Date
20 Feb 2021
We have successfully held the 6th Humanitarian Symposium Munich (HSM) on 20 February 2021. Due to the pandemic, it was at the same time the first HSM that was held fully online. A wide variety of speakers elaborated on the overarching topic of this year’s event: "Virtually Humanitarian Aid: Action in Times of COVID-19 and Digitalization". We registered up to 70 participants attending our Zoom Symposium throughout the day.
We enjoyed presentations by seven speakers, of which two were ‘in action’ providing humanitarian aid in the field at the moment. Challenges addressed by speakers in association with the current COVID-19 pandemic included: diversion of resources, how the virus creates a different crisis in each specific context, the challenges of data collection, social media and fake news, cultural sensitivity, digitalisation and inclusion, access to healthcare and most of all health equity issues.
Whereas, Tankred Stoebe (MSF), Judith Lindert (DTC/InSicioN), Malte Bräutigam (Freundeskreis Indianderhilfe e.V.), Alexandra Roth (missio Munich) and Alastair Scott(humedica) shared insights into pandemic challenges of humanitarian aid in low- and middle-income countries, Doctor’s of the world speakers Dr. Cevat Kara and Annemarie Weber as well as Haakon Spriewald from Handicap International highlighted the remaining (health) inequities experiences by individuals in a high-income country like Germany. Thus, we dove into discussions about decolonising global health, rethinking humanitarian aid and the challenges of limited resources but also into what it means to become more digitalised for different population groups and how equitable access to healthcare remains a challenge in all contexts.
We are looking forward to our next Symposium on 19 February 2022 which will hopefully take place in presence here in Munich again.
The organizers would like to thank all speakers, participants and exhibiting organizations for their contributions!
Please find more information on the Humanitarian Symposium Munich 2021 in the HSM 2021 Flyer and in the HSM 2021 Program.