About Us
Overview
The Harvard Humanitarian Initiative (HHI) is a University-wide academic and research center in humanitarian crisis and leadership supported by Harvard University's Office of the Provost. HHI is based at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health Department of Global Health and Population and is affiliated with Brigham and Women’s Hospital Emergency Medicine Department. As an Inter-Faculty Initiative (IFI) at Harvard University, HHI collaborates closely with faculty and students throughout all Harvard Schools and Harvard Teaching Hospitals.
HHI’s aim is to relieve human suffering in war and disaster by conducting interdisciplinary, practice-based research and education that can be used by scholars, policymakers, NGOs, and others to foster 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; and
• Educate and train the next generation of humanitarian leaders.
History
In 1999, Harvard University established a program on humanitarian crises and human rights at the François-Xavier Bagnoud Center for Health and Human Rights in response to growing interest in humanitarian response. By 2002, the demand for technical expertise and educational and training opportunities from NGO partners, professionals, and graduate students overwhelmed the capacity of the existing program. In 2005, Jennifer Leaning, MD, SMH and Michael VanRooyen, MD, MPH established the Harvard Humanitarian Initiative as a University-wide academic and research center to address issues of evidence-based humanitarian interest and became Co-Directors. In 2010, Michael VanRooyen continued as the Director of HHI. In 2011, HHI launched the Humanitarian Academy at Harvard, the educational arm of HHI and the first Humanitarian Academy of its kind.
