The Humanitarian Congress is an annual event, organised by INTERSOS, with the aim of openly reflecting on the challenges of the present, the changes in the humanitarian system and the role of our organisation within it, always focusing on the reasons for our commitment: the people we assist and our ability to offer principled, adequate and meaningful responses to their needs.

This year’s event will be held on the 11th of October in Rome, at the Ara Pacis (Auditorium), and will involve experts, researchers and practitioners from the humanitarian world, who will focus on dilemmas, difficulties and perspectives. The Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna of Pisa will be the Academic partner of the third edition of the Congress. Students will be involved on issues related to the humanitarian system, producing research papers that will be presented during the Congress.

The Humanitarian Congress, in 2024, will provide a much-needed opportunity to discuss the fundamental challenges of the humanitarian system and explore possible actions to resolve them. Bringing together high-level leaders, experts and practitioners, the first session titled “Is the humanitarian lifeboat sinking?” will delve into some of the key pathologies and challenges and explore their wider geopolitical causes and ramifications, while the afternoon session titled “Breaking the pattern: rebuilding the humanitarian ship” will focus more on exploring ideas and suggested actions and commitments inside the humanitarian community that are necessary to overcome current challenges.

* The papers produced by students of the Sant’Anna School of Advanced Studies result from independent research conducted by the authors and do not necessarily reflect INTERSOS’ views and positioning.