediaries to increase efficiency within the humanitarian system and improve access to multiyear unearmarked flexible funding?
  • What is needed to ensure transparent reporting on the use of funds and on cascading flexibility and simplification downstream to partners
ICVA Annual Conference 2023 - Session 3 in English

Panelists

Matt-Nims
Mr. Matt Nims
Deputy Assistant Administrator, Bureau of Humanitarian Affairs, USAID (online)
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Matthew Nims serves as the Deputy Assistant to the Administrator of USAID’s Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance (BHA), the U.S. Government lead for international disaster response. With a mandate to save lives, alleviate human suffering, and reduce the impact of disasters, BHA monitors, mitigates, and responds to global hazards and humanitarian needs. The Bureau also promotes resilience by preparing communities for disasters before they strike, and by helping people recover and move beyond crises.

Prior to the establishment of BHA, Matthew Nims served as the Deputy Director of USAID’s Office of Food for Peace (FFP), and before that, as FFP Acting Director from January 2017 to October 2018. In 2018, he was a finalist for the Sammies People’s Choice Award, held every year by the Partnership for Public Service for outstanding public service, for leading USAID’s response in providing emergency food assistance to 20 million people in countries fighting famine that year.

Mr. Nims has over 20 years of international development and emergency programming experience, and has been with USAID since 2000. His career with USAID began in Indonesia, where he worked for three and a half years managing and overseeing development and emergency food assistance programs. He then served in Washington, D.C. for four years backstopping Asia and Latin America for the USAID Office of Food for Peace, responding to the Tsunami in Asia as well as several cyclones and other disasters.

Mr. Nims also worked on a broad portfolio of health and HIV prevention programs in Guyana for a year, followed by another year posting in Afghanistan managing energy and water infrastructure creation programs.

Misikir-Tilahun_AHA
Mr. Misikir Tilahun
Executive Director, African Humanitarian Action
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Misikir Tilahun is the Executive Director of Africa Humanitarian Action (AHA), a pan-African non-governmental humanitarian organization based in Addis Abeba, Ethiopia. Since its founding in 1994, AHA has reached displaced populations and host communities in more than 20 African countries providing support in the areas of health care, shelter, nutrition, WASH, livelihoods and other lifesaving services.

Misikir joined AHA’s head office in 2008 as the organization’s External Relations Officer, leading AHA’s humanitarian policy and advocacy work. From 2009 – 2014, he served on the governing board of the International Council of Voluntary Agencies (ICVA) as the Vice Chair, and on the Steering Committee of the Active Learning Network for Accountability and Partnership (ALNAP). In those roles, he amplified the voices of African-based local/national humanitarian NGOs in high-level policy dialogues.

Misikir served as AHA’s Head of Programmes during the same period, providing program coordination support and oversight to AHA’s country offices; followed by a role as AHA’s USA Representative from 2015 – 2018, focusing on AHA’s resource mobilization efforts in North America.

Since 2020, Misikir has been serving as AHA’s Executive director, where he is responsible for the overall planning, coordination, and direction of the organization’s operations and programmes.

Prior to joining AHA, Misikir practiced law as a litigation attorney in Phoenix, Arizona. He received a Juris Doctor degree in law (2005), and a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and International Relations (2001), from the University of Kansas in the U.S.

Hazel-de-Wet_UNICEF
Ms. Hazel de Wet
Deputy Director, Office of Emergency Programs (EMOPs), UNICEF
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Hazel De Wet became Deputy Director of UNICEF’s Office of Emergency Programmes in Geneva in January 2023.

Hazel has 23 years of extensive and diverse experience in political affairs, human rights, protection of civilians, women’s rights, international relations, and diplomacy in the United Nations, she is a former diplomat and a committed United Nations staff member. Hazel’s experience spans across a wide spectrum of action, from the grassroots level in the field directly with local actors, to policy making, high-level political engagement and intergovernmental processes at UN headquarters.

For last 14 years Hazel was at the frontlines of conflict, post conflict and emergency contexts in the United Nations Peacekeeping Missions in Sudan and South Sudan. In her previous role Hazel has been serving as the Head of Office of the States of Jonglei and the Upper Nile in the United Nations Mission in South Sudan where she has dealt with crisis situations and successfully navigated volatile and sensitive political scenarios. Her most recent role has been the Director of civil Affairs in South Sudan.

Hazel is a Namibian national and holds Law degree in Human Rights from University of London and bachelor’s degree in political science from University of Western Cape.

Sarah-Fuhrman
Ms. Sarah Fuhrman
Director of Humanitarian Policy, InterAction
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Sarah Fuhrman joined InterAction as the Director of Humanitarian Policy in July 2022. She represents InterAction in U.S. and international policy fora, focusing on protecting the humanitarian space and improving humanitarian efforts. This includes support to teams responding to forced displacement; managing risk in humanitarian settings; improving NGO-U.N. partnerships; and carrying out system-level reforms.

Sarah is an attorney and humanitarian aid professional with more than a decade of experience in policy, advocacy, research, and operations. She has worked with a variety of organizations on issues including adherence to international law, food insecurity, gender equality, and the protection of civilians in conflict. Sarah has supported humanitarian responses in Afghanistan, DRC, Iraq, Kenya, Mexico, South Sudan, Thailand, and Yemen. Recent roles include as a Senior Information Officer for USAID’s Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance (now the Bureau of Humanitarian Assistance) and as CARE USA’s Senior Manager for Humanitarian Policy and Advocacy. She is also an Adjunct Professor at Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs.

Sarah holds a J.D. from the Thomas M. Cooley Law School and an LL.M. in Public International Law from the University College of London.

Moderator

Mirela 2
Mirela Shuteriqi
Director of Policy, ICVA
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Mirela joined ICVA in 2019 as Director of Policy where she leads a policy team focusing on forced migration, humanitarian financing, and coordination.

As a human rights lawyer from Albania, she has 15 years of professional experience on humanitarian and development issues working for both NGOs and UN Agencies. She worked with UNICEF as advocacy coordinator on the rights of refugee and migrant children in Europe. Prior to UNICEF, Mirela served as global protection adviser for Terre des hommes, covering programmes aiming at preventing child exploitation, trafficking and other forms of violence against children. For few years she provided direct legal services to vulnerable families and Albanian children exploited or living in the streets of Albania and Greece.

She holds an LLM degree and has authored various publications on human rights and migration law.

Closing Session

In this closing session, Mr. Ignacio Packer will provide an overview of key learnings and outcomes from the Annual Conference discussions and collective messages to bring to the upcoming European Humanitarian Forum and Grand Bargain Annual Meeting.

ICVA Annual Conference 2023 - Closing Session in English

Speaker

Ignacio
Ignacio Packer
Executive Director, ICVA
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Ignacio is the Executive Director of ICVA since January 2018. He strengthens the impact and collective voice of ICVA and leads its engagement with the highest levels of the U.N., governments, philanthropies, and civil society actors.

He has been working in the field of development cooperation and humanitarian assistance for over 30 years,  the past 10 years in CEO positions at international aid organisations. Ignacio has worked for Terre des Hommes, the Swiss Tropical Institute, the European Association for Development and Health and Médecines Sans Frontières. As a strong supporter of inter-organisational collaborations, he has led strategic partnerships with these organisations.

He is an expert on human rights and social issues and has been strongly engaged in global advocacy on protection frameworks for people on the move with a focus on children and youth.

Annual Conference Concept Note and Programme

Meeting Material
4 November 2022
ICVA 2023 Annual Conference Concept Note
Subject/ Annual Conference / Financing / humanitarian financing /
Programme
23 February 2023
ICVA 2023 Annual Conference Programme and Recommended Reading
Subject/ Annual Conference / humanitarian financing / Financing /
Annual Conference Programme
Description

ICVA’s 2023 Annual Conference will be held on Friday 17 March at Maison de la Paix, Geneva. The theme of the event will be, The right time and the right place: Improving access to humanitarian quality funding.

Past conferences

Annual Conferences
20 September 2022
ICVA Annual Conferences
Subject/ Annual Conference /
ICVA Past Annual Conferences
Description

Information about past ICVA annual conferences.