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Legal Aspects of Relief Operations –  Programme

May, 26 – 27, 2019,

University of Haifa

Introduction:

Relief operations* usually take place in situations of extreme conditions, including armed conflicts, natural disasters, or as a consequence thereof (e.g. in refugee and internally displaced persons camps).

The aid sector is not unified. It is composed of various types of relief operations and actors, including, inter alia, UN affiliated operations, UN agencies (such as UNHCR), INGOs, and NGOs, and State operations. Relief operations can differ in their different characteristics, such as the duration, size, capacity, interaction with the local population, etc.

The reality of relief operations, including, inter alia, the presence of such operations in overseas, combined with the fragile conditions on the ground and the expected weakness of the rule of law, creates a complicated legal surrounding. This legal complexity is the basis for a workshop held at the University of Haifa, on May 26 – 27, 2019.

Expected participants include representatives from relevant organizations such as UN agencies and NGO, state representatives, legal and field practitioners and academic experts.

The event is held in collaboration between the Minerva Center for the Rule of Law under Extreme Conditions (Minerva RLEC) at the University of Haifa, the International Association of Jewish Lawyers and Jurists (IAJLJ) and the Israeli School of Humanitarian Action (ISHA).

The event is by invitation only.

For a short biographical details of participants see here

* We refer to the term “relief operations” in a wide scope which includes different types of operations aim to provide aid, goods, treatment etc. to affected communities.

The workshop included four sessions of discussion: a keynote evening session and three round tables. Each round table included a few short presentations (10 – 15 minutes), followed by a moderated discussion among all participants.

 

Sunday, May 26th

18:00 – 18:30 – Gathering

18:30 – 19:00 - Introductions (Link to video)

  1. Prof. Eli Salzberger, Director, The Minerva Center for the Rule of Law Under Extreme Conditions
  2. Col. (res.) Adv. Pnina Sharvit-Baruch, Vice-President, the International Association of Jewish Lawyers and Jurists.
  3. Mr. Einav Levy, Founding Director, Israeli School of Humanitarian Action

19:00 – 19:15 - Introductory presentation, Mr. Ido Rosenzweig, Director of Research (Terrorism, Belligerency & Cyber), Minerva RLEC; Director of International Organisations, IAJLJ (Link to video)

19:15 – 20:00 – Keynote presentation - Lt. Col. (R) Eyal Dror, former head of “Operation Good Neighbor”

20:00 - Dinner

 

Monday May 27th  

9:30 – 10:00 Introductions

First Round Table

10:00 - 12:30 – “Standardization, regulation, and liability of relief actors”

Presenters:

  1. Mr. Itay Epshtain - International Lawyer, Magen David Adom (link to video)
  2. Dr. Odeda Benin-Goren - “The EMT Initiative” (link to video)
  3. Ms. Aninia Nadig, Policy and Practice Manager, Sphere (link to video)
  4. Ms. Shadia Sbait, Strategy & Development Advisor, Humanity Crew

12:00 – 13:30 – Lunch

 

Second Round Table

13:30 – 16:00 – “Preventing Sexual Exploitation and abuse in the aid sector”

Moderator: Prof. Frances Raday, former member of the CEDAW Committee and UN Special Rapporteur on discrimination against women

Presenters:

  1. Dr. Stephanie Cartier, Legal Officer, UN Office of the Legal Affairs
  2. Mr. Kevin Chang, Human Rights Legal Adviser and Visiting Scholar in Peace and Conflict Studies, University of Sydney. (link to video)
  3. Mr. Jerry Locula, Former Human Rights Officer UNMISS (UN Mission in South Sudan) (link to video)
  4. Mr. Larry Bottinick, Senior Legal Officer, UNHCR 

16:00 – 16:20 – coffee break

 

Third Round Table

16:20 – 18:50 – “Maintaining human rights of the addressed population”

Moderator: Dr. Itamar Mann, the University of Haifa, Faculty of Law, Minerva RLEC.

Presenters:

  1. Ms. Ira Ryk-Lakhman, Tadmor-Levy & Co. “Technology, Blockchain, and Humanitarian relief” (link to video)
  2. Ms. Rosa Da Costa, Lecturer, Tel-Aviv University, “Administration of Justice in Large Camp Situations”

18:50 – 19:00 – Short coffee break

 

19:00 – 19:20 – Concluding remarks – Ms. Emanuela-Chaira Gillard, Oxford Institute for Ethics, Law and Armed Conflict.

19:30 – Heading to Dinner

 

Participants (partial list, alphabetical order):

  1. Mr. Nimrod Avigal - HIAS Israel [TBC]
  2. Ms. Rebecca Barber, Associate Lecturer, Centre for Humanitarian Leadership, Deakin University
  3. Dr. Michal Ben-Gal, Minerva RLEC
  4. Dr. Odeda Benin Goren
  5. Dr. Ziv Bohrer, Bar-Ilan University - Law Faculty
  6. Mr. Larry Bottinick, Senior Protection Officer, UNHCR Israel
  7. Ms. Michal Bruck, CEO, NALA
  8. Dr. Sita Cacioppe
  9. Dr. Stephanie Cartier, Legal Officer, UN Office of the Legal Affairs
  10. Mr. Kevin Chang, Visiting Scholar in Peace and Conflict Studies, University of Sydney
  11. Ms. Rosa Da Costa, Lecturer, Tel-Aviv University; Israel School of Humanitarian Action
  12. Ms. Dafna Dror- Shpoliansky, Office of the Deputy Attorney General (International Law), Israel Ministry of Justice
  13. Lt. Col. (res.) Eyal Dror, former head of “Operation Good Neighbor”
  14. Ms. Christie J. Edwards, Esq.
  15. Mr. Itay Epshtain - International Lawyer, Magen David Adom
  16. Mr. Yoni Eshpar - Political Affairs Officer at the Office of the United Nations Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process (UNSCO)
  17. Ms. Ronit Gidron-Zemach, CEO, IAJLJ
  18. Ms. Emanuela-Chiara Gillard, Oxford Institute for Ethics, Law and Armed Conflict.
  19. Dr. Adi Hercowitz-Amir, Post-Doc Fellow, Haifa Center for German and European Studies
  20. Mr. Danny Kahn, Chairperson, NATAN-International Humanitarian Aid
  21. Dr. Ina Kubbe, Post-Doc, Tel Aviv University, School of Political Science, Government and International Affairs
  22. Mr. Einav Levy, Founding director, the Israeli School of Humanitarian Action
  23. Mr. Jerry Locula, Former Human Rights Officer, UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS)
  24. Dr. Itamar Mann, Faculty of Law, Minerva RLEC, The University of Haifa,
  25. Prof. Melissa Martins Casagrande, School of International Relations, Universidade Positivo
  26. Ms. Tanyah Murkes, Director, Forum Dvorah
  27. Ms. Anina Nadig, Policy and Practice Manager, Sphere
  28. Ms. Ophelie Namiech, Managing Director, Mindset-PCS
  29. Mr. Robert Neufeld
  30. Dr. Magda Pacholska, External Scientific Fellow, Max Planck Institute for Procedural Law
  31. Prof. Frances Raday
  32. Dr. Daphne Richemond-Barak, IDC Herzliya [TBC]
  33. Mr. Ido Rosenzweig, Minerva RLEC, IAJLJ
  34. Ms. Ira Ryk-Lakhman, Tadmor-Levy & Co.
  35. Prof. Eli Salzberger, Director, Minerva RLEC, Faculty of Law, University of Haifa
  36. Ms. Shadia Sbait, Strategy & Development Advisor, Humanity Crew
  37. Col. (res.) Adv. Pnina Sharvit Baruch, Vice President, IAJLJ
  38. Prof. Deborah Shmueli, Department of Geography and Environmental Studies, Minerva RLEC, University of Haifa
  39. Mr. Gal Yoffe