While long declared to ‘be in crisis’, humanitarian aid, development cooperation, migration governance and multilateralism are currently experiencing unprecedented systemic shocks. This Roundtable gathers researchers and stakeholders for a collaborative discussion on what’s at stake and where we go from here.
One day Roundtable – space for reflection - hosted at PRIO
Drastic funding cuts and freezes announced by the new Trump Administration has been followed by the Dutch government declaring the foreign policy will take care of ‘Dutch interests first’, the UK cutting aid to focus spending on security and the unprecedented gains of the far-right in German elections.
- With radical cuts to humanitarian and development programming, what will be the impact on communities, infrastructure and governance?
- Despite outrage from civil society, international organizations, activists and researchers, there is a notable absence of public pushback against these developments. Can this be explained as a failure to invest in convincing tax-payer audiences about the added value of international aid?
- What is the medium-term chilling effect of this cut on multilateral governance and how does it link up to broader deglobalization processes?
- After a decade of discussing localization, what are the opportunities (withdrawal of traditional actors) and challenges (less money, little appetite for risk-taking, institutional self-preservation) currently in play?
- Deeply contested for a decade, what will be the impact on migration governance and normative frameworks, such as durable solutions? Is refugee resettlement dead?
- In the middle of all of this, are we seeing the emergence of a Norwegian humanitarian model 3.0 where the relative soft power value of aid is increasing, not decreasing for a small status seeking country?
- As researchers with long-term investments in each of these areas, how can we meaningfully contribute to ongoing exchanges? How do we argue for our added value?
| Programme | (further details to come) | |
|---|---|---|
| 09:30 | Welcome & introduction | Kristin Bergtora Sandvik, UiO & PRIO Maria Gabrielsen Jumbert, PRIO |
| 10:00 | The humanitarian sector and the politics of added value | Chaired by Kristoffer Lidén, PRIO |
| 11:15 | Multilateral cooperation & development aid: what normative space forward | Chaired by Simon Reid-Henry, PRIO |
| 12:15-13:30 | Lunch | |
| 13:30 | Migration governance and refugee protection | Chaired by Heidi Mogstad, CMI |
| 14:45 | Way forward for our research in a world of global governance in crisis | Chaired by Maria Gabrielsen Jumbert, PRIO |
| 16:00 | End of day social gathering. |
- If you have questions or would like to participate in this Roundtable, please contact Maria Gabrielsen Jumbert: margab@prio.org
This Roundtable is co-hosted by Humanitarianism & Multilateral affairs Research groups at PRIO, in collaboration with participating research institutes.
