HSC news updates

The Humanitarian Observatory in Central and Eastern Europe (Poland, Belarus and Ukraine) have recently published their next newsletter sharing updates on the research, news and activities happening in the region | Read the newsletter

Reset how? The Humanitarian Observatory Network come together in a commentary on the ‘Humanitarian Reset’, an initiative launched in March 2025 by the (at the time) new UNOCHA Emergency Relief Coordinator – Tom Fletcher | Read the blog

Is it possible to conduct feminist research in contexts of humanitarian crises? Researchers Kaira Zoe Alburo-Cañete and Gabriela Villacis Izquierdo talk more about their co-authored book chapter | Watch the video abstract

Sarian Jarosz from the Humanitarian Observatory in Central and Eastern Europe shares about the realities at the Polish-Belarusian and Polish-Ukranian borders in an interview with KUNO | Read the interview

The recording of the webinar ‘Migration at the Crossroads: EUrope–Africa Responses to Climate Change, Forced Displacement, and Humanitarian and Policy Challenges’ is now available to watch | Rewatch the webinar

The November issue of the Humanitarian Observatories Newsletter has been published | Read the newsletter

The 4th HSC Research Brief ‘Reforming Humanitarianism ‘from below’’ has been published! Delve into this research based on the article “Humanitarian Observatories: insights for reforming humanitarianism from below | Read the brief

The HSC and the Observatories launched the ‘Istanbul-Bergen declaration on Humanitarian Justice’ | Read and sign the declaration

Reflect on International DRR Day with HSC Coordinator Tom Ansell | Read the blog

Thank you to all of our presenters and participants that attended our annual one-day conference ‘Humanitarian Studies: Adapting and Reworking in New Times and Contexts’ supported by KUNO | Recap the conference

The book ‘Why Vulnerability Still Matters: The Politics of Disaster Risk Creation’ edited by Greg Bankoff and Thea Hilhorst is now open access! | Access the book

The KUNO Conference report ‘The Changing World Order and its Impact on Humanitarian Action’ has been published | Read the report

Future of Aid 2040: Pathways to Transformation report has been published | Read the report

The 3rd HSC research brief ‘Humanitarian Disasters and Industrial Expansion in the Amazon’ has been released | Read the brief

Tammam Aloudat, CEO of The New Humanitarian, to give the keynote at this year’s conference. Dr Aloudat will also join the panel closing the conference | Read the news item

‘Disaster Recovery through Women’s Eyes’ – KUNO sits down with HSC senior researcher Dr Kaira Zoe Cañete about her new book which approaches the study of crises and their governance through the lens of the ‘everyday’ | Read the interview

Participate in ALNAP’s aid practitioner survey for the SOHS 2026! Share your experience of working in humanitarian response. The survey is available in 6 languages | Complete the survey

Call for Applications: International Writing Workshop on the HDP nexus in Brazil in 2026. We invite Early Career Researchers (ECRs) from the Global South to apply for this 3-day all expenses covered workshop | More information

‘Unpacking Humanitarian Governance in Latin America and the Caribbean’ research report published aiming to understand the trends and processes of humanitarian governance in the region utilising the Delphi method | Read the report

The Hague Humanitarian Studies Centre recognized for its work with the Humanitarian Observatories over two grants | Read more about the two projects

‘Leveraging local capacity lies at the heart of our philosophy’. Mihir Bhatt from the Humanitarian Observatory in South Asia (based in India) sat down for an interview with KUNO | Read the full interview

Hum-Gov PhD researcher Gabriela Villacis and team awarded an LDE GMD Seed Grant for their research project ‘Beyond Remittances: Diasporic Aid and Care in times of crises’ | More information

‘Future of Aid: Affected Population’s Perspectives in Ahmedabad, India’. The Humanitarian Observatory Initiative in South Asia takes part in IARAN’s Design Fiction leading to the Future of Aid 2040 | Find out more

HSC Senior researcher Kaira Zoe Cañete recently joined the editorial board of Environmental Hazards, brining her expertise in feminist and anti-colonial perspectives on disasters | Read more

The 2nd HSC Research Brief ‘Connecting Humanitarianism and the Sendai Framework after 10 years’ by Rodrigo Mena and Tom Ansell has been published | Read the brief

“The observatories offer unique, local perspectives that can help improve the accountability and effectiveness of humanitarian aid.” | Read about the Humanitarian Observatories in the KUNO interview with Dr Kaira Zoe Cañete

Accountability for International Crimes in the Democratic Republic of Congo | Listen to the Justice Update with asymmetrical haircuts and Thea Hilhorst

Looking back at Human Rights in the Palestinian Territories: A conversation with UN Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese | Rewatch Francesca Albanese’s talk

The HSC has published its podcast ‘The Good Humanitarian’ | Listen now

The HSC-led consortium has been awarded €6.9 million for a project aimed at climate resilience in Africa | Read more about Climares

HSC One-Day Conference ‘Humanitarian Studies: Today and Tomorrow’ | Recap the event

Hyeonggeun Ji receives the Best Poster Award at the SENSE Symposium in Amsterdam about climate-related displacement in Bangladesh for the Humanitarian Governance Project | View the poster

The Humanitarian Observatory for Central and Eastern Europe (based in Poland) shares the report ‘Narratives and the Ukraine Response: Implications for humanitarian action and principles’ | Read it here

Thea Hilhorst talks about how the Giro555 campaign to raise money for civilians affected by war in Gaza, Lebanon and Israel has sparked discussions | Listen to the podcast [in Dutch]

Professor Maja Janmyr walked us through the ‘Carboard Camp: Stories of Sudanese Refugees in Lebanon’ | View the graphic novel online

‘Humanitarianism in the Shadow of Politics: Navigating Aid Under Pressure’ Humanitarian Congress Berlin panel with Thea Hilhorst | Watch the recording from 1:40:00

The report on the 15th Hague Roundtable on Climate and Security has been published | Download the report

The Hum-Gov Project: How a team of ISS academics are shaping the future of humanitarian research | Read the article

‘Colombia: Neglected or normalised crises?’ presentation by Gabriela Villacis Izquierdo | Watch the recap from minute 31

Statement on Gaza from the IHSA conference roundtable at North South University, Dhaka | Read the statement

‘Humanitarian Studies is about dignity and it is about humanity’ | Read the DevISSues feature article from the launch of the Centre

‘Rethinking our Roles as Disaster Scholars for Advancing Justice’ presentation by Kaira Zoe Cañete | Rewatch the CERN webinar 1:10:56

Disaster Recovery through Women’s Eyes | Read the KUNO interview about the new book by Kaira Zoe Cañete