2025 Global Humanitarian Policy Forum

2025 Global Humanitarian Policy Forum
Start date:
End date:
Location

 Hybrid (UN Secretariat and UNWeb TV) 

For the first time since 2019, OCHA and the UN Foundation co-hosted a hybrid forum. 

In its fourteenth year, the GHPF took place on 11 and 12 December under the theme of: Protecting Principles, Norms and Values. Maintaining the broader objectives of building an inclusive policy community, identifying the latest trends and showcasing research and best practice, the GHPF 2025 will: 

  • Identify emerging risks faced by crisis-affected communities due to shifting geopolitics, loss of respect for international norms and values, the climate crisis and other threats.
  • Through multi-stakeholder dialogue, identify areas to accelerate progress on the transformations and systems changes envisaged by the Humanitarian Reset and UN80, building on lessons and practice from the Flagship Initiative and other country experiences. 

The 2025 GHPF programme will consist of several panels organized over two half days. Discussions will convene key voices in the areas of global forecasting, protecting international norms and values, as well as those advocating for change at the forefront of humanitarian crises and the ongoing global reform processes, including the Humanitarian Reset and UN80.

11 December 2025 Global Humanitarian Policy Forum video recording

12 December 2025 Global Humanitarian Policy Forum video recording

 

Programme:

Online and United Nations Secretariat Building, New York

All times are in EST

Day1: Thursday, 11 December 2025

9:45 – 09:55   

Arrival and Check-In

 Registration For NYC-based in person attendance 

10:00 – 11:15          

Global Forecast – Flashpoints and Risks In 2026

Moderator: Shakuntala Santhiran, International broadcast journalist 

Keynote: Warren Hatch, CEO of Good Judgment, will provide a probability forecast of emerging global events and risks

Panellists: 

11:15 – 11:30        

 Break

11:30 – 12:30      

 Defending Norms and Principles – How Technology is Putting Civilians at Risk During Conflict

Moderator: Shakuntala Santhiran

Keynote: Yoshua Bengio, Professor at the Université de Montréal, Co-President and Scientific Director of LawZero, as well as Founder and Scientific Advisor of Mila - Quebec AI Institute

Panellists: 

  • Elyse Mosquini, Permanent Observer for International Committee of Red Cross to the UN
  • Jessica Dorsey, Assistant Professor of International Law at Utrecht University
  • Gisella Lomax, Senior Digital Advisor at UNHCR
  • Samir Elhawary, Chief of the Humanitarian Policy Section at UNICEF

 

12:30 – 13:15    

The Front Line - Protecting Civilians and First Responders

Moderator: Tom Fletcher, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, OCHA

Panellists: 

  • Salwa Elsadik, Founder and Director of the Women Advocacy and Development Initiative (WADI
  • Fidaa Shurrab, Resources Mobilization Manager for Atfaluna Society for Deaf Children
  • Dr. Mathieu Bichet, Deputy Medical Director, Doctors Without Borders (MSF)

 

Day 2: Friday, 12 December

9:45 – 09:55      

 Arrival and Check-In

 Registration For NYC-based in person attendance 

10:00 – 11:00  

Panel 1: Delivering Change and Devolving Power

Moderator: Lewis Sida, Co-Director of the Humanitarian Learning Centre at IDS

Keynote and welcome: Elizabeth Cousens, President and Chief Executive Officer of the United Nations Foundation

Panellists:

  • H.E. Brian Wallace, Permanent Representative of Jamaica to the UN
  • Denise Brown, RC/HC in Sudan and former Reset Advisor to the ERC
  • Mireia Villar Forner, RC/HC in Colombia
  • Ally Raza Qureshi, Director of the WFP Global Office
  • Dominik Stillhart, Delegate for Humanitarian Aid and Head of the Swiss Humanitarian Aid Unit

11:00 – 11:15 

 Break

11:15 – 12:30  

 Panel 2: Delivering Change and Devolving Power 

  • Abby Maxman, President and CEO of Oxfam America
  • Sameera Noori, Executive Director at COAR and Convener of Afghanistan Localization Lab
  • Apiyo Anna Goretty, Youth Humanitarian Volunteer with ActionAid Uganda
  • Kennedy Mabonga, Country Representative for NRC in South Sudan
  • Andrew Thompson, Professor of Global and Imperial History and Professorial Fellow at Nuffield College, University of Oxford

 

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United Nations System Code of Conduct

All participants are expected to behave with integrity and respect towards all participants attending or involved with any UN system event

Event resources