Panel discussion
Crisis in Gaza: Protecting the Population and Those Who Support Them, the Case of UNRWA
- Sam Rose, Thea Hilhorst & Bert Koenders
- Date
- Thursday 15 May 2025
- Time
- Location
-
Schouwburgstraat
Schouwburgstraat 2
2511 VA The Hague - Room
- A0.06
This panel discussion will address the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Gaza, with particular attention to the protection of civilians and those providing assistance. The session will examine the role of UNRWA and broader international humanitarian responses in the region.
The event will open with a brief keynote by Sam Rose, Acting Director of UNRWA Affairs in Gaza, who will offer insights into the humanitarian situation and UNRWA’s work in the region, followed by the panel discussion.
Panellists
Sam Rose is the Acting Director of UNRWA Affairs in Gaza, a role he took up in December 2024. He has worked for UNRWA in Gaza since January 2024 and prior to this served as UNRWA’s Director of Planning, with responsibility for the Agency’s operational and strategic planning across its five fields of operation. Sam has worked in the field of international development and humanitarian affairs for more than two decades, including roles at UNRWA, the UK Department of International Development (DFID) and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, primarily in the Middle East (Egypt, Gaza, West Bank, Jordan, Yemen) and South Asia. Whilst at DFID he led the UK government’s humanitarian response to the 2015 earthquakes in Nepal and coordinated protection work in Sierra Leone during the Ebola epidemic.
Thea Hilhorst is a professor of Humanitarian Studies at the International Institute for Social Studies and leads the Humanitarian Studies Center in The Hague. She is an expert in development in areas affected by disaster, conflict or fragility, with a special focus on aid-society relations: the impact of humanitarian aid on society and the ways in which people and institutions shape the organisation of aid relations. Her current main research programme concerns 'humanitarian governance', that studies the forms and politics of humanitarianism across different contexts.
Bert Koenders is a Professor of Peace, Justice and Security at Leiden University and Special Envoy for Fragility for the World Bank. Between 2014 and 2017 he was Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands. Mr Koenders was also Under-Secretary-General of the UN and head of UN peacekeeping operations in Côte d’Ivoire and Mali. Between 2007 and 2010 Mr Koenders was the Netherlands’ Minister for Development Cooperation. He was a member of the House of Representatives from 1997 to 2007 and prior to that worked for the EU, the OECD and Parliamentarians for Global Action.
Moderator
Tom Buitelaar, Assistant Professor in the War, Peace & Justice programme of the Institute of Security and Global Affairs at Leiden University, will be moderating this panel discussion.
Registration
Registration via this form is required to attend this event.
Places are limited and will be allocated on a first-come, first-served basis. Make sure to secure your spot by registering no later than 14 May.