The conference has been opened by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Laurent Fabius, the Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, Valerie Amos, and the European Commissioner for International Cooperation, Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Response, Kristalina Georgieva.

Four discussion sessions of an hour and a half has been organised on major issues affecting the humanitarian field: the growing complexity of crises; the emergence of new actors; the challenges of post-crisis action, etc.

The closing speech has been made by the Deputy Minister for Development, Pascal Canfin at 6.20pm.

 

Organisation

This event has been organised by the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ Crisis Centre, with support from Groupe URD and a steering committee made up of:

  • The Delegation for relations with civil society and partnerships from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ Globalisation, Development and Partnerships Directorate, represented by Régis Koetschet, delegate, and Emmanuelle Gallet, editor;
  • Coordination Sud (Humanitarian Commission), represented by Serge Breysse;
  • Coordination Humanitaire et Développement, represented by Alain Boinet;
  • La Fondation Mérieux, represented by Benoît Miribel.

In keeping with the commitments made in France’s Humanitarian Strategy, the Crisis Centre has created a forum to discuss humanitarian issues, in order strengthen its partnership with French NGOs and aid organizations. This consultation group was brought together at the beginning of February to validate the main themes of the conference.

 

Live broadcast & video

You can watch the conference live on internet on the France Diplomatie website: http://www.diplomatie.gouv.fr/fr/politique-etrangere-de-la-france/action-humanitaire-d-urgence/actualites-et-evenements-21539/conference-nationale-humanitaire/.

Also, a video has been prepared by Groupe URD for the opening of the conference, in partnership with the main french NGO.

A live tweet has been organised on the day of the conference allowing internet users to ask speakers questions (#CNH2014)