A conference on "Refreshing Humanitarian Action" took place in Jakarta, Indonesia, at the end of February.
The event was an opportunity for policy makers and humanitarians to look at how humanitarian action in South-East Asia has changed in recent decades.
Ambassador Ong Keng Yong of Singapore in conversation with Fadlullah Wilmot of Muslim Aid. CC BY-NC-ND / ICRC / Ursula Langouran
Humanitarian aid is no longer dominated by Western donors and international aid agencies. Dealing with disasters, bringing relief to war zones and helping refugees and trafficking victims all involve local, national and regional bodies.
Christoph Sutter, head of the ICRC's regional delegation for Indonesia and Timor Leste, hands over a plaque of appreciation for Kuntoro Mangkusubroto, who delivered a keynote speech on "Contemporary challenges faced by humanitarian actors and how governments and humanitarian organizations can work together to better respond to complex emergency situations." CC BY-NC-ND / ICRC / Ursula Langouran
The February conference was one of a series co-organized by the ICRC and the Humanitarian Policy Group of the Overseas Development Institute. The conferences are looking at what humanitarian models work best, how closely humanitarians need to work alongside the people they are assisting and how those outside the formal system can influence the future of humanitarian action.
Read the conference report.
