'The humanitarian response to COVID-19: lessons for future pandemics and global crises'
This event has concluded. Catch up on the recording and explore related resources here.
Read ALNAP's latest evaluation synthesis of the humanitarian response to COVID-19.
- Read the full report
- Read the executive summary
Join us as we mark the launch of ALNAP’s evaluation synthesis on the humanitarian response to COVID-19 with a multi-format online experience featuring opinion, video reflections and live debate.
Register now
The COVID-19 pandemic was a crisis unlike any other. It offered the sector a chance to rewrite the rules of humanitarian action. But four years on, the humanitarian response to the pandemic feels like a missed opportunity for change. Inadequate preparedness, traditional power dynamics and sector-driven priority-setting have limited the transformational potential of the pandemic, instead revealing perennial problems in how the international system operates.
But it is not all doom and gloom – the pandemic showed us that working differently is indeed possible, and there are pockets of actors who have used their experiences during COVID-19 to catalyse change.
ALNAP invites you to reflect on what the humanitarian sector has learned from COVID-19 and how it can make better use of these learnings for the future:
- How can we better prepare for future pandemics?
- What will it take for the system to put affected people at the centre?
- How can we implement learnings from the pandemic to build a more equitable sector better equipped for the global challenges ahead?
Join us on Thursday 17 October for a dynamic online event as we launch ALNAP ’s evaluation synthesis on the humanitarian response to COVID-19 and explore opportunities for learning and transformation. Hear from leading humanitarians in the response on what the sector got right, the missed opportunities and what gives us hope for the future of humanitarian response.
Speakers & Contributors:
Pre-recorded reflections from:
- Sir Mark Lowcock | former UN UnderSecretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, and head of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA)
- Sudanshu Singh, Founder and CEO of Humanitarian Aid International
- Ndubisi Anyanwu | Country Director, Mercy Corps Nigeria
Live discussions and Q&A with:
- Jeremy Konyndyk | President Refugees International; former Executive Director of the USAID COVID-19 Task Force, senior policy fellow at CGD on humanitarian response and pandemic preparedness
- Dr Sylvie Briand (MD, MPH, PhD) | Director; Global Preparedness Monitoring Board (GPMB) Secretariat, World Health Organization (WHO) Director General office
- Courtenay Cabot-Venton | Founder and Executive Director of ShareTrust; former co-lead of Social Protection Approaches to COVID-19 Expert Advice Service (SPACE)
- Dr. Sultani Hadley Matendechero 'ndc'(K) | Deputy Director General for Health State Department for Public Health and Professional Standards, Ministry of Health, Kenya
Hosts:
- Namukabo Werungah, | Journalist, The New Humanitarian
- Alice Obrecht | Head of Research and Impact, ALNAP
This event is part of ‘The Learning Curve’ - a new kind of online event featuring humanitarians from all over the world for opinion, live debate and video reflections. Expect a collaborative, fast paced, and varied format created to bolster your online collective learning experience.