RSIS World Humanitarian Day 2021 Webinar: Responses to Crises During the Pandemic - Challenges and New Modalities

RSIS World Humanitarian Day 2021 Webinar: Responses to Crises During the Pandemic - Challenges and New Modalities

By

Dr Caroline Brassard Adjunct Assistant Professor, Lee Kwan Yew School of Public Policy National University of Singapore

Ms Ann Moey Private Sector Partnerships Manager The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) Private Sector Partnerships Service, Singapore

Ms Aimee George

Save the Children, Asia

Regional Humanitarian Operations Assistant Manager

Opening Remarks Prof Mely Caballero-Anthony Professor of International Relations, Head, Centre for Non-Traditional Security Studies, President’s Chair in International Relations and Security Studies, S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies

Moderator Dr Alistair D. B. Cook Coordinator of Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief Programme, Senior Fellow, Centre for Non-Traditional Security Studies, S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies

Abstract This webinar will generate discussion on the following topics: (i) Challenges faced by the humanitarian sector during COVID-19, (ii) Potential solutions and initiatives to help alleviate these challenges, (iii) Risk perception and its effects on crisis management. The panel discussion will aim to raise public awareness on humanitarian assistance and disaster relief in the region by providing a venue for exchange of ideas, insights and experiences from those involved in the protection and assistance of vulnerable groups displaced by disasters, particularly from a Singapore perspective. The annual event to commemorate World Humanitarian Day brings together local players in the humanitarian sphere to celebrate the dedication of humanitarian workers around the world, and to remember those in most need of assistance.

About the Speakers

Dr Caroline Brassard worked as an economist for the Government of Ontario in Canada, and then undertook research and long term consultancy work on poverty reduction strategies for several international non-governmental organizations in developing countries, including United Nations Children’s Fund in Madagascar, CARE in Bangladesh and Save the Children in Vietnam. She then went on to undertake a Phd in Economics at the University of London, where she taught empirical analysis for economics and management for two years, prior to joining the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy.

Caroline continues to consult with various international organizations including the United Nations Development Program and she teaches on aid governance, research methods, economic development policy, poverty alleviation strategies and empirical analysis for public policy. Her current research focuses on aid governance in Bhutan, Nepal, Indonesia and Vietnam, comparing policies to alleviate poverty and reduce inequalities, Bhutan’s development based on Gross National Happiness and the development policy lessons from the Post-Tsunami reconstruction in Aceh, Indonesia.

Ms Ann Moey has over 16 years of experience in the humanitarian and development sector in Singapore, Lao PDR, Thailand and the UAE. She is currently the Private Sector Partnerships Manager for UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, where her primary focus is to mobilise resources from companies, foundations and Individuals, in support of displaced communities worldwide. Prior to joining UNHCR, Ann was the Head of Communications and Private Sector for IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) Asia. In that role, Ann led all communications, marketing, and private sector engagement across the organization’s 11 Asian country offices. Ann has also had managerial stints with a renewable energy social enterprise, a national sports association, and a disaster relief NGO.

Ms. Aimee George’s commitments to advocating for the dignity and rights of those underserved were formed in her years working alongside communities in the Global South. She’s a Singaporean who shaped her perspectives on praxis in the sector serving with civil society groups/ NGOs in Thailand, Palestine, South Africa and the US. She provided leadership for the implementation of a multi-sector relief and emergency response in Afghanistan, and presently supports preparedness planning and capacity building in Save the Children’s APAC offices midst chronic and rapid-onset emergencies. Aimee holds an MA in International Peace Studies from the Kroc Institute, University of Notre Dame (USA).