Seminar talk with:

Itay Epshtain

Senior Humanitarian Law and Policy Consultant

Normative Challenges of the COVID-19 Pandemic Humanitarian Response and Human Rights Protection.

Thursday, April 30, 2020 at 14:15 (Israel time)

Lecture will be available on YouTube  

Abstract:

The COVID-19 pandemic represents a new threat to life, and an evolving challenge to the normative framework informing human rights protection and humanitarian response. The speaker will address the main provisions of international human rights and humanitarian law, focusing on the rules governing human rights monitoring and international relief schemes in situations of armed conflict and public health emergencies.

The seminar talk will explore commonalities reported by humanitarian actors across the globe, and particular normative and operational challenges relevant to the COVID-19 outbreak in occupied Palestinian territory, drawing on the experience of humanitarian organizations responding to rising protection and relief needs in the West Bank and Gaza.

Itay Epshtain is a Senior Humanitarian Law and Policy Consultant, serving as Special Advisor to the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) and the International Association of Development Agencies (AIDA); Formerly the Policy and Protection Advisor of the NRC Palestine Office, International Humanitarian Law Consultant with Diakonia IHL Resource Centre, and Director of Amnesty International Israel Section; He is a volunteer Emergency Medical Technician and Disaster Management Officer with Magen David Adom (MDA, the Israel national Red Cross/Red Crescent society). Epshtain is a member of the European Society of International Law, and a member of the International Bar Association War Crimes Committee. A graduate of Harvard University Kennedy School of Government; M.A. International Cooperation and Humanitarian Aid; holds diplomas in International Environmental Law, International Humanitarian Law; and advanced qualifications in the Law of Armed Conflict, International Disaster Relief Law, and in Human Rights and Forced Displacement.

For more details, contact Michal at  This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.