KUNO's Podcast

Hugo Slim’s delves into the origins of contemporary humanitarianism, recounting its journey through the 18th and 19th centuries, when a mutual sense of humanity and a shared moral community were embraced.  He highlights the milestones of this historical road towards humanitarianism: the recognition of wounded soldiers and prisoners of war, the attention that arose to non-combatant civilians and re...

In the webinars 'The decolonization of aid' KUNO, Partos, and The Institute of Social Studies (ISS) take one step back and approach the discussion on the decolonization of aid in a series of talks. Step by step, we highlight an aspect of this debate. We ask two experts to engage in a conversation with one another to explore the controversies and perhaps find some common grounds. This fif...

In the webinars 'The decolonization of aid' KUNO, Partos, and The Institute of Social Studies (ISS) take one step back and approach the discussion on the decolonization of aid in a series of talks. Step by step, we highlight an aspect of this debate. We ask two experts to engage in a conversation with one another to explore the controversies and perhaps find some common grounds.   This p...

In the webinars 'The decolonization of aid' KUNO, Partos, and The Institute of Social Studies (ISS) take one step back and approach the discussion on the decolonization of aid in a series of talks. Step by step, we highlight an aspect of this debate. We ask two experts to engage in a conversation with one another to explore the controversies and perhaps find some common grounds. This pod...

In the webinars 'The decolonization of aid' KUNO, Partos, and The Institute of Social Studies (ISS) take one step back and approach the discussion on the decolonization of aid in a series of talks. Step by step, we highlight an aspect of this debate. We ask two experts to engage in a conversation with one another to explore the controversies and perhaps find some common grounds. This fou...

The International Humanitarian Studies Association (IHSA) recently published a special issue of International Migration journal, based on contributions to their conference in The Hague (2018). On the 9th of September IHSA and KUNO organized a webinar in which key findings of a special issue of the International Migration Journal on 'Politics, humanitarianism and migration to Europe' were...

In the webinars 'The decolonization of aid' KUNO, Partos, and The Institute of Social Studies (ISS) take one step back and approach the discussion on the decolonization of aid in a series of talks. Step by step, we highlight an aspect of this debate. We ask two experts to engage in a conversation with one another to explore the controversies and perhaps find some common grounds.  This po...

In the webinars 'The decolonization of aid' KUNO, Partos, and The Institute of Social Studies (ISS) take one step back and approach the discussion on the decolonization of aid in a series of talks. Step by step, we highlight an aspect of this debate. We ask two experts to engage in a conversation with one another to explore the controversies and perhaps find some common grounds. This thi...

In the webinars 'The decolonization of aid' KUNO, Partos, and The Institute of Social Studies (ISS) take one step back and approach the discussion on the decolonization of aid in a series of talks. Step by step, we highlight an aspect of this debate. We ask two experts to engage in a conversation with one another to explore the controversies and perhaps find some common grounds.  This sc...

In the webinars 'The decolonization of aid' KUNO, Partos, and The Institute of Social Studies (ISS) take one step back and approach the discussion on the decolonization of aid in a series of talks. Step by step, we highlight an aspect of this debate. We ask two experts to engage in a conversation with one another to explore the controversies and perhaps find some common grounds. This fir...

De Covid-19-crisis is een ongekende uitdaging voor de wereld. Het zal zeker ook het ​​werk van internationale noodhulp veranderen. Deze ontwikkelingen komen aan de orde in het Covid Café, een initiatief van Oxfam Novib en KUNO.  In deze aflevering van het KUNO Covid Café vertellen Michiel Servaes (directeur van Oxfam Novib) en Tineke Ceelen (directeur van Stichting Vluchteling en voorzitter van KU...

Supporting the detained populations in Greece and Libya is the most – or at least one of the most - urgent and most complex humanitarian challenges of this time. The refugees and migrants that got stuck on their way to Europe, live in malicious camps and seek to survive under very harsh conditions. Researcher and well-experienced humanitarian practitioner Jason Phillips was asked by IRC, the Inter...

The world is changing fast. Humanitarian needs grow, due to political developments and climate change; the nature of crises is becoming more complex and protracted; and new players are demanding a role within the humanitarian playing field. What are the implications of this for Western INGOs? What are challenges and what could be the added value of Western INGOs in about ten years?   To inspire Du...

The first and foremost goal of humanitarian aid is to save lives. But what if humanitarian action unintentionally lengthens the duration or becomes part of a conflict? During this edition of Humanitarian Hot Topics humanitarian experts discuss unintended consequences of humanitarian aid in South Sudan. This episode follows on the introduction by Jok Madut Jok and further debate with Bram Jansen an...

The humanitarian sector promised to put local organizations at the heart of humanitarian action. The Grand Bargain presented commitments for local leadership under the frame Localization; these commitments should provide local organisations the means and opportunities to take over control. So far, actual transformation seems to be limited. However, after the tsunami in Sulawesi in 2018, the Indone...

The humanitarian sector promised to put local organizations at the heart of humanitarian action. The Grand Bargain presented commitments for local leadership under the frame Localization; these commitments should provide local organisations the means and opportunities to take over control. So far, actual transformation seems to be limited. However, after the tsunami in Sulawesi in 2018, the Indone...

The first and foremost goal of humanitarian aid is to save lives. But what if humanitarian action unintentionally lengthens the duration or becomes part of a conflict? During this edition of Humanitarian Hot Topics, Jok Madut Jok of the South Sudanese think tank Sudd Institute, will give an introduction addressing the unintended consequences of humanitarian aid in South Sudan. His keynote speech i...

An appealing, thoughtful and compact introduction into humanitarian ethics by Hugo Slim based on a Master Class organized by KUNO (the Platform for Humanitarian Knowledge Exchange in the Netherlands), and the Netherlands Red Cross (The Hague, January 2019). Dr. Hugo Slim is author of the book Humanitarian Ethics. A guide to morality of aid in war and disaster (2015). Slim has a combined career in...

According to John Dalhuisen, Senior Fellow at European Stability Initiative and former director of Amnesty International’s Europe and Central Asia Programme, humanitarian organizations should compromise on their ethical and moral standards, when it comes to migration. To not lose the battle from populists and extreme right winged, they have to search for a migration politics that is supported by a...

According to John Dalhuisen, Senior Fellow at European Stability Initiative and former director of Amnesty International, humanitarian organizations should compromise on their ethical and moral standards, when it comes to migration. To not lose the battle from populists and extreme right winged, they have to search for a migration politics that is supported by a majority of the European citizens. ...

Presentation of the Scoping Study to an International Ombuds for Humanitarian and Development Aid, November 21, 2018 (The Hague). This Ombuds could be a way of preventing (sexual) abuse by humanitarian professionals during humanitarian interventions or a way to assist victims of abuse in humanitarian settings. The study was performed by prof. Dorothea Hilhorst, Asmita Naik and Andrew Cunningham, T...

At the request of the Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC), the UK-based platform for mobilising funding at times of major international humanitarian crises, Ed Schenkenberg of HERE-Geneva visited Bangladesh in January 2018. HERE reviewed the humanitarian response to the Rohingya refugees. The preliminary findings and emerging conclusions are reason for alarm. Few of the lessons that arose out of t...

In February 2018, prof. Alex de Waal presented his new book “Mass Starvation” that provides an authoritative history of modern famines: their causes, dimensions and why they ended. He analyses starvation as a crime, and breaks new ground in examining forced starvation as an instrument of genocide and war.   Alex de Waal is a world-renowned expert on humanitarian crisis and response, Executive Dire...

Three years of conflict and lawlessness in Yemen brought the Yemeni hunger, diphtheria and cholera. Nearly three of four Yemenis rely on humanitarian aid to survive. The dire situation is deteriorating every day. In March 2018, the UN Security Council made a strong plea for humanitarian access: Humanitarian support and peace must take the place of destruction.   Four representatives of NGOs from Y...