Harvard Humanitarian Initiative

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H@H

June 11-13, 2012
Professionals and leaders in public health, medicine, law, development, education, humanitarian intervention, and economics are increasingly expected to integrate human rights in policy and programs. This course will equip decision-makers with the skills necessary to apply methods and practices grounded in basic human rights.

 

HHI, UN OCHA Release New Report - Disaster Relief 2.0: The Future of Information Sharing in Humanitarian Emergencies

Issue in Focus

Introducing The Humanitarian Academy at Harvard

HHI is proud to announce the establishment of the Humanitarian Academy at Harvard, a new comprehensive training program for humanitarian workers. The mission of the Humanitarian Academy is to drive positive change in the humanitarian sector through rigorous undergraduate, graduate, and professional education and training in the theory and practice of humanitarian action, and it aims to help thousands around the world who work in war zones, help in the wake of natural disasters, or serve in other relief settings.

A University-wide center that uses research to improve aid response, the Humanitarian Academy will engage Harvard faculty from multiple disciplines, providing an integrated curriculum, and leveraging the latest technologies to make available innovative teaching and professional education opportunities that are grounded in field-based realities. The Academy will include the Lavine Family Humanitarian Studies Initiative, an existing training program for humanitarian professionals that was recently expanded through a gift from Harvard alumni Jonathan and Jeannie Lavine.

There also will be a new, interdisciplinary concentration in humanitarian studies, ethics, and human rights, to be offered at the Harvard School of Public Health beginning in 2013, and hands-on training through internships with relief agencies. It will create a professional pathway for students and existing workers in the humanitarian space, serve as a prototype for other academic centers of excellence in humanitarian education, and encourage an international movement to increase the impact of humanitarian relief efforts through a focus on both professional skill building and rigorous measurement and analysis of what really works in humanitarian aid.

For more information, please see HHI's Humanitarian Academy page or a recent article in the Harvard Gazette on its launch.

Homepage Events

May 14-18 and May 21-25, 2012 |  Advanced Professional Trainings on Humanitarian Assistance and Protection

Professionals in Humanitarian Assistance and Prevention is pleased to announce two upcoming trainings in Bangkok, Thailand. The Core Professional Training on Leadership and Management of Humanitarian Action takes place over five full days and serves as a unique opportunity to further refine the knowledge, competencies, and skills necessary to address contemporary humanitarian challenges faced by managers and team leaders in the context of humanitarian response.

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Satchit Balsari

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Satchit Balsari, MD, MPH

Fellow, Harvard Humanitarian Initiative

Dr. Balsari is an Emergency Physician at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical College. His interests are focused on the development of pre-hospital care, emergency medicine and community-focused disaster mitigation methods in low-income settings.

Dr. Balsari trained and worked at the Program on Humanitarian Crises  at the Harvard School of Public Health from 2001 to 2004. As a graduate of Grant Medical College, and a resident of Mumbai, he has experience working with children in the aftermath of natural and humanitarian disasters in India, including the Bhuj earthquake of 2001. He served as a consultant to the American Red Cross public health team in Mississippi after Hurricane Katrina. Dr. Balsari founded two non-profit organizations in Mumbai, whose work is focused on health and educational initiatives among the urban poor.

Dr. Balsari's current projects include EMcounter, an online tool aimed at capturing the epidemiology of medical emergencies in rural and urban India, and project mumbaiVOICES, a web-based application that facilitates a citizen driven analysis of urban disaster response. He recently served as Jt. Organizing Secretary of the Mumbai Emergency Management Exercise (MEMEx), in which HHI was a key collaborator.

Dr. Balsari is guest editor at SouthAsiaDisasters.net, and a member of  the Managing Committee of the Times Disaster Management Center at Mumbai University. He also serves as reviewer for the Annals of Emergency Medicine.