ICVA Annual Conferences | International Council of Voluntary Agencies

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

ICVA 2020 Virutal Annual Conference: Protecting principled humanitarian action: An honest conversion on risk

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, in 2020 ICVA held it's first-ever Virtual Annual Conference on principled humanitarian action and risk. It took the form of three webinar sessions organised in collaboration with PHAP. The conference showed that we, as a sector, are agile. We continue delivering to our mandate while complying with the duty of care for our staff. COVID-19 was inescapable throughout the discussions of the Annual Conference, touching on the ability of locally based humanitarian actors, including youth, to respond and on lobbying for exceptional measures from donors for quick decision-making, flexibility and a real risk sharing attitude. However, as other disrupters and challenges discussed throughout the three sessions, it has not put principled humanitarian action on hold. As follow-up to the conference and what was conidered as important topics to further explore, ICVA has put together a Learning Stream on Risk Management in Practice so that NGOs can better navigate and understand risk.

ICVA 2019 Annual Conference: Translating commitments to action

ICVA's 2019 Annual Conference discussed the various commitments made through the World Humanitarian Summit, the Grand Bargain, the New York Declarations and the Global Compacts on Refugees and Migration, the UN Reform process, the Localization discussion- and took a hard look at how and what we, as an NGO community, were doing to translate these commitments into action while putting people at the centre.

ICVA 2018 Annual Conference: Navigating the Nexus: NGO Perspectives

For the 2018 Conference we decided to take a critical and deep look at the “triple nexus” - the inter-connection between humanitarian action, development, and peace. Anchored in the ICVA network’s dedication to principled and effective humanitarian action, ICVA’s 2018 Annual Conference provided a space for ICVA members and key stakeholders to share lessons learned, best practice and processes, challenges and concerns faced by NGOs and humanitarian actors when working, in a principles manner in the nexus. The conference reminded us that it is important to put people at the centre in planning and programming so as to truly understand the type of interventions required, be they from a humanitarian, development or peacebuilding approach.

ICVA 2017 Annual Conference. How can humanitarian civil society better navigate a complex world?The importance of NGO engagement with host governments.

The 2017 Annual Conference, held on 28 March 2017, at the CICG in Geneva, discussed the relationship between states and civil society and the impact this relationship has on the ability of NGOs to operate. Keynote speakers and panel disucssions looked at the global trends and drivers impacting civil society and humanitarian NGOs, NGO experiences, and how NGOs engage with host governements.

ICVA 2016 Annual Conference: Complementarity in humanitarian action: What does it mean? What does it look like? What are the risks and benefits?

The 2016 Annual Conference was held on 5 March 2016, at the CICG in Geneva, Switzerland. Leveraging experience, insights and tools from NGOs, academia, the UN, the Red Cross and Red Crescent, civil society and the private sector, ICVA’s 2016 Annual Conference explored the concept of complementarity. The conference provided a platform for practitioners to discuss what ‘complementarity’ means, it’s relationship to humanitarian effectiveness and in local and national leadership. The conference held conversations on how complementarity is understood and applied in various humanitarian relationships - through ideological, institutional and operational lenses. As the conference took place prior to the World Humanitarian Summit in Istanbul, complementarity in relation to the World Humanitarian Summit, and how the WHS process could positively influence and promote complementarity in humanitarian action was also discussed.

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ICVA 2015 Annual Conference- Partnership, from principles to practice.

Held on the 9 March 2015, at the CICG in Geneva, Switzerland, the 2015 ICVA Annual Conference provided a successful platform for over 160 members and partners to discuss, raise questions and suggest paths forward on the value and implementation of the Principles of Partnership in the lead up to the World Humanitarian Summit and beyond.