FROM THE GROUND UP: LOCAL AND INDIGENOUS APPROACHES TO HUMANITARIAN AID AND DISASTER RISK REDUCTION

A joint CCDP and The New Humanitarian event on local and indigenous approaches to humanitarian aid and disaster risk reduction.

This joint CCDP and The New Humanitarian event is hosted on the sidelines of the sixth session of the Global Platform on Disaster Risk Reduction. Later this month, thousands of people will gather in Geneva to discuss how the international community can reduce the impact of disasters and build resilience in vulnerable communities around the world. But mainstream disaster management and humanitarian response often overlook the views of the local and indigenous communities they seek to serve.

In late 2017, supported by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the non-profit newsroom The New Humanitarian set out to hear the stories of local aid workers on the frontlines of humanitarian crises around the world – from micro NGOs in Venezuela to Rohingya activists in refugee camps in Bangladesh. Alongside the reporting of The New Humanitarian, researcher John Scott visited the Māori communities of New Zealand and the Inuit of Nunavut, Canada to see what the international community could learn from indigenous approaches to reducing the risk of disasters.

The discussion will be followed by a time for questions and answers, and a drinks reception. Introductory remarks by:

• Gilles Carbonnier, CCDP Faculty Associate and Professor of Development Economics at the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies

Moderation by:

• Heba Aly, Director, The New Humanitarian

In Conversation with:

• Irwin Loy, Editor, The New Humanitarian
• John Scott, President, Center for Public Service Communications
• Local organisations building resilience in their own communities – from India to El Salvador

Concluding remarks by:

• Valerie Nkamgang Bemo, Deputy Director, Global Development, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation