ICVA Annual Conference

During ICVA’s 2030 strategy consultations, members and partners highlighted the importance of the intersection between climate and environment change and humanitarian action. The changes taking place are not only threatening humanity and our environment as we know it, but it is also faster and more radical than expected.

This session spotlighted and showcased 10 ongoing initiatives that are supporting organisations on climate and environment concerns in humanitarian action. Participants explored best practices, guidance, tools etc. which aim to support NGOs and partners to mitigate and adapt in order to overcome some of the challenges faced in the sector.

Watch the recordings of the World Café session breakout groups!

It took the form of three webinar sessions organised in collaboration with PHAP. The conference  showed that we, as a sector, are agile. We continue delivering to our mandate while complying with the duty of care for our staff. COVID-19 was inescapable throughout the discussions of the Annual Conference, touching on the ability of locally based humanitarian actors, including youth, to respond and on lobbying for exceptional measures from donors for quick decision-making, flexibility and a real risk sharing attitude. However, as other disrupters and challenges discussed throughout the three sessions, it has not put principled humanitarian action on hold. As follow-up to the conference and what was considered as important topics to further explore, ICVA has put together a Learning Stream on Risk Management in Practice so that NGOs can better navigate and understand risk.

ICVA’s 2019 Annual Conference discussed the various commitments made through the: World Humanitarian Summit, the Grand Bargain, the New York Declarations and the Global Compacts on Refugees and Migration, the UN Reform process, the Localisation discussion. Participants took a hard look at how and what we, as an NGO community, were doing to translate these commitments into action while putting people at the centre.

The 2018 Conference took a critical and deep look at the “triple nexus” – the inter-connection between humanitarian action, development, and peace. Anchored in the ICVA network’s dedication to principled and effective humanitarian action, ICVA’s 2018 Annual Conference provided a space for ICVA members and key stakeholders to share lessons learned, best practice and processes, challenges and concerns faced by NGOs and humanitarian actors when working, in a principled manner in the nexus. The conference was a reminder of the importance to put people at the centre in planning and programming so as to truly understand the type of interventions required, be they from a humanitarian, development or peacebuilding approach.

The 2017 Annual Conference was held on 28 March 2017,  at the CICG in Geneva. Members discussed the relationship between states and civil society and the impact this relationship has on the ability of NGOs to operate. Keynote speakers and panel discussions explored the global trends and drivers impacting civil society and humanitarian NGOs, NGO experiences, and how NGOs engage with host governments.

The 2016 Annual Conference was held on  5 March 2016, at the CICG in Geneva, Switzerland. The conference explored the concept of complementarity while leveraging experience, insights and tools from NGOs, academia, the UN, the Red Cross and Red Crescent, civil society and the private sector.

The conference provided a platform for practitioners to discuss

• what ‘complementarity’ means
• it’s relationship to humanitarian effectiveness and in local and national leadership
• how complementarity is understood and applied in various humanitarian relationships – through ideological, institutional and operational lenses.

As the conference took place prior to the World Humanitarian Summit in Istanbul, complementarity in relation to the World Humanitarian Summit, and how the WHS process could positively influence and promote complementarity in humanitarian action was also discussed.

The 2016 Annual Conference was held on 9 March 2015, at the CICG in Geneva, Switzerland. The conference provided a successful platform for over 160 members and partners to discuss, raise questions and share suggestions on the value and implementation of the Principles of Partnership in the lead up to the World Humanitarian Summit and beyond.

The Annual Conference established an understanding of the current international financing system and encouraged an exchange of views and experiences among ICVA members and non-members.

The conference provided a platform for practitioners and non-practitioners to share important achievements, present good practices and discuss challenges and solutions in resourcing humanitarian action. The key objectives of the conference were to:

• Increase ICVA member and non-member understanding of the current international financing
  system and its mechanisms;
• Provide an opportunity for members and non-members to build partnerships and alliances; and
• Create opportunities to rethink existing approaches.

The conference provided participants a chance to learn from practical examples, both inside and outside the sector, about the process of innovation and the scope for working innovatively with others. The format of the conference was interactive and “innovative” in its approach, sharing learning among participants and brought people together to explore the potential for future collaboration.

The 2012 Annual Conference was held in 19 March. The goal of the conference was to bring different perspectives to reflect on the current reality of humanitarian response and to have an enriching dialogue on the way forward for the humanitarian community. Three sessions were conducted on:

• Session one: Setting the stage
• Session two: The reality check
• Session three: The way forward?

The ICVA 2011 Annual Conference provided an opportunity for those in the humanitarian community to take a step back and reflect on some of the challenges facing us. The Conference had three panels looking at various elements of the challenges around the size of humanitarian crises and the size of organisations.

The 2010 Annual Conference attempted to get to some practical outcomes that can be taken to the Global Humanitarian Platform (GHP) meeting.  The Conference shared an overview of some of the outstanding challenges that remain with partnership between international humanitarian organisations and national and local NGOs,
providing the space for participants to discuss. It also explored some of the recent examples where humanitarian aid has been challenged to be better at partnership, namely the cyclone Nargis response, the fallout after the Sudan expulsions of humanitarian organisations, and the increasing shift of risk to national and local partners and staff.

The Conference was held on 2 February 2009 in Geneva, Switzerland. Discussions aimed at influencing and convincing ICVA members of the need to start changing the way they work. The Conference also started the debate for ICVA members who were planning to adopt a new three year Strategic Plan at the 14th ICVA General Assembly on 3 and 4 February 2009.

The Conference was held on 1 February 2008 providing an opportunity to take a step back and examine the essential reforms that will allow for longer-term changes to make the humanitarian community more effective. Three panels were conducted that addressed the following issues:

• Flipping the system
• The perennial personality problem
• Organising humanitarian coordination effectively

The Annual Conference was held on 14 and 15 February 2003 in Geneva, Switzerland. The conference brought together NGO participants (both ICVA members and partners), governments, and representatives of UN agencies to discuss and debate the overall theme, as well as the following three sub-themes:

• The increasing presence of military forces and the independence of NGOs;
• The effects of the changing world order on the protection of displaced persons and
  migrants; and
• The strategic value of forgotten crises: The determining factor?