“HUMANITARIAN INTERVENTION TODAY: NEW ISSUES, NEW IDEAS, NEW PLAYERS” EXECUTIVE SUMMARY OF THE C ONFERENCE P ROCEEDINGS Sponsored by the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation The Hilton New York • New York City • September 24, 2003 The fifth international humanitarian assembly sponsored by the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation brought together leaders from governments, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), foundations, corporations, and multilateral institutions to explore the changing and challenging circumstances that are transforming the landscape of humanitarian interventions in the 21st century. In addition to the distinguished panelists, the Honorable Mary Robinson, executive director of the Ethical Globalization Initiative and former United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and President of Ireland, delivered the keynote address. As in previous years, the conference was broadcast on the Internet. Its complete proceedings are published and distributed to world leaders and are also available on the Hilton Foundation website. The assembly was held in conjunction with the eighth annual presentation of the Conrad N. Hilton Humanitarian Prize. His Holiness the Dalai Lama, spiritual and temporal leader of the Tibetan people and recipient of the 1989 Nobel Peace Prize, was the keynote speaker for the Hilton Prize luncheon honoring the 2003 recipient, International Rehabilitation Council for Torture Victims (IRCT). The Denmark-based global network of rehabilitation centers and programs in 80 countries supports and promotes the rehabilitation of victims of torture and advocates worldwide for the prevention and eradication of torture. SPEAKERS CONFERENCE ADDRESS PANEL THREE The Honorable Mary Robinson “Civil-Military Cooperation—An Impossible Dream?” Executive Director, Ethical Globalization Initiative, George F. Ward, Jr. Former United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Former Coordinator for Humanitarian Assistance, Office of Reconstruction and Humanitarian PANEL ONE Assistance, Iraq (ORHA) “Expanding Humanitarian Space: A Challenge for Global Philanthropy” “The Role of the UN in Reconstruction in Iraq” Lincoln Chen, M.D. Mark Malloch Brown Director, Global Equity Initiative, Harvard University Administrator, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) “Human Security Through Women’s Eyes” Noeleen Heyzer, Ph.D. PANEL FOUR Executive Director, “Ending Global Poverty” United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) Jeffrey D. Sachs Director, The Earth Institute at Columbia University and PANEL TWO Special Advisor to the UN Secretary-General “Righting Human Wrongs: on the Millennium Development Goals The First Arab Human Development Report” Zahir Jamal “Religion: the Little Girl with the Curl” Chief of Regional Programmes in the Arab States, Robert A. Seiple United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Chairman and Founder, Institute for Global Engagement “Opportunities for Africa in the HIV/AIDS Pandemic” “Reaching Those in Greatest Need? Bob Francis Jalang’o Current Realities—Future Trends” Former Permanent Representative, Todd Petersen Republic of Kenya to the United Nations Chief Executive Officer, HelpAge International SUMMARY PROCEEDINGS OF “HUMANITARIAN INTERVENTION TODAY: NEW ISSUES, NEW IDEAS, NEW PLAYERS” PAGE 1 ONFERENCE YNOPSIS C S “The challenge has been, and continues to be, how to best prevent and alleviate human suffering, no matter what. It is the ‘no matter what’ that makes us pause. Starting in 1998 with (Hilton Conference) ‘Humanitarian Challenges in the New Millennium,’ perhaps at some level we have simply been reacting to a major symbolic change—moving into a new century and new millennium. But as it so happens, the changes have been very real and very concrete indeed. We knew about the end of the Cold War, the collapse of communism, the proliferation of ethnic and religious regional and local conflicts, and globalization in 1998. We did not foresee what else was coming—September 11, a war in Afghanistan, another in Iraq, a world reeling from threats of terrorist attacks and the subsequent reality of attacks. The challenge that brings us together, that makes us seek each other out, is that for all the differences these catastrophes and disruptions have, they all, without exception, demand a humanitarian response. We are all in this together….Let us work together today to shed some light on dark times.” --Steven M. Hilton, President, Conrad N. Hilton Foundation “Humanitarian Intervention Today: New was frequently repeated: the obligation to work Issues, New Ideas, New Players” brought for the prevention of conflict. “A new approach to together 270 participants—leaders, policy makers, humanitarian intervention must focus on and activists in the fields of humanitarianism and preventing conflicts and threats to human human rights. They were representatives of life through shared responsibilities—the governments, foundations, non-governmental responsibility to sovereignty.” In defining the organizations (NGOs), corporations, multilateral responsibility to sovereignty, she said, “This institutions, and the media. implies that when states are unable to provide protection and assistance for their citizens, they Starting with Mary Robinson, the repetitive note are expected to request and accept outside offers that sounded underneath all the speakers’ of aid. And if they refuse or obstruct access to comments was “security.” Robinson called for affected populations, thereby putting large humanitarian intervention that strengthened the numbers at risk, there is an international connections between human rights, human responsibility to respond.” development, and human security. The first panelist, Lincoln Chen picked it up and described Successful prevention of conflict will necessarily the “today” of the 21st century: “The world looks embrace dual values of protection and and feels very different today—more uncertain, empowerment. These are core human rights insecure, and troubled—than one decade ago.” principles that, if embraced as part of a new Moments later, Noeleen Heyzer was explaining appr oach to humanitarian intervention, can make why women keep stressing the need for “security, all the difference. Ralph Begleiter summed up the security, security.” day’s discussions noting the speakers’ references to all the changes affecting humanitarian work That security was such a common theme, of today: new relationships with the military; course, was due to the overwhelming reality relationships with government; relationships with facing humanitarians in the 21st century. Less religions; and, relationships to the new than five years into the new millennium, it is demographics of population. obvious we are on a new terrain that bears little relationship to the familiar terrain and ground rules of the previous 150 years of humanitarian interventions. Call it terrorism, guerrilla warfare, regional conflict; call it chaos. To a great degree, this is the space, as it was usually called, or theater, on which humanitarian intervention must operate. Terrorism is not a “one time only” or “freak phenomenon”; it is for the foreseeable future the status quo. The challenge is not to cave into terrorism, but to learn how to operate with the same humanitarian values as always, but realistically. Mary Robinson sounded a theme early on that Steven M. Hilton, President, Conrad N. Hilton Foundation SUMMARY PROCEEDINGS OF “HUMANITARIAN INTERVENTION TODAY: NEW ISSUES, NEW IDEAS, NEW PLAYERS” PAGE 2 AREAS OF CONSENSUS Still reeling from terrorism and its aftermath, still A global alliance. It is now recognized that a sorting it out, the discussions went forward, and global alliance of governments, international despite differences, there were common threads institutions, foundations, non-governmental and consensus discernible throughout. organizations, and the private sector, including business, is necessary in any serious effort to The humanitarian space is shrinking. What address a major humanitarian problem, be it started to become evident in the 1990s, often poverty, disease, education, or the aftermath of a seeming an aberration, is now undeniable as a violent conflict or natural disaster. And it was fact of life—humanitarians cannot go about their agreed, the military often must be included. The business as usual; they are often not allowed to challenge is how to assign responsibility and how carry out their mandate. Humanitarians are to work well together. What evaded consensus on losing the space they had taken for granted. There this topic was the question of unilateral versus is no longer the belief that all combatants in a multilateral intervention, with Iraq visibly conflict situation understand and respect the hovering over the discussion. humanitarian space in which they operate. This subject resonated with conference participants Catastrophic disease, especially HIV/AIDS, is a who asked many question about what a new human security issue. Mary Robinson called humanitarian space would look like. No one could HIV/AIDS “perhaps the greatest humanitarian give a definitive answer. challenge we face today.” Catastrophic illness not only causes human suffering, but the costs of There is a connection between terrorism and emergency medical care can precipitate a poverty. It cannot be demonstrated that poverty financial crisis, leading to a vicious spiral of directly causes terrorism. Not all terrorists are impoverishment. Catastrophic illness is truly the poor, but it is the climate created by poverty that catastrophe that can