HUMAN RIGHTS AND HUMANITARIAN AID in Fall 2023 (PO5002B)

This interactive graduate course is designed to familiarize students with the United Nations common system and the global sphere within which humanitarian aid is sought, advocated, negotiated, structured, hindered, prevented, and delivered during emergencies, including armed conflict and natural disasters. The course will begin with an introduction to the UN General Assembly resolution that established the UN Department of Humanitarian Affairs (DHA) (later renamed the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs “OCHA”), followed by an overview of OCHA’s mandate and pillars. It will cover how (1) humanitarian coordination mechanisms are established, (2) humanitarian needs assessments are conducted, and (3) global and country[1]specific humanitarian response plans are formulated and executed at both headquarter and field levels. Other relevant topics will include Humanitarian Principles, the Humanitarian Programme Cycle, the Humanitarian Cluster System, multilateral coordination among the cluster lead agencies, humanitarian reporting, humanitarian access negotiation strategies, politicization of humanitarian aid, humanitarian financing, the role of the Secretary-General, the Security Council, national governments, NGOs, and civil society.

Rebar Jaff is an expert in sustainable development program design, policy analysis, and humanitarian aid. He has worked for the United Nations in Departments of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA) and Field Support (DFS) in New York, UN Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI) in Baghdad and Erbil, UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in Kirkuk, Erbil, and Haiti, and the UNFPA throughout the Middle East. Professor Jaff holds a BA in Political Studies and English from the University of Manitoba, an MA in International Affairs, Conflict Resolution, and Civil Society Development from AUP, and a PhD in Comparative Politics and International Relations at the University of Ottawa.