Our Mission

The Harvard Humanitarian Initiative (HHI) is a university-wide center involving multiple entities within the Harvard community that provide expertise in public health, medicine, social science, management, and other disciplines to promote evidence-based approaches to humanitarian assistance.

The mission of the Initiative is to relieve human suffering in war and disaster by advancing the science and practice of humanitarian response worldwide. HHI fosters interdisciplinary collaboration in order to:

  • Improve the effectiveness of humanitarian strategies for relief, protection and prevention;
  • Instill human rights principles and practices in these strategies;
  • Educate and train the next generation of humanitarian leaders.

Issue in Focus

HHI's Senior Leaders Participate in Conference on Humanitarian Education and Training

geneva _report_1

HHI Director, Michael VanRooyen and Executive Director, Vincenzo Bollettino recently attended the Conference on Humanitarian Education and Training, organized by the Geneva Centre for Education and Research in Humanitarian Action and ELRHA. Humanitarian actors from a wide range of organizations came together to critically assess the field of humanitarian education and training. Conference participants produced a variety of innovative recommendations which can be viewed in the Humanitarian Education and Training Conference Report.

The goals of the conference were threefold: 1) foster dialogue between humanitarian and academic sectors, 2) catalyze collaborative efforts relating to the training of humanitarian workers, and 3) identify strategies to scale up humanitarian training curricula. In the coming months, HHI will be expanding the current Humanitarian Studies Initiative while continuing to link students to relevant coursework and training in the humanitarian sector.

Homepage Events

Feb. 2 | Humanitarian Negotiations Revealed: MSF Book Launch and Discussion at The Fletcher School

Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) will be joining The Fletcher School's Humanitarian Action Society on Thursday, February 2nd, from 12PM-1:30PM in Cabot 702 for a catered lunch and discussion of their new book, Humanitarian Negotiations Revealed: The MSF Experience. Please click the link above for more information or to RSVP.

More Events