Date
19 Feb 2022
The next Development Cooperation and Humanitarian Aid Symposium will be held online on Saturday, February 19, 2022 starting from 08:30am CET
The topic of the Humanitarian Symposium 2022 will be "Decolonising Humanitarian and Development Aid" and it will be structured as a full-day online series of presentations by invited speakers.
The debate and discussion on decolonisation has gained a lot of attention over the past few years, especially in the sector of Humanitarian and Development Aid. Humanitarian Aid and Development Cooperation are established, yet not undisputed elements of global health action. While a persistent criticism in this area is the pervasion of aid by a postcolonial heritage, the issue of ‘decolonisation’ is of fundamental importance for all actors involved.
Likewise, at the Center for International Health ( CIHLMU ) it is our responsibility to be reflective about our work and interactions. Therefore, we have decided to dedicate the ‘Humanitarian Aid Symposium Munich’ (HSM) 2022 to engage with professionals and NGO’s from the field as well as experts from various academic disciplines and beneficiaries on the topic of ‘Decolonising Humanitarian and Development Aid’.
Engaging with the topic of ‘decoloniality’ starts with a self-reflection about one’s own privileges. Hence, with this symposium we do not aim to agree but rather are looking to disagree as a first move towards dismantling post-colonial practices and thinking. This symposium will bring together different individuals, voices and professionals, to jointly reflect on post- or neo-colonial practices in the field of humanitarian aid. The event will serve as an opportunity to critically discuss our own biases, how colonial histories shape our thinking and to start ‘decolonising our minds’ (see Abimbola et.al, 2021).
We would like to invite you to join us in this practice and experience different actors from the field of humanitarian aid, development cooperation, global health and social sciences in sharing their viewpoints as well as their experiences with the topic. Additionally, we very much like to offer you the opportunity to engage in critical discussions during the symposium and challenge certain ideas and practices with us together (see scholarship opportunity below).
For further research on the topic you can find some readings and resources below.
Medical education credit points (CME) will be applied for at the Bavarian Medical Chamber.
Please find more information in the HSM 2022 Flyer and our detailed Programme.
Registration:
Please note that registration is now closed!
Scholarship Opportunity
Decolonisation starts with equity. Hence, for our Humanitarian Symposium Munich 2022, we at the Teaching and Training Unit (T&TU) at the Division for Infectious Diseases and Tropical Medicine at the LMU Hospital Munich, would like to offer the possibility to apply for a scholarship to waive the participant fees.
Therefore, if you are interested in participating at the HSM 2022 but due to living and working in a low-and-middle-income setting you might lack the financial resources to cover the required fees, we would be happy to hear from you. In order to apply for a fee waiver, please provide us with a motivation letter stating your current situation in a low- and middle-income setting and your personal motivation in participating at the Humanitarian Symposium Munich 2022.
Please do not exceed one page for your statement and send it as a pdf-document to humanitarian.symposium@lrz.uni-muenchen.de
Recommended Readings/Resources
- Podcast with Dr. Tammam Aloudat on decolonising humanitarian aid
- Khan M, Abimbola S, Aloudat T, et.al. (2021).Decolonising global health in 2021: a roadmap to move from rhetoric to reform. BMJ Global Health, 6:e005604. doi:10.1136/bmjgh-2021-005604
- Abimbola S. & Madhukar P. (2020). Will global health survive its decolonisation? The Lancet, 396(10263), 1627 - 1628. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(20)32417-X
- Hirsch, L.A. (2021). Is it possible to decolonise global health institutions? The Lancet, 397( 10270) 189 - 190. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(20)32763-X
- Webinar Series: Addressing Power and Decoloniality in Humanitarian Aid
- The New Humanitarian
- Koch, Susanne. 2021. “Contextualising Epistemic Injustice in Aid: On Colliding Interests, Colonialism and Counter-Movements.” Social Epistemology Review and Reply Collective 10 (2): 14-
- Peace Direct Report: Time to Decolonise Aid
Contact:
Scientific Lead: Romy Kuempfel, MSc & Lisa Hoffaeller, M.A.
Teaching & Training Unit at the Division of Infectious Diseases and Tropical Medicine
University Hospital, LMU Munich
humanitarian.symposium@lrz.uni-muenchen.de
Previous Humanitarian Symposia:
Please find more information on the previous Humanitarian Aid Symposia here.