SPEAKERS

PhD in Law and Lecturer in International Law and European Union Law at the University of Deusto, as well as invited lecturer in other universities. Her priority areas of research and knowledge include law and humanitarian action and International Humanitarian Law, with extensive publications in journals and books on these topics. She wrote the volume “Human Rights and Humanitarian Action” (2004). She has been the Director of the Department of Transnational Law of the Faculty of Law, as well as Vice-Dean of Research and International Relations, at the University of Deusto.

Researcher at the University of Seville and a part-time lecturer at the University of Malta. Her research is focused on social networks, new media, mobility, misinformation and open education. She holds a PhD in Social Psychology from the University of Seville (Spain), an MA (Masters of Arts) in Digital Media from the University of Sussex (United Kingdom) and a Bachelor of Communications from the University of Malta. Previously, Dr Cachia worked as a researcher for the Institute for Prospective Technological Studies (IPTS), a European Commission Joint Research Centre (DG JRC) based in Seville, Spain.

Associate Professor and a Senior Researcher at the Human Rights Institute of the University of Deusto (UD. She previously developed her research career at the University of the Basque Country, UPV-EHU, and at the University of Bochum in Germany. She has received several research grants such as the Researcher Training Fellowship from the Spanish Ministry of Education (1991-1995) at the UPV-EHU, the Marie Curie post-doctoral fellowship from the European Union (1998-2000) and the SYLFF (2000-2001) at the Institute of Peace and Armed Conflict at the University of Bochum. Her main areas of research are human security, in particular the protection and resilience of forced displaced people and current trends and challenges in human rights, humanitarian action and peacebuilding and the common foreign and security policy of the European Union in this field. She has widely published on these areas. Team leader and main researcher at the UD of the FP7 and H2020 programme projects: FRAME, Fostering Human Rights Among European Policies (http://www.fp7-frame.eu/); PRUV, Preparedness and Resilience to address Urban Vulnerability, Peace-Training.eu Strengthening the capabilities and training curricula of conflict prevention and peacebuilding personnel with ICT -based collaboration and knowledge approaches.

Research Fellow at ALNAP, and leads the Evaluation, Accountability and Learning workstream. His interests lie in improving evaluation systems to meet the evidence needs of all stakeholder groups as the humanitarian system evolves and adapts to change. He is currently running the pilot phase of the ALNAP Guide on Evaluation of Protection in Humanitarian Action and overseeing a research project on monitoring humanitarian response. Before joining ALNAP, Neil was an evaluation consultant in Belgium, where he conducted numerous evaluations for the European Commission’s directorates general for humanitarian aid and development cooperation. He also holds a PhD from King’s College London.

Researcher at the Feinstein International Center (FIC) at Tufts University. He works on issues relating to humanitarianism and the future of humanitar­ian action. He has worked for 26 years in the United Nations in research, evaluation, and humanitar­ian capacities. His last post was as Director of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Assistance to Afghanistan (1999-2002). He has published widely on evaluation, humanitarian and migration issues as well as on Afghanistan and Nepal. He is the main author of the edited volume The Golden Fleece. Manipulation and Independence in Humanitarian Action (2013). He coordinated the Humanitarian Agenda 2015 research project at FIC which analysed local perceptions of humanitarian action in 13 crisis countries.

Medical Doctor, NOHA Masters in International Humanitarian Action and Ph.D. He is currently Senior Adviser at Protection International (Brussels), guest lecturer and researcher in the Institute of Human Rights of the University of Deusto (Bilbao, Spain), and co-Director of the NOHA Summer and Winter Schools on Humanitarian Protection. He is an expert in the protection of human rights defenders and of civilians in humanitarian contexts, a trainer and a consultant for DG ECHO, several UN agencies and NGOs. He is also the author of several books, chapters, and articles on protection and HRD. He has worked in long-term missions in several countries (El Salvador, Sri Lanka, Guatemala, Colombia), and has undertaken many short-term field assignments in the Americas, Africa, and Asia.

Arantxa Gurtubay holds a BA in Political Sciences and a Master’s in International Affairs from Sciences Po University in Paris. She has worked in programmes for several NGOs at headquarters and field offices, and as a coordinator of a regional project on violence prevention in Central America.

She has worked as a protection officer in urban centres for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Lago Agrio (Colombian-Ecuadorian border) and in the UNHCR’s Strategic Alliances team in Geneva and Denmark.

Since July 2018, Arantxa has been responsible for projects and funding of Open Arms humanitarian NGO, which has rescued more than 60,000 people in the Mediterranean. Open Arms is now preparing to expand its scope action to go to migrants’ countries of origin to inform and educate them about their rights and capabilities.

Degree in Political Sciences, and a Master’s degree in Cooperation and International Development and Master’s degree in International Humanitarian Action. She is a PhD candidate in Human Rights: Ethical, Social and Political Challenges on the Research Training Programme (FPI) at the University of Deusto. Her main research interest is currently centered on the role of security of tenure in the local integration of internally displaced persons in urban areas. She has worked as a researcher and analyst of armed conflicts, humanitarian emergencies, and peace processes in Sub-Saharan Africa for the Pau Culture School of the Autonomous University of Barcelona and international NGOs such as Doctors Without Borders.

Degree by the University of Perugia and Masters in International Relations and in Humanitarian Action. He has 12 years of experience in the management and evaluation of humanitarian and development programs in Central America and the Middle East. Francesco has specialized in combining human rights and needs approaches to reinforce the capabilities of communities for engaging in self-protection activities that complement humanitarian actors interventions. He is now the Humanitarian and Protection Policy Expert of the Italian NGO GVC and leads a task force to do research on Integrated Protection. One of his tasks is the coordination and implementation of a model of Community Protection Approach implemented in several Consortium en the Middle East.

Norah Niland has spent much of her professional life with the United Nations, both in the field (including assignments in Sri Lanka, Thailand, Cambodia, Liberia and Afghanistan), and at HQ, working on humanitarian, human rights, and development issues. Norah’s last assignment with the UN was in Afghanistan where she was Director of human rights in UNAMA and Representative of the UN High Commissioner for HR. Before this, she was in charge of policy development with OCHA (Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, UN) in Geneva. In 2003, Ms Niland spent a sabbatical year with the Human Security Institute, Tufts University as a Visiting Research Fellow. Norah has an M.Phil (Peace Studies) from Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland.