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OUR MISSION

The Harvard Humanitarian Initiative (HHI) is a university-wide center involving multiple entities within the Harvard community that provide expertise in public health, medicine, social science, management, and other disciplines to promote evidence-based approaches to humanitarian assistance.

The mission of the Initiative is to relieve human suffering in war and disaster by advancing the science and practice of humanitarian response worldwide. HHI fosters interdisciplinary collaboration in order to:

  • Improve the effectiveness of humanitarian strategies for relief, protection and prevention;
  • Instill human rights principles and practices in these strategies;
  • Educate and train the next generation of humanitarian leaders. 

ISSUE IN FOCUS

2013 HUMANITARIAN ACTION SUMMIT

The 5th annual Humanitarian Action Summit: Climate and Crisis will take place on May 13-14, 2013.

The Summit, co-hosted by the Harvard Humanitarian Initiative and the Harvard University Center for the Environment, will provide a platform to explore approaches to addressing the human and material costs of climate change. Summit discussions will focus on the acute and chronic issues at the intersection of climate change and humanitarian action, including the impact of climate change on food security, forced migration, and conflict as well as the current technology, methods, and applications for monitoring and mapping climate change.

Additionally, the first day of the Summit will feature a panel discussion titled “Rethinking Humanitarian Aid,” sponsored by the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation. The panel will discuss how humanitarian aid might be most effectively organized and delivered today.

To learn more about the 2013 Humanitarian Action Summit, please click here or contact Alexa Walls at awalls@hsph.harvard.edu or at 617.384.5627.