Newsroom University of Manchester

Himalayan hazards are becoming more complex - our warning systems need to catch up

Tue, 08 Sep 2026 16:26:04 +0100

The exact timeline of the recent Nepal flooding disaster is becoming clearer. At 8:37am, instruments recorded what was initially interpreted as an earthquake near Nepal’s border with China. Seven minutes later, CCTV recorded the Gyirong Port border post being destroyed by a massive debris flow and flood.

Nepal’s flood authorities learned about the incident at about 9:00am and sent out an emergency SMS alert at about 9:15am. But by that time, Nepal was already deep into a major disaster.

The 38 minute gap between the tremor being detected and the emergency alert is striking. But it would be wrong to assume Nepal’s authorities could simply have acted on the initial signal: at the time, it appeared to be a small earthquake, rather than a much rarer mountain collapse. The flood also arrived too swiftly for water-level sensors: they went almost immediately from recording normal levels to being destroyed.

The more interesting question is what a better-integrated warning system might have made possible. Could seismic readings, satellite images and other observations have been combined quickly enough to recognise what was happening and alert people further downstream?

Existing early-warning systems have often been designed around particular hazards such as regular rain-caused floods or glacial lake outburst floods (Glofs). But this disaster was neither a Glof nor a regular flood. Instead it appears to have involved a rare, large-scale collapse of rock and ice, which turned into a devastating debris flow and flood.

As a recent study of a strikingly similar flood in India last year argued, this type of hazard is largely absent from existing warning frameworks. As warming destabilises glaciers and thaws permafrost, such events are likely to happen more often.

Cascading mountain hazards that cross borders

In July 2025, a glacial lake in Tibet burst and swept down this very same stretch of river into Nepal, killing at least nine people and leaving around 20 missing in Nepal. Eleven people were also officially reported missing on the Chinese side.

After the flood, Nepal and China agreed in principle to share real-time information about floods, landslides and glacial lakes. However, despite Nepal’s foreign minister raising the issue during a visit to China in May 2026, no formal agreement has been signed.

Across the Himalayas and Hindu Kush mountain ranges, rivers, weather systems and infrastructure frequently span national boundaries. Our ongoing research shows a hazard that begins in one place can have lethal consequences – and create new warning requirements – far downstream.

A warming climate is increasing these risks by thinning glaciers, thawing permafrost and destabilising slopes, even if climate change isn’t the sole explanation for every disaster. Meanwhile roads and hydropower projects are putting more people and infrastructure in threatened valleys.

Cooperation has to come before the disaster

Some cross-border early-warning arrangements already exist between Nepal and its neighbours, particularly for recurring floods. But sudden, cascading events such as the recent disaster pose a different challenge. A warning has value only if it travels the whole distance – from a sensor in the mountains, through scientific agencies, national and local authorities, to households in the valleys and plains below, in the minutes that matter.

Community-based flood warning already works in parts of Nepal’s Koshi basin, where upstream gauges and trained local volunteers buy downstream villages precious time. A regional early warning system would have to link these community-level systems with national and cross-border monitoring, so that information can move from the source of a hazard to the people at risk. That means agreeing in advance what should be shared, how warnings should be passed between countries and agencies, and what action they should trigger.

That requires institutional changes and political commitment, as much as new technology. The region’s existing water treaties were written to divide flows and manage dams and barrages, not to govern cascading hazards in the high mountains. Governments could establish permanent bodies responsible for Himalayan rivers and their associated hazards. Featuring both scientists and policymakers, and linked to counterparts in neighbouring countries, these public bodies would be mandated to share data, jointly monitor glaciers, lakes and slopes, and coordinate warnings across borders.

The aim would be to make cooperation routine and sustained between disasters, rather than improvised in a crisis when events may unfold too quickly for international debate. None of this requires neighbours to resolve their wider disputes; it asks only that disaster warning be ring-fenced as shared humanitarian infrastructure that keeps working unabated.

The technologies for predicting and monitoring high-mountain hazards are improving fast. We now need more international scientific and policy cooperation, and warning systems capable of turning these observations into rapid action.

By Mehebub Sahana, Senior Research Fellow and Lecturer in Environmental Management, The University of Manchester; Nimesh Dhungana, Lecturer in Disasters and Global Health, Humanitarian and Conflict Response Institute, The University of Manchester; Priyank Pravin Patel, Assistant Professor, Department of Geography, Presidency University, Kolkata, and Reshma Shrestha, Associate Professor, Department of Geomatics Engineering, Kathmandu University

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

New research addressing the paramilitary-organised crime nexus in war-to-peace transitions

Thu, 16 Jul 2026 16:23:23 +0100

In this new series of publications, Dr Patrick Meehan (HCRI, University of Manchester) and Professor Jonathan Goodhand (SOAS) explore policy approaches and responses to paramilitaries and organised crime in war-to-peace transitions. The research offers policymakers, practitioners and others working in or on contexts affected by the paramilitary-organised crime nexus insights and tools to better understand the phenomenon and to move beyond template-based responses towards context-specific, politically informed strategies. Such strategies recognise paramilitaries as durable political actors, take account of their ‘holding power’, prioritise harm reduction, and remain attentive to the distributional consequences of policy choices.

The publications draw on extensive fieldwork, and insights generated by the Policy Lab, ‘Addressing paramilitary violence and organised crime in war-to-peace transitions’, convened by the Centre for the Study of Illicit Economies, Violence and Development (CIVAD) at SOAS University of London and supported by SOC ACE though the overarching research project, ‘Parastatal armed groups, illicit economies and organised crime’. The Lab brought together senior practitioners and policymakers explore new approaches to addressing the nexus and how better to integrate responses.

In many post-war transitions, the end of large-scale conflict does not signal the end of violence. Paramilitary groups - armed actors separate from, but often connected to, the State – can often be a key source of post war violence and instability linked to battles over control of illicit economies and organised crime. The research discusses policy responses and trade-offs found in four primary approaches used by actors to address the nexus; 1) Avoidance - Prioritising short-term stability by ignoring the paramilitary-organised crime nexus, 2) Co-option - Integrating paramilitaries into official state structures, 3) Criminalisation - Treating groups primarily as criminal actors through law enforcement, and 4) Transformation - Addressing the structural drivers, such as inequality and exclusion, that sustain these groups.

There are tensions and trade-offs between these approaches, which are often pursued simultaneously in post war transitions. Though transformation offers the most promise in bringing about a more inclusive peace, often the structural conditions are not in place to pursue such a strategy.

The full series of publications provides in depth specialised analyses across different policy sectors and offers resources to help policymakers manage the difficult trade-offs between immediate security and long-term stability, prioritising harm reduction where the immediate dismantling of these networks is not feasible, whilst remaining attentive to distributional consequences of policy choice.

The Addressing the Paramilitary-Organised Crime Nexus in War-to-Peace Transitions publication series includes:

SOC ACE Research Paper 42: Paramilitaries and Organised Crime in War-to-Peace Transitions: Policy Challenges and Responses, offers a foundational synthesis exploring global trends and the "fragmentation of violence" in the 21st century.
SOC ACE Briefing Notes 43: Addressing the Paramilitary-Organised Crime Nexus in War-to-Peace Transitions: A Framework for Policymakers, provides guiding questions that can be integrated into conflict analysis to better understand the paramilitary-organised crime nexus, and sets out starting points for engaging with it.
SOC ACE Briefing Note 44: Addressing the Paramilitary-Organised Crime Nexus in War-to-Peace Transitions: Implications for Supporting Peace Processes recognises that peace emerges through iterative bargains and offers insights on how paramilitaries should be included in processes.
SOC ACE Briefing Note 45: Addressing the Paramilitary-Organised Crime Nexus in War-to-Peace Transitions: Implications for Disarmament, Demobilisation and Reintegration and Security Sector Reform Programmes offers insights on how DDR/SSR in paramilitary affected contexts required tailored strategies, improved intelligence and analysis, conditionality for inclusion and cross-government coordination.
SOC ACE Briefing Note 46: Addressing the Paramilitary-Organised Crime Nexus in War-to-Peace Transitions: Implications for Development Programmes offers five insights for consideration when designing and delivery development programming in contexts affected by the paramilitary-organised nexus.
SOC ACE Briefing Note 47: Addressing the Paramilitary-Organised Crime Nexus in War-to-Peace Transitions: Implications for Addressing Organised Crime demonstrates how organised crime analysis needs to be integrated into conflict and governance assessments to improve understanding of political-criminal networks and support responses to extend beyond national borders to target transnational dynamics.
SOC ACE Briefing Note 48: Undertaking Political Economy Analysis of the Paramilitary–Organised Crime Nexus: Guidance for Policymakers provides a diagnostic tool for practitioners to conduct political economy analysis of the nexus.
SOC ACE Briefing Note 51: Myanmar Case Study: The Paramilitary‑Organised Crime Nexus in Myanmar’s Borderlands, shows that militias are central components of the Myanmar military’s borderland governance system, highlighting the need for responses that address their structural role in organised crime, counterinsurgency, and transnational illicit economies.

For more on the project, visit: https://www.socace-research.org.uk/projects

For more on research at HCRI, visit: https://www.hcri.manchester.ac.uk/research/

Manchester schools join HCRI’s disaster simulation exercise

Thu, 28 May 2026 10:53:27 +0100

On 22^nd May, HCRI hosted its annual youth conference, welcoming students from four local schools for a simulation exercise about disaster preparedness and response.

The event – titled the ‘Great Fire of Manchester’ – explored resilience, disaster response, and simulated challenges during post-disaster aid distribution.

Students were guided by a team of HCRI undergraduate and postgraduate students, who co-designed the event with HCRI’s Dr Martin Parham.

Thank you to the schools that joined us, which were Co-op Academy Belle Vue, Dean Trust Ardwick, St Peter’s RC High School, and The Grange School.

Launch of new book on Geography and Disasters

Wed, 06 May 2026 10:00:14 +0100

Dr Nat O’Grady, of HCRI, and Dr Gemma Sou, of Monash University, have just launched a new book titled Geography and Disasters: Places, Processes and the Human Geographical Imagination.

The work, published by Bloomsbury, analyses disasters through the lens of different theoretical frameworks common to Geography, including assemblage theory, post-colonialism, urban political ecology, governmentality, affect theory and scale.

The case studies in the edited collection range from hurricane risk in the Caribbean and volcano eruptions in Chile to floods in India and many more. Thinking of them as processes rather than individual events, each contributor conceptualizes disasters as always-already entangled in the continual making and remaking of collective life.

The book, available via Bloomsbury, includes contributions from HCRI’s Dr Nimesh Dhunghana (Chapter 1: ‘Dissenting in Disasters: Lessons for the Disaster-Democracy Interface from Nepal's Dual Disasters’) and PhD Candidate Francisca Vergara-Pinto (Chapter 7: ‘The Affective Politics of Magma in Andean Worlds: Navigating more-than-human Kinship with Volcanoes in Disaster Research’).

The full list of chapters, contributed by scholars from across the world, can be found on the anthology’s webpage.

For more on Dr O’Grady's academic work, visit their research profile.

For more on research at HCRI, visit the research page.

HCRI academic discusses the Nepalese elections with Times Radio

Mon, 09 Mar 2026 09:27:10 +0000

On Thursday, 5 March, Dr Nimesh Dhungana spoke with Jane Garvey and Fi Glower for the Times Radio afternoon show (from 38:25) about the parliamentary elections in Nepal. The 275 seat poll will chart the country's path after last year's youth-led anti-corruption protests toppled the government.

Dr Dhungana is a Lecturer in Disasters and Global Health at the University of Manchester’s Humanitarian & Conflict Response Institute (HCRI).

University of Manchester announces new partnership with Médecins Sans Frontières to drive expertise exchange amid global crises

Wed, 04 Mar 2026 08:00:00 +0000

On 3 March, The University of Manchester signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) UK, a leading body in international medical assistance and humanitarian response.

At a time of interconnected global crises, this partnership is grounded in two-way learning: MSF’s frontline operational experience will inform research-led teaching at Manchester, while the University’s interdisciplinary expertise will support critical reflection, enquiry-based learning, and innovation in humanitarian practice.

This partnership will deepen the relationship between the two institutions, developing associated teaching and research collaborations, improving awareness of mutual expertise, and expanding the networks which facilitate cooperation.

Operating in over 75 countries, such as Iraq, Afghanistan and Sudan, MSF provide life-saving medical humanitarian assistance where it is needed most and use their expertise to ease the suffering of those in crisis situations around the world.

For the next four years, the University will continue to take on cohorts of MSF staff for blended learning through its Leadership Education Academic Partnership (LEAP) Programme in Humanitarian Practice, a collaboration between the University’s Humanitarian and Conflict Response Institute (HCRI), the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine and MSF.

The new partnership aims to build on the benefits of staff exchange, stimulating academic input in research and development projects at MSF, and the creation of joint seminars and events, with staff from both organisations holding a mutual presence on steering committees and bodies such as MSF’s internal think tank, Centre de Réflexion sur l'Action et les Savoirs Humanitaires (CRASH).

Professor Nicolas Lemay-Hébert, Executive Director of HCRI, said: “The HCRI is committed to bringing together a broad range of expertise to facilitate positive global change and improve worldwide crisis response.

“Our part in helping to train MSF’s leaders through our multi-disciplinary approach to humanitarian solutions is an essential part of this mission. This partnership will benefit from a sharing of valuable expertise and resources and will work to accelerate that global change.”

The partnership also builds on what is an already-strong student engagement with MSF through Friends of MSF Manchester, a student-led society for students interested in international crises, health equity and humanitarian work.

This new arrangement will allow the University to influence humanitarian activity by providing world-class research and resources to support MSF’s global humanitarian work in crises such as the civil war in Sudan, or widespread malnutrition, while gaining insight from MSF’s operations across the globe.

Knighthood for HCRI co-founder in the New Year Honours List for 2026

Wed, 07 Jan 2026 14:42:34 +0000

The Humanitarian & Conflict Response Institute (HCRI) is delighted to announce that our co-founder, Professor Sir Tony Redmond, was awarded a Knighthood in this year’s New Year Honours List. The New Year Honours recognise the achievements and service of extraordinatory people across the UK.

Sir Tony is a specialist in emergency medicine and has been involved in international humanitarian assistance for over 30 years, organising medical support to sites of natural disasters, major incidents, and complex emergencies throughout the world.

In 1994 Sir Tony founded the medical charity UK-Med, which evolved from a group of volunteer medics who had responded to the 1988 Armenian earthquake and the Lockerbie air disaster. Since then, UK-Med has become a major international humanitarian organisation, responding to 12 emergencies in 2025 alone, such as in Lebanon, Ukraine, and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

In 2008, Sir Tony co-founded HCRI at the University of Manchester. HCRI is now a global centre for research and teaching on humanitarianism and conflict response, Global Health, international disaster management, and peacebuilding, with hundreds of students across undergraduate and postgraduate levels each year.

A short history of the founding of HCRI, and Sir Tony and UK-Med’s role, can be found on their website here.

Sir Tony discussed his life’s work, from early years in the NHS to extreme challenges of international medical deployments, with BBC Radio 4 in 2024.

Speaking about the Knighthood, Sir Tony said:

“For me it recognises the work of so many people over so many years. All those selfless volunteers who've joined UK-Med and made it into the international humanitarian organisation it is now and my colleagues at The University of Manchester who helped us establish HCRI to carry out research and teaching to continuously improve the delivery of humanitarian assistance.”

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said:

“This year’s Honours list celebrates the very best of Britain – people who put the common good ahead of themselves to strengthen communities and change lives.”

From everyone at HCRI, congratulations and thank you to Professor Sir Tony Redmond.

For more on the history of HCRI, visit our website.
Sir Tony’s archives are held in HCRI’s Humanitarian Archive

United Nations staff brief HCRI students on career-building in international institutions

Thu, 04 Dec 2025 13:53:55 +0000

This month, HCRI hosted a careers webinar with staff from UNICEF and UNDP Türkiye.

The speakers shared their personal experiences of joining the UN system, and gave practical advice on the job application process.

The guest speakers were:

Laura Sunnen, Global Humanitarian Access Adviser, UNICEF, HQ, New York
İpek Özel, Human Resources Administrator, UNDP Türkiye

The webinar also covered the volunteering route, through ‘UN Volunteers’.

HCRI has produced two careers guides, which can be accessed via:

https://www.hcri.manchester.ac.uk/study/careers-and-employability/

HCRI Anthropologist Recognised with Top Feminist Scholarship Award for Groundbreaking Work on Kashmir

Thu, 27 Nov 2025 15:49:38 +0000

Dr Omer Aijazi, Lecturer in Disasters and Climate Crisis at the Humanitarian and Conflict Response Institute (HCRI), has won the Gloria Anzaldúa Book Prize for his monograph, Atmospheric Violence: Disaster and Repair in Kashmir.

Widely regarded as one of the highest honours in the field of feminist studies, the prize is named in tribute to renowned Chicana poet, feminist theorist, and writer Gloria Anzaldúa. It is awarded annually to groundbreaking monographs that significantly advance multicultural feminist research, particularly within Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies.

The National Women’s Studies Association announced the award at its annual conference in San Juan, Puerto Rico, in November.

The jury described the book’s contributions as follows:

“Atmospheric Violence: Disaster and Repair in Kashmir offers incredible insights and invitations as we take up [the author’s] question: ‘how we can operate in ways that warp the distance between the academy and community, expert and subject, story and theory, life and poetry’? [The] generous, incisive, beautifully written and visual work informs a lyrical and generative text that is disobedient to the colonial disciplines of extraction normalized in the infrastructure of knowledge production. Atmospheric Violence enriches the depth of Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality studies in [its] offering of rich and complex ethnographic scholarship that continually asks readers pause and reframe the role of the researchers, modalities of living and erasure, and the ever-present question of the politics of our location before we can even fathom a response to ‘Who Can Stand with Kashmir?’ [We] thank [the author] for inviting us to pause and delve into these rich scenes of an otherwise.”

This is the fifth international award the monograph has won since its release last year.

HCRI scholar contributes to new ICRC book on data protection in humanitarian action

Mon, 27 Oct 2025 10:52:30 +0000

Larissa Fast, Professor of Humanitarian & Conflict Studies at HCRI, has co-authored a chapter of the new book Data Protection in Humanitarian Action: Responding to Crises in a Data-Driven World (eds. M Marelli, A Beduschi, A Martin), developed in collaboration with the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), and the Global Privacy Assembly (GPA).

The publication marks the 10th anniversary of the ICRC and UNHCR data protection frameworks, as well as the GPA Resolution on Privacy and International Humanitarian Action. It is available on Open Access online.

Bringing together leading humanitarian, legal, academic, and policy experts, this timely volume explores how data protection frameworks can strengthen responsible and effective humanitarian action in an increasingly digital world.

Prof Fast’s chapter, co-written with Gilles Cerutti (Swiss FDFA) and Stuart Campo (IOM), considers the principles and challenges of data sharing between humanitarian organisations and donors, exploring issues around accountability, transparency and data protection in principled humanitarian action.

She and Stuart discuss some of the issues in this short Youtube video.

Through a blend of practitioner perspectives, empirical research, and conceptual analysis, this new book reflects on the past decade, highlighting key developments, achievements, and lessons learned, while also looking ahead to the challenges and opportunities posed by emerging technologies, and how the humanitarian sector can anticipate and prepare for them.

For more publications from HCRI’s Prof Larissa Fast, visit her research profile.

HCRI staff recognised for excellence in supervision

Thu, 25 Sep 2025 10:41:14 +0100

Two members of the Humanitarian & Conflict Response Institute (HCRI) have been recognised in the Faculty of Humanities Outstanding Staff Awards for Teaching, Learning and Student Experience, highlighting HCRI’s commitment to outstanding teaching and mentorship.

Dr Martin Parham was Highly Commended for PGT Dissertation Supervisor of the Year, acknowledging his exceptional support for postgraduate students in developing and completing their research.
Dr Rubina Jasani received Highly Commended for Outstanding UG Dissertation Supervision, reflecting her dedication to guiding undergraduates through their dissertation journey with rigour, empathy and encouragement.

These commendations highlight HCRI’s commitment to student-centred teaching and the vital role of excellent supervision in enabling both undergraduate and postgraduate students to achieve their academic potential.

Congratulations to Dr Parham and Dr Jasani on this well-deserved recognition.

Leverhulme Trust and Wellcome Trust Combine Support

Fri, 19 Sep 2025 18:09:58 +0100

Leverhulme Trust and Wellcome Trust combine support for the Humanitarian Archive Emergency (HAE) project based at the Humanitarian and Conflict Response Institute at The University of Manchester in partnership with The University of Manchester Library.

This co-funded initiative responds to a critical shortfall in the digital infrastructure underpinning humanitarian and global health research. With a combined investment of £608k, this 12-month scoping and research programme will mobilise international partnerships, develop rescue mechanisms for endangered datasets, and conduct vital inquiry to establish ethical triage frameworks to safeguard records.

A Unified Response to a Growing Crisis

Recent funding shifts have triggered sharp declines in Official Development Assistance, including the recent disbanding of USAID, the abolition of DFID, and cuts to Sweden’s SIDA, which were essential supporters of the knowledge infrastructure of humanitarian aid.

These funding cuts threaten access to essential records and archives, such as:

Demographic health surveys covering 763 million people most at risk
Records of attacks on healthcare and education
Food security and other essential health-related datasets

Without urgent intervention, decades of digital archives and records that should be held and protected by UN agencies, NGOs, and faith-based organisations risk permanent erasure. This will not only significantly undermine the possibility of conducting future research but also threaten evidence-based operational decision-making and accountability.

Over the next year, HAE will deploy a global coalition of archives and essential records stakeholders to conduct a comprehensive scoping exercise of at-risk archives, records, and datasets. The team will also develop a crowdsourcing tool that serves as a resilient early-warning system using technical processes for digital recovery and preservation.

The research agenda will consider how to address colonial power dynamics in the politics of humanitarian archiving. Their aim is for these activities to culminate in a roadmap for sustainable research infrastructure to ensure long-term preservation and protection beyond this initial phase.

“Preserving Memory Is Preserving Humanity”

Professor Bertrand Taithe, Principal Investigator and co-founder of the Humanitarian and Conflict Response Institute at The University of Manchester, commented:

Collaborative Expertise and Global Reach

The HAE consortium draws expertise from key international stakeholders, from leaders in the academic, NGO, digital preservation and humanitarian sectors. The group will collaborate via a coalition board to ensure the perspectives and expertise of all are reflected in the activities of the initiative.

These stakeholders include:

The Internet Archive’s Wayback Machine (storage and redundancy)
Digital Preservation Coalition and Open Preservation Foundation (technical guidance)
Elrha, ALNAP and regional specialists (consultancy and field networks)
University of Manchester’s Humanitarian Archive (curation and ethics)
The Data Rescue Project (data rescue and access).

For further details on the project, please contact:

Professor Bertrand Taithe, Principal Investigator, HAE, Director of Research, Humanitarian and Conflict Response Institute, University of Manchester
Dr Stephanie Rinald i, Coalition Coordinator, HAE, Research Programmes Manager, Humanitarian and Conflict Response Institute, University of Manchester

Eviction is a ‘deliberate feature’ of the housing system, says new book

Tue, 16 Sep 2025 09:00:00 +0100

A new book by Dr Jessica Field from The University of Manchester has revealed that eviction is a ‘deliberate and enduring feature’ of Britain’s housing system, rather than simply being a consequence of a housing crisis.

Eviction: A Social History of Rent, published by Verso, is a detailed look at the complex history of rented housing in the UK, tracing policy evolutions from the late 19^th century to the contemporary private rental sector. It examines how rental policies and housing structures have historically positioned low-income tenants as vulnerable to displacement, showing that the threat of eviction has long been woven into the design of the housing market rather than arising from occasional crises.

The book offers a compelling and often unsettling look at the persistent reality of housing insecurity for low-income tenants in Britain over the past century and a half. It argues that eviction is not an aberration, but is fundamentally ingrained in the nation's housing system, often masked as progress.

Dr Field uses her own family’s story as the heart of the book, focusing on a housing estate in south Leeds nicknamed “Cardboard City.” This neighbourhood, which was built in the 1950s by the National Coal Board (NCB) to house miners and their families, became home to generations of working-class tenants. It was a close-knit community where neighbours supported one another, socialised as close friends, and raised families.

Eviction charts the path of these homes from state-owned worker housing to privately rented properties, detailing cycles of neglect and financialisation. Despite promises of security, NCB properties - like many council houses - suffered from inadequate maintenance, and were eventually sold off to private speculators for a pittance.

In 2017, the property company that now owned the estate announced plans to demolish the homes and build ‘executive’ houses in their place. This would mean evicting seventy households, many of whom had lived there for at least a decade, including Dr Field’s parents. The residents formed a campaign group, Save Our Homes LS26, and fought hard to save their homes - but despite their efforts, most were eventually forced to leave. Dr Field’s parents were evicted in 2022.

In the book, Dr Field shares how the fight to stop the eviction affected her mother’s health and well-being, and how the loss of their home shattered a once-thriving community. She situates those personal experiences in the long history of renting in Britain, showing how renters have always had fewer rights than homeowners and how evictions have often been treated as inevitable or even for the good of the tenants.

Through a mix of personal storytelling and historical research, Eviction challenges the idea that private renting has ever been a secure or fair option for families – even during the apparent post-war golden era of council house expansion. It also highlights the importance of community, neighbourly support and tenant-led activism and celebrates the achievements of many women-led activist movements over the decades.

"My parents fought for five years to save their community from a mass eviction. They lost, but their story reveals a brutal truth about Britain's housing system. For working-class families, the housing crisis isn't new – it's the enduring status quo”, says Dr Field.

Eviction: A Social History of Rent is available now from Verso Books.

HCRI academic starts new ESRC-funded project on age and border policing

Thu, 11 Sep 2025 15:22:24 +0100

Dr Antoine Burgard, Senior Lecturer in History of Humanitarianism at the Humanitarian & Conflict Response Institute (HCRI), has been awarded an Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) New Investigator project (2025-2028) for his project ‘Who is a child? Determining age in British and French border policing, 1918 to the present’.

After the publication of a report on the Home Office’s use of age assessments in July, Dame Angela Eagle, the immigration minister, controversially announced that the British government would test AI-based technology to verify ages of young asylum seekers. Today, being under or over 18 profoundly shapes how people in situations of migration are perceived and treated. Who gets to decided who should be recognised as a child is now one of the most pressing issues in public and policy debates around migration and asylum, in the UK but also in most Global North liberal democracies.

Even though they are more visible today, these debates around the use of age in border policing are not new. Using historical and anthropological case studies from 20th and 21st Century Britain and France, Dr Burgard’s project aims to better understand how and why age has become increasingly important not only to migration processes and experiences but also to the way policymakers and protection actors think about vulnerability.

For more on Dr Burgard’s academic work, visit his research profile.

For more on research at HCRI, visit the HCRI website.

Humanitarian and Conflict Response Institute appoints new director

Wed, 06 Aug 2025 16:44:37 +0100

The University of Manchester has appointed the globally-renowned international relations expert Professor Nicolas Lemay-Hébert as the new Director of the Humanitarian and Conflict Response Institute (HCRI).

Professor Lemay-Hébert joins the HCRI from the Australian National University (ANU), where most recently he was Deputy Director (Education) of the Coral Bell School of Asia Pacific Affairs. Before joining the ANU in 2019, he previously held positions at the University of Birmingham and the University of Quebec in Montreal.

In his work, Professor Lemay-Hébert has researched issues of local resistance to international interventions, as well as statebuilding and peacebuilding. He has conducted fieldwork in the separatist regions of Georgia, Kosovo, Timor-Leste, Haiti and more recently Kenya. He has published two monographs - The Law and Practice of Peacekeeping (with R. Freedman and S. Wills; Cambridge University Press, 2021), and Normalization in World Politics (with G. Visoka; University of Michigan Press, 2022).

His next book is under production with Cambridge University Press (International Leviathans: International Administration). In his latest work, Professor Lemay-Hébert has been interested in the political economy and the political geography of intervention.

He is currently completing an Australian Research Council Discovery Grant on The Cartography of Peace: Security Zones, Color Codes and Everyday Life, through which he and a team of researchers are analysing a number of colour-coded zoning practices around the world (green zones in Afghanistan or Cyprus; yellow zone in Haiti; blue zone in Kenya; red zone in Iraq).

"I hope to contribute to the growth of the institute, which has been phenomenal in the past 15 years, and help position the institute for the new challenges emerging around the world."

"The HCRI has always been known for its excellence in research and teaching, and for its policy-relevant work, engaging a multitude of stakeholders on the ground. I plan to build on this track record to further consolidate the HCRI's position in the UK, Europe and beyond as one of the key institutes to study and do research in humanitarian, disaster, global health and peace and conflict studies."

Professor Lemay-Hébert will lead an Institute at the forefront of research in humanitarian, conflict and disaster studies, as well as a thriving teaching unit at undergraduate and postgraduate levels. HCRI’s teaching portfolio includes a pioneering - and in the current times of global conflict, ever more important - joint degree programme in Humanitarian Practice, in collaboration with Médecins Sans Frontières and the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine.

New books showcase HCRI’s vast global research impact

Wed, 23 Jul 2025 09:35:24 +0100

Professor Bertrand Taithe of the Humanitarian and Conflict Response Institute (HCRI) is contributing to two major forthcoming publications with Manchester University Press, both due for release in the coming weeks.

These edited volumes reflect HCRI’s ongoing commitment to interdisciplinary research across humanitarian studies, global health, and history.

The first title, Humanitarian Handicraft: History, Materiality and Trade, is co-edited by Claire Barber, Helen Dampier, Rebecca Gill and Bertrand Taithe. It investigates how handmade crafts intersect with humanitarian work historically and in contemporary settings — revealing complex narratives around aid, labour, and global exchange.

For more information about this book, visit the Manchester University Press website.

The second, 2025: Medical Care and Intimacy in the Long Second World War, 1931–1953, is co-edited by Laure Humbert, Marie Luce Desgrandchamps, Raphaelle Balu and Bertrand Taithe. It explores the global legacies of wartime medical care and the deeply human relationships that shaped it, from Europe to the Global South.

For more information about this book, visit the Manchester University Press website.

These volumes showcase HCRI’s leadership in collaborative, forward-thinking research that bridges the past and present - and offer new insights into the political, ethical, and emotional dimensions of humanitarian and medical work.

HCRI Outstanding Student Citizenship Award winners

Tue, 22 Jul 2025 14:02:36 +0100

During this graduation season, the Humanitarian & Conflict Response Institute (HCRI) is recognising undergraduate students on our International Disaster Management & Humanitarian Response and also intercalated Global Health programmes with awards, including Outstanding Student Citizenship, Academic Excellence, and Outstanding Dissertation.

The Outstanding Student Citizenship award is unique in that it is not based on grades or academic work, instead allowing staff to nominate those individuals who have gone above and beyond in all aspects of university life.

Congratulations to this year’s awardees. We hear from the academics who nominated them, and the awardees, below:

Maisy Wood

Selim Iyidirli

Bradley Williams

Congratulations again to all of our student awardees, and the whole Class of 2025, who we at HCRI are extremely proud of.

Northern Heart, Global Reach: Highlighting Manchester's humanitarian impact

Fri, 11 Jul 2025 14:02:34 +0100

Hosted at the University of Manchester’s Samuel Alexander Building, the event brought together Mines Advisory Group (MAG), Action for Humanity, Hope for Justice, the Omega Research Foundation, UK-Med, and the University’s Humanitarian and Conflict Response Institute, alongside diplomats, academics, and leaders from across sectors.

It offered a platform to highlight the collective reach of Manchester’s humanitarian sector, which has supported more than 6.5 million people in the past year alone through landmine clearance, emergency medical aid, disaster preparedness, peacebuilding, and more.

Photos from the Northern Heart, Global Reach event.

Opening the evening, MAG CEO Darren Cormack reflected on Manchester’s unique role in global humanitarianism:

The evening included powerful speeches from the University’s President and Vice Chancellor, the CEO of Action for Humanity, and MAG’s Nika Kokareva, demining team leader in Ukraine. Nika delivered a first-hand account of the situation on the ground and the scale of humanitarian need caused by the ongoing war, particularly the threat posed by landmines and unexploded ordnance to families and farmers.

The event served as a timely reminder of Manchester’s deep-rooted legacy of social justice and global solidarity. While MAG and its partners operate in diverse contexts and specialise in different areas, the values driving their missions – dignity, justice, and hope – are shaped by the spirit of this city.

In a world facing increasing humanitarian challenges, the need for sustained partnership, collaboration, and funding has never been greater.

The Global Manchester event demonstrated what is possible when organisations, institutions, and communities come together in common cause – and why continued, united action is vital to creating a safer, fairer world.

More on the Humanitarian & Conflict Response Institut (HCRI).

HCRI co-hosts international conference on Non-Communicable Diseases and Humanitarian Medicine

Tue, 08 Jul 2025 12:55:33 +0100

The Humanitarian and Conflict Response Institute (HCRI) co-hosted the conference ‘Non-Communicable Diseases and Humanitarian Medicine: Current, Critical, and Historical Perspectives on Medical Treatments of Displaced Populations’ on 25-26 June 2025 in Kisii, Kenya.

This inaugural conference at the University of Kisii was developed with the Anthropology Unit of MSF, the LEAP programme, HCRI’s Developing Humanitarian Medicine project team.

It featured six roundtables over two days with key experts from the humanitarian, academic and medical sectors.

The following HCRI academics contributed to sessions:

Prof Bertrand Taithe and Dr Pesh Muwanguzi on ‘What Future for ‘Chronic’ Emergencies? Challenges and Possibilities of NCD Management in Humanitarian Contexts’.
Dr Maria Cullen, Dr Costanza Torre and Prof Bertrand Taithe on ‘Can Humanitarianism Learn from Its Mistakes? Integrating Historical and Critical Perspectives in the Management of NCDs’.
Dr Janelle Winters and Dr Chimwemwe Phiri on ‘(How) Can humanitarians disrupt NCD drug and diagnostics markets? Drugs, Medical Marketplaces, and Patient Groups’.
Dr Chimwemwe Phiri and Dr Janelle Winters on ‘Bridging the Divide – Can High-Tech and Low-Tech Solutions Truly Revolutionize NCD Care in Crisis Settings?’

View images from the event.

You can find out more information on HCRI's research on their website.

University of Manchester academics cited in latest International Development Committee report – Protection Not Permission

Wed, 25 Jun 2025 16:12:05 +0100

Evidence from academics at The University of Manchester has been cited in the latest report from the International Development Committee in the House of Commons.

The report references evidence from Dr Yusra Suedi and Professor Iain Scobbie from the Manchester International Law Centre (MILC), and Professor Bertrand Taithe, Professor Larissa Fast and Dr Stephanie Rinaldi at the Humanitarian and Conflict Response Institute (HCRI).

Read the Committee's report: ‘Protection not permission: The UK’s Role in upholding international law and supporting the safe delivery of humanitarian aid’ - in full, alongside their recommendations for policymakers.

For more on HCRI, visit their website.

For more on MILC, visit their website.

HCRI Researchers Lead Groundbreaking Special Issue in Le Mouvement Social

Thu, 12 Jun 2025 12:30:00 +0100

A new special issue of Le Mouvement Social features pioneering research co-authored by HCRI’s Professor Bertrand Taithe and Dr Róisín Read. This edition brings together work from Dr Laure Humbert’s AHRC project and the Researching the Impact of Attacks on Healthcare (RIAH) project.

The issue represents a unique collaboration between HCRI and partners from Tribhuvan University in Nepal, Professor Bhimsen Devkota and Sudha Ghimire, exploring the impact of revolutionary war on health systems and gendered experiences of care and coercion.

The article, titled ‘Soins, coercition et genre dans la guerre révolutionnaire au Népal (1996–2006)’, published in Le Mouvement Social, Numéro 288 (July–September 2024), pp. 113–132, showcases HCRI’s signature interdisciplinary approach.

The research situates the Nepal conflict within wider discussions about humanitarian ethics, power, and care. This work reflects HCRI’s commitment to international academic collaboration and research with meaningful impact.

Find out more in the full article.

Humanitarian and Conflict Response Institute Anthropologist awarded multiple prestigious book prizes

Wed, 11 Jun 2025 10:22:18 +0100

Atmospheric Violence: Disaster and Repair in Kashmir (University of Pennsylvania Press, 2024) has most recently been awarded Gold in the ‘Social Change and Social Justice’ category at the 2025 Nautilus Book Awards. Recognising books that advance social transformation and conscious living, the Nautilus Awards have previously honoured influential figures such as Thich Nhat Hanh, Malala Yousafzai, and Barbara Kingsolver, placing this work among globally celebrated voices for justice and equity.

The book, written by Humanitarian and Conflict Response Institute (HCRI) Anthropologist, Dr Omer Aijazi, has also been awarded the 2024 James Fisher Prize for First Books on the Himalayan Region and received an Honourable Mention in the 2025 AIPS Book Prize, granted by the American Institute of Pakistan Studies.

Drawing on extensive fieldwork in the portion of Kashmir under Pakistan’s control and its surrounding mountainscapes, Atmospheric Violence explores how communities continue to live, relate, and imagine otherwise in landscapes shaped by both environmental disasters and militarised conflict. Through the intimate stories of five protagonists in remote mountain valleys, the book illustrates how people forge lives among violence that is everywhere—or ‘atmospheric’.

Departing from conventional trauma-centric approaches, the monograph frames disaster through the lens of repair. Engaging with Black and Indigenous studies, affect theory, and decolonial thought, the book blurs the boundaries of theory, storytelling, and activism to offer a transformative vision for understanding resilience and care in the world’s conflict zones.

Speaking of the awards, Dr Omer Aijazi, Lecturer in Disaster Management and Climate Crisis, shared:
“These awards testify that scholars are storytellers. We must take risks, experiment with our craft, and work from the heart. Other worlds, other futures, are indeed possible.”

These prestigious awards affirm Atmospheric Violence as a significant and timely contribution to global conversations on justice, survival, and the politics of humanitarian response.

Simulating Disaster: Six local schools participate in HCRI’s mock earthquake exercise

Mon, 19 May 2025 11:30:00 +0100

On 13 May, HCRI hosted its annual youth conference, welcoming students from six local schools for a simulation exercise about disaster preparedness and response.

Our guests participated in workshops about the role of the media, stakeholder responses, and post-disaster distribution of aid, in the context of a mock earthquake in the Manchester area.

The event – titled Young People in Humanitarianism Conference - was led and delivered by Dr Martin Parham and a mix of undergraduate and postgraduate HCRI students.

The participating schools were East Manchester Academy, Cedar Mount Academy, Reddish Vale High School, Sale High School, Manchester Academy, Grange School.

For more on HCRI’s high school and Sixth Form sessions, visit the HCRI schools and outreach page.

View more images from the day.

Kisii County ambulance services development

Tue, 11 Mar 2025 09:31:26 +0000

Overview of the Ambulance Service

At the heart of Kisii County’s emergency care system is its dedicated ambulance service, owned and operated by the Kisii County Ministry of Health. Currently, the county aspires to have 10 ambulances and 35 ambulance officers. While most of these personnel hold a basic first aid certificate, formal ambulance care training has been limited.

To enhance emergency response capabilities, the Humanitarian and Conflict Response Institute (HCRI) is launching a professionalisation programme. This initiative includes two cycles of a Kisii University-certified 4-week ambulance officer training course, modelled after the UK ambulance service Miller programme. The training aims to equip both existing personnel and new recruits with essential emergency medical skills, increasing the ambulance cadre to 48 trained personnel.

Launch of the First Training Programme

We are excited to announce that the first ambulance officer training programme in Kisii County has officially begun! This initiative is made possible through collaboration with volunteers from the North West Ambulance Service (NWAS) in England, who are on-site to support the training efforts.

The first cohort of 27 students have started their 4-week training, with hands-on instruction led by Prof. Walter and NWAS trainers. The training team is expanding, with additional colleagues arriving to further enhance the programme’s practical sessions.

Government and International Support

Kisii County government has taken ownership of the programme by covering in-country costs for the team. Dr Kinane, Economic Advisor to Governor HE Simba Arati, has expressed strong support for the initiative, emphasising the County’s commitment to improving emergency medical services.

Furthermore, global health organisations are engaging with this initiative. The World Health Organisation (WHO) and the African Federation of Emergency Medicine (AFEM) are actively involved, with the WHO Basic Emergency Care Course integrated into Week 3 of training. AFEM is also working toward accrediting the programme.

Looking Ahead: Future Development Plans

The training programme is set to run until 14 March 2025, with the Governor of Kisii County expected to personally award certificates of completion.

In parallel, discussions are underway to implement a formal dispatch and ambulance tracking system, along with a mobile-based electronic patient record system. NWAS representatives and UK-based companies are exploring philanthropic support to build and sustain these critical emergency response tools. The aim is to develop and roll out these systems within the next 18 months to 2 years, significantly improving emergency care coordination in Kisii County.

Conclusion

This initiative marks a significant step toward professionalising Kisii County’s ambulance services and strengthening emergency medical response for the community. With strong local and international partnerships, this programme is laying the foundation for a responsive emergency care system.

Interview with Dr Anthony Fauci: Lessons from a life in Public Health

Mon, 03 Feb 2025 10:48:12 +0000

On behalf of the Mexican Society of Public Health, Dr Luis Martinez Juarez interviewed Dr Anthony Fauci about his time as the Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), his role as a lead member of the White House Coronavirus Task Force, and as Joe Biden’s Chief Medical Advisor.

A video of the interview is available to watch on Youtube.

Through this conversation, Dr Fauci discusses resilience, global cooperation, and the importance of building public trust in science in the face of misinformation.

He also reflects on the lessons learned from these health crises and how we can apply them to strengthen global health systems in the future.

Dr Luis Martinez Juarez is a Lecturer in Global Health at the Humanitarian and Conflict Response Institute (HCRI), at The University of Manchester. He regularly interviews leaders from the worlds of Public and Global Health, which can be found on the Mexican Society of Public Health Youtube channel.

HCRI is a research and teaching centre, focused humanitarianism and conflict response, global health, international disaster management and peacebuilding. For more information visit the HCRI website.

Visit the Mexican Society of Public Health website for more information on the work they do.

New Future You podcast about studying humanitarianism at Manchester, with Dr Amanda Mccorkindale

Mon, 24 Jun 2024 12:41:51 +0100

Senior Lecturer Dr Amanda McCordkindale spoke with careers guidance podcast Future You about life and study at HCRI, reflecting on the benefits and challenges of studying difficult global issues.

The latest Future You podcast delves into the history of the University’s Humanitarian & Conflict Response Institute (HCRI) and looks at the day-to-day life of students on our courses.

Listen to Future You on Spotify.

In this podcast, Dr Amanda Mccorkindale describes the rationale behind HCRI’s foundation – to apply critical refection to the real-world practices of humanitarian response and improve the outcomes of those affected by natural and man-made disasters and emergencies.

Since its founding in 2008, HCRI has moved from being a strictly research-focused institute to providing a wide range of undergraduate, postgraduate and PhD courses, for those working as or aspiring to become humanitarian practitioners. This includes our unique Leadership Education Academic Partnership (LEAP) online course, which provides critical and theoretically-informed education to those working for humanitarian NGOs.

In the podcast, Dr Mccorkindale discusses the mental health challenges of studying heavy topics, such as conflict, genocide and disasters, but also the measures HCRI takes to support its students, including trigger warnings, peer mentoring programmes, reflection on ethical positionality, and access to a wide variety of support services at University of Manchester.

The podcast also covers the wide range of career outcomes for those studying at HCRI and the multidisciplinary nature of our courses and student cohorts.

The Future You podcast is published by Prospects, an organisation that supports graduates in finding employment and educational opportunities. You can find out more information on the Prospects website.

Elys Roberts Scholarship deadline extended to Friday, 28 June 2024

Tue, 28 May 2024 17:00:00 +0100

Scholarships for the postgraduate certificate in Global Health.

For September 2024, a scholarship is available to help fund the first year of study in MSc Global Health by distance learning.

The purpose of the scholarship is to equip those who want to make an impact in Global Health and to support international humanitarian work.

The scholarship is available to support those pursuing a career in Global Health, from or working in low/middle-income countries who might not otherwise have the means to study for a postgraduate qualification.

Amount:

UK students (per annum): £4,500 p.a. (one year)
International, including EU, students (per annum): £9,000 p.a. (one year)

The closing date for applications is Friday, 28 June 2024 at 11.59pm (GMT). The course will commence in September 2024.

Criteria

We are looking for candidates who can demonstrate:

professional experience related to Global Health;
a clear idea of how the MSc in Global Health and studying at HCRI will benefit their career;
a clear passion around the subject of global health;
applicants are encouraged from the Global South and particularly Low- or Middle-Income Country (LMIC);
applicants are encouraged from the those working in LMIC contexts.

Eligibility

Applicants who already have a masters level qualification are ineligible to apply.
Students who have already accepted full scholarships or bursaries for September 2024 entry are ineligible to apply.

How to apply

To apply for the scholarship, you will need to complete the following by Friday, 28 June 2024 at 11.59pm (GMT):

submit the University of Manchester postgraduate admissions form, providing all necessary supporting material (including transcript and two references); and
submit a 500-word case for support of how you meet the bursary criteria by email to hcri@manchester.ac.uk. Please include your full name and application ID number.

Conditions of any Scholarship Award

Scholarship Award Holders have a commitment to:

provide blog entries throughout their study;
engage with requests for video testimonials if possible during their course;
write a testimonial at the end of their course.

Professor Tony Redmond spoke to Radio 4 about ‘life changing’ early experiences in humanitarian healthcare

Wed, 08 May 2024 17:15:30 +0100

On Wednesday, 8 May 2024, Professor Tony Redmond OBE spoke to Radio 4’s ‘Life Changing’ programme, describing his early years in the NHS and the extreme challenges of international and UK medical deployments in the late 1980s.

Prof Redmond is a specialist in emergency medicine and has been involved in international humanitarian assistance for almost 25 years, organising medical support to natural disasters, major incidents and complex emergencies throughout the world.

Speaking to Dr Sian Williams, he told Radio 4 that his early experiences, including leading a team of eight Manchester clinicians responding to a major earthquake in Armenia, led to a life-long mission to improve standards and outcomes for international medical deployments.

This work included:

Co-founding the Manchester-based charity UK-Med, a WHO-verified Emergency Medical Team supporting the UK government’s frontline health response to disasters overseas.
Co-founding the University’s Humanitarian & Conflict Response Institute (HCRI), which brings together scholars from the humanities and medicine to study best practice in conflict response, global health, disaster management, and peacebuilding.
Co-founding the Faculty of Remote, Rural and Humanitarian Healthcare at the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh, incorporating the lessons of international emergency response into formal medical training.

To listen to this inspiring interview, visit the BBC website.

Prof Redmond will also be speaking on Sunday, 9 June, at an event organised by HCRI as part of the Universally Manchester Festival.

Book your tickets on Eventbrite

Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) staff explore the complex history of the humanitarian sector

Tue, 19 Mar 2024 16:47:51 +0000

The University’s Humanitarian & Conflict Response Institute (HCRI) co-delivers a unique, flexible master’s course – the LEAP programme - designed for humanitarians to study alongside their work in the field.

This month, staff from Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) enrolled on the programme participated in a series of online workshops and guest lectures with a focus on the historical contexts of humanitarian response. This week-long series was organised and delivered by HCRI’s Dr Antoine Burgard, Dr Luke Kelly, Panagiotis Karagkounis and Niamh Hanrahan.

Guest lecturers included Dr Uttara Shanai, who talked about her research on forced relocation in the British Empire; Zenzele Ndebele, who explored the politics and memory of the Gukurahundi massacres in Zimbabwe; and Dr Maria Cullen who presented on HCRI’s Wellcome Trust-fund project on humanitarian medicine led by Prof Bertrand Taithe.

In November 2023, the same MSF cohort visited Manchester and Liverpool for a series of intensive classes and networking sessions, delivered by HCRI and the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine.

By bringing together medical and humanitarian workers with social scientists, historians and global health scholars, the LEAP programme stimulates critical reflection on humanitarian work and the wider humanitarian agenda. Student testimonials can be found on the Leadership Education Academic Partnership website.

For more on MSF and its life-saving work, visit their website.

Applications are now open for funding to study Global Health (PGCert)

Tue, 05 Mar 2024 21:02:31 +0000

Scholarships for the postgraduate certificate in Global Health (PGCert).

For September 2024, a scholarship is available to help fund the first year of study in MSc Global Health by distance learning, where you can exit with a Postgraduate Certificate, potentially leading to a Postgraduate Diploma or Masters in Global Health.

The purpose of the scholarship is to equip those who want to make an impact on Global Health and to support international humanitarian work.

The scholarship is available to support those pursuing a career in Global Health, from or working in low/middle-income countries who might not otherwise have the means to study for a postgraduate qualification.

Fees:

UK students (per annum): £4,500 p.a. (one year)
International, including EU, students (per annum): £9,000 p.a. (one year)

Entry Criteria

We are looking for candidates who can demonstrate:

professional experience related to Global Health;
a clear idea of how the MSc in Global Health and studying at HCRI will benefit their career;
a clear passion around the subject of global health;
applicants are encouraged from the Global South and particularly Low- or Middle-Income Country (LMIC);
applicants are encouraged from the those working in LMIC contexts.

Eligibility

Applicants who already have a masters level qualification are ineligible to apply.
Students who have already accepted full scholarships or bursaries for September 2024 entry are ineligible to apply.

Conditions of any PGCert Scholarship Award

Scholarship Award Holders have a commitment to:

provide blog entries throughout their study;
engage with requests for video testimonials if possible during their course;
write a testimonial at the end of their course.

How to apply

To apply for the scholarship, you will need to complete the following by Friday, 24 May 2024 11.59 pm (GMT):

submit the University of Manchester postgraduate admissions form, providing all necessary supporting material (including transcript and two references); and
submit a 500-word case for support of how you meet the bursary criteria by email to hcri@manchester.ac.uk. Please include your full name and application ID number.

The closing date for applications is Friday, 24 May 2024 11.59 pm (GMT).

The course will commence in September 2024.

HCRI students visit India for the annual TISS-HCRI Winter School

Wed, 07 Feb 2024 16:48:35 +0000

In January, students at the Humanitarian & Conflict Response Institute (HCRI) flew to Mumbai and took part in various educational sessions, field visits and walking tours.

The meticulously planned 12-day schedule also had space for the participants to wind down and enjoy their trip.

Hosted by HCRI’s partners at TISS, a multi-campus public university in Mumbai, the Winter School included visits to:

The mangroves in Airoli, to watch flamingos and understand the delicate ecosystems crisscrossing Mumbai.
The M-Ward area to understand the role of policy advocacy about migration, vulnerability and disaster risk reduction.
The 26/11 Mumbai Attacks sites to gain perspective on violence and conflict in the region.

Speaking about the Winter School, student Lizzie Beach said:

The HCRI-TISS Winter School was organised as part of the undergraduate module Practical Approaches to Researching Disasters and Conflict.

For more information about the HCRI’s courses, visit our website.

Call for Papers: HCRI Workshop on ‘The Multiple Transformations of Archives, 1920s to 2010s’

Tue, 19 Dec 2023 17:06:15 +0000

The hybrid, cross-disciplinary event is on Wednesday 13 – Thursday 14 March 2024, with the deadline for proposals being Friday, 19 January 2024.

The workshop is for PhD candidates and early career scholars.

Throughout the last quarter of the twentieth century, many scholars have shed light on the puzzling concept of the ‘Archive’, expanding its horizons from a side-lined feature of historiography to a deeply philosophical and political matter.

This two-day workshop, held at the John Rylands Research Institute and Library, calls for a continued and cross discipline engagement with archives, and their sources. It aims to bring together PhD and Early Career Researchers in both history and social sciences, to engage in meaningful discussions on the ways in which archives have been constructed, maintained, and transformed in the 20th century.

The workshop has three themes at the centre of its approach (but remains open to related topics):

Archival power structures

Who has the authority to determine the ‘good archival’ practices and methods (historians, archivists, or policymakers and the state)? How do these developments shape power relations between state and citizens? How do you create an archive? How do you end one? Who decides this?
Humanitarianism, migration studies and the archive

What approaches are necessary to consider records surrounding people in transit? How can we bring together both the theoretical concerns of the ‘archival turn’ and methodological insights of the ‘global turn’? How do we consider - and can we connect - vastly different archive constructions: from highly bureaucratic institutions such as the Red Cross, to local organisations like the Huddersfield Famine Relief Committee, to collections created and curated on the move by individual refugees?
Archives and the digital era

What does an increase in the belief in ‘fake news’, and in the use of artificial intelligence mean for online archives attempting to claim truth? What does the digitisation of archival material and the digitisation of bureaucratic services mean for the future of historiography? What kind of epistemological concerns does digitisation reveal (or: Is truth still relevant in a post-truth era of politics)? What kind of archives will be produced in the future?

Abstracts and format

To allow for a wide range of researchers to take part in this discussion, the workshop will take place in a hybrid format, in Manchester and online. Please indicate whether you would like to speak in person or online in your application. We have a small number of travel and accommodation bursaries available for participants to attend in person.

Please send an abstract of 300 words to archivaltransformations@gmail.com by 5pm UK time on Friday, 19 January 2024.

Please also include your name, a short biography (max. 100 words), the title of your paper, and your contact details. The outcome will be announced by Monday, 5 February 2024. Short pre-circulated papers will be due two weeks before the workshop.

Workshop organisers:

Niamh Hanrahan (PhD candidate, Humanitarianism and Conflict Response, University of Manchester)
Panagiotis Karagkounis (PhD candidate, Humanitarianism and Conflict Response, University of Manchester)
Flora Chatt (Archivist, Humanitarian Archive at John Rylands Research Institute and Library)

The workshop is sponsored by the John Rylands Research Event Grant.

Event partners are: School of Arts, Languages and Cultures; The Centre for Interdisciplinary Research in the Arts and Languages; Humanitarian and Conflict Response Institute - all at the University of Manchester.

HCRI’s work celebrated at Global Manchester event

Fri, 06 Oct 2023 12:30:34 +0100

Humanitarian organisations in our region benefited the lives of 7 million people in 58 countries last year, it was revealed at an event this week.

The Global Manchester reception at HOME Manchester saw the university’s Humanitarian & Conflict Response Institute (HCRI), UK-Med, Action for Humanity, Hope for Justice, In Place of War, and the Omega Research Foundation showcase their work to MPs, councillors, media, consuls, and NGO partners.

It was hosted by the international landmine clearance charity, Mines Advisory Group, also headquartered in Manchester.

The keynote address was given by Sir Graham Brady (MP for Altrincham and Sale West), who noted the diversity and outsized impact of international charities based in our city and region.

HCRI was represented by its Executive Director, Professor Larissa Fast.

To find out more about HCRI’s global and local partnerships with humanitarian aid and disaster relief organisations, visit the website.

UK-Med's Emergency Medical Team deploys to Morocco after earthquake

Tue, 12 Sep 2023 15:12:20 +0100

UK-Med, the UK’s official Emergency Medical Team based at The University of Manchester, has deployed a specialist team of humanitarian workers to Morocco following the recent earthquake.

The team of five humanitarian workers is made up of specialists in responding to large-scale humanitarian emergencies, and it includes a medical lead, a paramedic, a water and sanitation engineer, a logistics expert and a team leader.

On arrival they will immediately conduct a rapid assessment to evaluate the most pressing humanitarian health needs; and evaluate the extent of damage to essential healthcare infrastructure. The team will be aware that the current local capacity of the health system may not be able to cope with and absorb the large numbers of wounded and sick.

Tom Godfrey leads the UK-Med team in Morocco. Tom has more than fifteen years of humanitarian leadership experience spanning Africa, Asia, and the Middle East.

He says, “It’s rare for north Africa to be struck by earthquakes. Sadly, that means many of the buildings high in the Atlas Mountains where the disaster occurred won’t have been able to withstand the quake.

“More than 2,000 people are known to have died, and sadly the death toll is expected to rise. We know from experience in previous earthquake responses such as February’s Turkey/Syria that many more people could be trapped under fallen masonry. We also know that earthquakes can destroy or overwhelm pre-existing health infrastructure, which hampers timely access to health services for survivors. Injuries and trauma of varying degrees, as well as soft tissue infections are the major initial concerns expected during the first few days after an earthquake.

“Additionally, water and foodborne diseases, respiratory and close contact infections can all be anticipated to increase over the coming weeks and months after an earthquake of this scale. That’s why identifying areas where medical services are deficient is important to ensure the most appropriate medical care is provided to prevent these types of illnesses from spreading."

UK-Med is the only UK based emergency medical team (EMT) to be approved by the World Health Organization. It is also the only UK based medical charity to partner as an EMT with the UK government during overseas humanitarian disaster. If requested, UK-Med can quickly deploy a full field hospital in support of a WHO or UK government response to the quake in Morocco.

“For now, its vital important that we conduct a rapid assessment of the humanitarian health needs to determine how best we can support the people impacted by this devastating earthquake,” adds Mr Godfrey.

UK-Med launch Morocco emergency appeal

To support UK-Med’s work in Morocco, public donations are encouraged at uk-med.org/donate-now

Tom Godfrey says, “Please give generously to support our appeal. We rely on the support of the public to fund our life-saving work. It costs hundreds of thousands of pounds to deploy a full field hospital with dozens of specialist NHS staff. We’re a small nimble medical aid charity, and your donation will help us to save lives.”

UK-Med has more than thirty years’ experience responding to humanitarian emergencies, including the war in Ukraine and the earthquake in Turkey and Syria, by providing rapid medical care for affected communities.

With a roster of nearly 1,000 NHS and international doctors, nurses, paramedics, logisticians and other allied non-health professionals who are highly skilled in emergency work, UK-Med provides an on-call system for global health relief.

In the last year alone, UK-Med has deployed more than 400 personnel, provided treatment for 35,000 patients around the world, and has trained 11,000 local medical staff.

For interviews contact Ian Woolverton, Media Manager, on +44 (0) 7377 547362. For other inquiries, email comms@uk-med.org or call 0161 275 7873. Follow UK-Med on social media for the latest updates (LinkedIn, Twitter/X, and Facebook).

Call for Papers: HCRI Conference on ‘Navigating Crossroads: Advancements and Challenges in Medical Humanitarianism and Global Health’

Fri, 23 Jun 2023 16:16:15 +0100

The Humanitarian & Conflict Response Institute (HCRI) is inviting papers for a conference titled Navigating Crossroads: Advancements and Challenges in Medical Humanitarianism and Global Health, to be held at University of Manchester in September.

We invite academics, practitioners, policymakers, and research students to submit papers for presentation and discussion.

This one-day conference aims to explore the crossroads in the fields of medical humanitarianism and global health, highlighting the critical issues and emerging trends that shape the present and future of healthcare delivery in humanitarian and global settings. It will also mark the start of our new five-year Wellcome Trust funded project on Historicising Humanitarian Medicine.

Submissions of 250-word abstracts on original research papers and case studies are welcome under the following thematic areas:

1. Humanitarian Healthcare and Technical Innovation:

The role of digital health technologies in humanitarian settings
Innovations in medical devices and equipment for humanitarian response
Data-driven approaches to improving healthcare outcomes in humanitarian settings

2. Strengthening Global Healthcare Systems:

Health system strengthening in low- and middle-income countries
Capacity building and workforce development in global health
Innovative models of healthcare delivery in underserved or disaster-prone populations
Addressing health inequities and social determinants of health on a global scale
Mental health and psychosocial support in humanitarian emergencies

3. Ethical Decision Making in Humanitarian Healthcare and Refugee Health:

Ethical dilemmas and challenges in healthcare provision during humanitarian crises
Protection of vulnerable populations and the rights of refugees
Ethical considerations in conducting research in humanitarian health contexts
Intersectionality and equity in healthcare decision-making

Timeline:

Abstract Submission Deadline: Friday, 21 July 2023
Notification of Acceptance: Friday, 28 July 2023
Registration (£30 academic/£20 PGR or those on precarious contracts). Deadline: Friday, 1 September 2023
Conference Date: Monday, 11 September (all day), University of Manchester

Join us at Navigating Crossroads to engage in stimulating discussions, share innovative research findings, and foster collaboration in an interdisciplinary setting.

For submissions or enquiries, please contact the conference organising committee via hcri@manchester.ac.uk.

HCRI PhD Candidate wins MDC Excellence Award for Internationalisation

Fri, 23 Jun 2023 15:23:45 +0100

The winners of the MDC Excellence Awards 2023 were announced in June. These awards are given in recognition of the outstanding achievements of postgraduate researchers and supervisors.

The awards invite supervisors, PGR students and colleagues from all faculties to nominate individuals based on excellence in their research or their successes and contributions outside of their studies.

HCRI PhD Candidate Rohi Jehan won one of the awards for ‘Best Contribution to Internationalisation’.

The MDC noted:

This is the tenth year of the awards, recognising contributions to research, the University and the wider community.

For more information about the MDC awards, check out the Student News.

HCRI Professor to commence ambitious five-year project on the history of humanitarian medicine

Fri, 19 May 2023 14:43:37 +0100

The project seeks to generate significant shifts in understanding its scientific and organisational specificity and role in developing clinical norms, debating ‘rights-based’ approach to health access and leading campaigns for access to drugs while deploying bespoke biotechnological tools.

This history will inform humanitarian practice and contribute to ongoing debates on how humanitarian medical providers engage with pharmaceutical and biotech industries to disseminate, repurpose, and research drugs and diagnostic tools.

The project will develop four work packages building up from patient-centred clinical norms and concerns on care to experimental initiatives in humanitarian setting and state-led norm-setting diplomacy through emergency medical teams (EMTs) initiatives.

The project will place historical records, their use and preservation, at the heart of humanitarian practices and transform the way that researchers and practitioners deploy evidence from the very recent past. The project will draw from archives (existing NGO archives, public records, personal papers collected in the Humanitarian Archive at the University of Manchester John Rylands Research Institute and Library) and will create new archives through oral history and project field work.

The project is titled ‘Developing Humanitarian Medicine: from Alma Ata to Bio-Tech, a history of norms, knowledge production and care (1978-2020)’ and will have a duration of of five years.

A full project website will be launched soon and links to job adverts for associated research and archival posts will be posted here. The project is funded by the Wellcome Trust (226515/Z/22/Z).

Project Team/Contact:

PI: Prof Bertrand Taithe
Project manager: Dr Stephanie Rinaldi

For more information, visit the HCRI website.

Founder of Manchester medical aid charity to deliver annual lecture

Fri, 12 May 2023 10:59:29 +0100

The founder of a frontline medical aid charity based at The University of Manchester who spent 35 years responding to wars and major disasters around the world is to deliver this year’s Cockcroft Rutherford Lecture on Tuesday 16 May.

The Cockcroft Rutherford Lecture is the flagship annual event for alumni and friends of The University of Manchester, which has the largest global alumni community of any-campus based university in the UK and has graduates in over 190 countries.

Previous Cockcroft Rutherford lecturers include former Chief Medical Officer for England Professor Dame Sally Davies, Head of News & Current Affairs at Channel 4 Television Dorothy Byrne, former Greater Manchester Chief Constable Professor Sir Peter Fahy and astrophysicist and TV presenter Professor Brian Cox OBE.

This year’s lecture will be given by Professor Tony Redmond OBE, who recently stood down as Chair of UK-Med after 29 years in the role. Tony, who originally studied medicine at The University of Manchester, founded the organisation in 1994 which subsequently became one of the world’s leading disaster response charities.

From an initial register of 100 volunteer clinicians, the charity - which is based in the University’s Humanitarian and Conflict Response Institute (HCRI) now has more than 1,000 highly-trained doctors, nurses, paramedics and allied health professionals on its books, aided by a central team of over 40. It has responded to emergencies in 21 countries over the past two years including Ukraine, Lebanon, Myanmar and Yemen.

In his talk, he will reflect upon the years he spent responding to wars and major disasters and the lessons the world has – and has not – learnt.

The University of Manchester’s President and Vice Chancellor Professor Dame Nancy Rothwell will chair the lecture, which will be followed by an audience Q&A.

“We’re very excited to welcome hundreds of our alumni on to campus for the lecture, especially our community of generous volunteers and donors who all help Manchester make things happen,” said Richard Screaton, Deputy Director (Alumni Engagement) at The University of Manchester. “We know that hundreds more graduates around the globe will be joining us online to watch the lecture.”

The lecture can be streamed live on YouTube from 6pm on Tuesday 16 May, where it will also be available afterwards for those unable to watch it live.

Manchester student looks to provide relief in Malawi after cyclone hits country

Thu, 16 Mar 2023 16:20:53 +0000

A student from The University of Manchester is looking to provide relief for people in Malawi, by raising money for two charities working to deliver aid to those in need after a cyclone hit the country.

Lizzie Beach is an International Disaster Management and Humanitarian Response student, and has been on a placement year in Malawi since last September living and working in a home for vulnerable children. She supports them with their emotional and social development, tutors them for their academic studies and helps to improve their spoken and written English, as well as teaching in a nearby primary school.

She is doing her placement though Project Trust, a UK-based charity which works in partnership with organisations in Africa, Latin America and Asia. Its volunteers take part in long-term placements alongside local teams to support education, youth development and social care initiatives

She was at the childrens’ home when Cyclone Freddy hit – luckily the house remained standing and the children were all safe, although the roof developed some major leaks and the garden partially flooded.

However, the cyclone caused devastation across her local district of Blantyre and the entire south of Malawi - latest reports are saying that more than 225 people have died in the country, and more than 88000 people have been displaced.

The dire situation means people have lost their homes and family members, and many have gone for several days without food. To make matters worse, heavy rains are expected to continue and will likely cause more flooding in the coming days.

With no access to a car or other significant resources, Lizzie is trying to help in any way that she can by raising awareness and money for two charities working on the ground. Road to Relief, who she works personally with, are providing emergency kits which include maize flour, salt, soya, soap, tea, sugar, rice, plastic sheeting, a bucket, water guard and a blanket. The kits cost the equivalent of £27, and they are vital to help the people who have been displaced.

Another charity, Round Table Malawi, is also working hard to provide emergency aid and support. Both charities will have a direct positive impact on the lives of those who are suffering, but they both need urgent funds to deal with the sheer number of people requiring aid.

“During my degree, I consume so many news and academic articles about disasters across the world - while these are often difficult to read, experiencing such a disaster in real life is completely different,” said Lizzie. “My desire and drive to help in the response comes from my personal passion for humanitarian aid, and I also personally know a number of people whose homes were destroyed by the storm.”

To donate to Road to Relief, visit http://paypal.me/BanjaUmodzi. You can also donate via bank transfer to Memon Association UK (sort code 30-98-97, account number 67538462).

To donate to Round Table Malawi, visit gofund.me/569c6f2a.

New book offers insights into climate emergency and human mobility

Mon, 14 Nov 2022 11:50:39 +0000

As the global community meets in Egypt for the COP27 climate conference, an expert from The University of Manchester has released a new book which explores the links between human mobility and severe weather.

Dr. Stephanie Sodero is a Lecturer in Climate Change and Health at the University's Humanitarian and Conflict Response Institute. In Under the Weather: Reimagining Mobility in the Climate Crisis, she examines how driving, flying and shipping impact the climate - and in turn, how severe weather disrupts human society.

Humans and human mobility are entangled with the climate emergency. Fossil-fuelled mobility worsens severe weather, and in turn, severe weather disrupts human mobility. Stephanie says that a shift to zero-emission vehicles is critical, but is insufficient to repair the damage or prepare communities for the coming disruptions that severe weather will bring.

In her book, Stephanie examines two Atlantic Canadian hurricane case studies - Hurricane Juan in Mi'kma'ki in her home province of Nova Scotia in 2003, and Hurricane Igor in Newfoundland in 2010.

It contributes to contemporary cultural and policy discussions by offering five practical recommendations - revolutionise mobility, prioritise vital mobility of medical goods and services, embrace ecological mobilities, rebrand redundancy, and think flexibly - for how mobility can be reimagined to work with, rather than against, the climate in ways that also benefit the health, education, and economy of local communities.

This ecological approach to mobilities sheds light on extreme mobility dependency and the impact of mobility disruptions on the ground in Canadian communities.

Focusing on the entangled relationship between human mobility and the climate, Under the Weather examines how communities can transform their relationship with mobility to enable greater resilience.

Dr. Sodero recalls the book’s beginnings: "I started this book a long time ago when a record-breaking hurricane hit home. While writing was a long road, the book and its ideas are only increasing in relevance as communities near and far are confronted with climate impacts not just on their doorsteps – but inside their houses."

The book calls for a revolutionary approach to mobility and Dr. Sodero develops innovative recommendations such as prioritising medical movements, embracing ecological mobilities, and rebranding redundancy.

Dr Sodero's book is available from November 15 from outlets including Amazon and Blackwell's.

New book confronts the intersection between mobility and the climate crisis

Thu, 03 Nov 2022 11:39:02 +0000

A new book by Stephanie Sodero of the HCRI explores the intersection between fossil fuel-powered mobility and climate change and how communities and mobility need to be revolutionised in Sodero’s homeland of Canada and beyond in the context of climate change.

Under the Weather: Reimagining Mobility in the Climate Crisis by the Lecturer in Climate Change and Health is published by McGill-Queen’s University Press and comes out on 15 November 2022.

"My home was hit by Hurricane Fiona just a few weeks ago, causing much disruption and devastation,” said Sodero. “I hope the book will shape conversations about climate action and community resilience on the ground with policy makers, transport managers, climate advocates, and many more.

“While writing was a long road, the book and its ideas are only increasing in relevance as communities near and far are confronted with climate impacts on their doorsteps."

Multimorbidity research project secures funding

Tue, 01 Nov 2022 21:37:18 +0000

The Humanitarian and Conflict Response Institute at University of Manchester in collaboration with Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine (LSTM) and five partner organisations have secured funding from National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) to design and test a system that identifies patients suffering from multiple chronic diseases (multimorbidity) when they seek emergency care in sub-Saharan African hospitals.

The Multilink consortium, administered through LSTM, aims to research ways to identify multimorbidity (such as high blood pressure, diabetes and HIV) by improving diagnostic tests in emergency departments in hospitals in Malawi and Tanzania. The overall aim is to improve early disease treatment, ensure better follow up (prevent complications, disability and hospital readmission), thus improving health related quality of life and survival rates.

As part of this programme of work, the Multilink consortium have funded four multidisciplinary PhDs, who will lead the main research areas in the disciplines of clinical medicine; health economics; health systems; and social science. Multilink co-investigator Professor Paul Dark, from the University of Manchester through HCRI, is providing project expertise and PhD co-supervision in rapid diagnosis in emergency care and advising on evidence and policy for resilient health systems.

Through collaborative partnerships in Malawi and Tanzania, the team will define how multimorbidity differs from high-income countries so that the intervention is locally relevant, and then test it in a clinical trial across both countries. The leadership team includes Charity Salima, a community group leader in Malawi, ensuring that patients’ voices are driving the research agenda.

After mapping how the health system works, they will work with policymakers and patients to find the most efficient and preferred approach to testing and clinical management pathways.

Website
Twitter
Contact at multilinkNIHR@lstmed.ac.uk and paul.m.dark@manchester.ac.uk

This research was funded by the NIHR (project reference NIHR201708) using UK aid from the UK Government to support global health research. The views expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those of the NIHR or the UK government.

Elys Roberts Scholarship deadline extended to 31st August 2022

Mon, 22 Aug 2022 14:05:48 +0100

The Elys Roberts scholarship is available to support talented applicants from or working in low/middle-income countries and HCRI is looking for candidates who can demonstrate:

Professional experience related to Global Health
A clear idea of how the MSc in Global Health and studying at HCRI will benefit their career
A clear passion around the subject of global health
Conditions of the scholarship include the providing blog entries throughout their study and writing a testimonial at the end of their course.

Applicants may be of any nationality, and will need to complete their application by the closing date of Wednesday, 31 August 2022 11.59pm (BST):

Submit the University of Manchester postgraduate admissions form, providing all necessary supporting material (including transcript and two references); and
Submit a 500-word case for support of how you meet the bursary criteria by email to hcri@manchester.ac.uk. Please include your full name and application ID number.

Elys Roberts Scholarship deadline 29th July 2022

Mon, 18 Jul 2022 11:16:42 +0100

Applications are open for funding to study Global Health (MSc).

The Elys Roberts scholarship is available to support talented applicants from or working in low/middle-income countries and HCRI is looking for candidates who can demonstrate:

· Professional experience related to Global Health

· A clear idea of how the MSc in Global Health and studying at HCRI will benefit their career

· A clear passion around the subject of global health

· Conditions of the scholarship include the providing blog entries throughout their study and writing a testimonial at the end of their course.

Applicants may be of any nationality, and will need to complete their application by the closing date of Friday 29 July 2022 11.59pm (BST):

· Submit the University of Manchester postgraduate admissions form, providing all necessary supporting material (including transcript and two references); and

· Submit a 500-word case for support of how you meet the bursary criteria by email to hcri@manchester.ac.uk. Please include your full name and application ID number.

Winners of HCRI ‘Words For Your World’ school writing competition announced

Fri, 24 Jun 2022 15:55:14 +0100

The Humanitarian and Conflict Response Institute has announced the winners, runners up and commended entries of their ‘Words For Your World’ School Writing Competition, in partnership with UK-Med and Save the Children UK.

The competition asked secondary students from years 9-13 across the UK to write a letter or speech addressed to the UN, on the climate emergency.

HCRI received over 100 entries, judged by Gareth Owen OBE from Save the Children UK, HCRI’s own Lecturer in Responses to Climate Crises, Dr Stephanie Sodero and Sophie Grattidge from UK-Med.

School students were also offered the opportunity to be part of the competition’s creative writing workshops led by Chad Campbell who is the author of two collections of poetry, Laws & Locks (Signal, 2015) and Nectarine (Signal, 2021). He is one of the poetry editors at The Manchester Review and teaches creative writing at The University of Manchester's Centre for New Writing.

A prize giving event will be held on the 15 July for the winning entries and guests on the university campus, which will celebrate their hard work.

The winning entries will also be displayed at Bluedot Festival 2022 as part of the HCRI stall in partnership with UK-Med, alongside the graphic novella called ‘Sounding the Siren: Amrita’s Story’ about disasters both caused and made worse by the climate emergency.

You can view the winning entries here .

HCRI is a leading global centre for the study of humanitarianism and conflict response, global health, international disaster management and peacebuilding.

www.hcri.manchester.ac.uk

HCRI ‘Words For Your World’ National Writing School Competition Winners Announced

Thu, 23 Jun 2022 17:08:56 +0100

The competition asked secondary students from years 9-13 across the UK to write a letter or speech addressed to the UN, on the climate emergency. HCRI received over 100 entries, judged by Gareth Owen OBE from Save the Children UK, HCRI’s own Lecturer in Responses to Climate Crises, Dr Stephanie Sodero and Sophie Grattidge from UK-Med.

School students were also offered the opportunity to be part of the competition’s creative writing workshops led by Chad Campbell who is the author of two collections of poetry, Laws & Locks (Signal, 2015) and Nectarine (Signal, 2021). He is one of the poetry editors at The Manchester Review and teaches creative writing at the University of Manchester's Centre for New Writing.

A prize-giving event will be held on the 15 July for the winning entries and guests on the university campus, which will celebrate their hard work. The winning entries will also be displayed at Bluedot Festival 2022 as part of the HCRI stall in partnership with UK-Med, alongside the graphic novella called ‘Sounding the Siren: Amrita’s Story’ about disasters both caused and made worse by the climate emergency.

You can view the Words For Your World winning entries here.

HCRI is a leading global centre for the study of humanitarianism and conflict response, global health, international disaster management and peacebuilding.

Words For Your World: HCRI School Writing Competition Winners Announced Soon with Special July Event

Tue, 17 May 2022 10:48:00 +0100

The deadline to enter the Humanitarian and Conflict Response Institute’s “Words For Your World” school writing competition is now closed and winners will be notified by the 27^th May. The competition received over 100 entries, from across the country, and will culminate in an event on 15^th of July for the winners, runners up and commended entries.

The competition asked school students from years 9 to 13, to write a speech or letter addressed to the UN, about their hopes and fears about the climate emergency as well as specific policy recommendations. Launched to coincide with the closing of COP26, the United Nations Climate Change Conference, these are letters and speeches helping to identify what the youth today think are the most pressing aspects and of the climate emergency.

The judging panel includes Dr Stephanie Sodero (Lecturer in Responses to Climate Crises at the Humanitarian and Conflict Response Institute), Gareth Owen OBE (Humanitarian Director at Save the Children UK) and David Wightwick (CEO of UK-Med).

Find out more about the competition here.

University employee completes 1600km cycling challenge to raise money for Ukraine appeal

Fri, 13 May 2022 09:00:00 +0100

A member of staff from The University of Manchester has completed a marathon cycling challenge, raising over £3000 for UK-Med’s Ukraine Appeal in the process.

News and Media Relations Officer Joe Stafford completed the Ronde van Nederland route in 12 days, cycling a distance of 1600km - the equivalent of riding from London to the Ukrainian border. Along the way, he spoke to many people to raise the profile of the work UK-Med is doing, and posted about the journey on social media and his Cycle 4 Ukraine fundraising page.

He quickly found that despite its reputation as a flat country, cycling in the Netherlands is often far from an easy ride – the east can be just as hilly as England in places, and conditions in the rest of the country can be extremely windy.

Joe says: "The last two days were so difficult due to the wind that I could barely stay upright, or even breathe properly at times – it was really tough to complete! But I was so glad that I managed it – the knowledge that I was inspiring people to donate to such a good cause kept me going at the times when I felt like giving up."

He adds: "I met so many lovely people on my journey, and was amazed at how generous the Dutch were – the whole country seemed to be involved in the Ukrainian aid effort somehow, with even the smallest of villages hosting refugee families, fundraisers happening everywhere and Ukraine flags flying from houses and buildings in most places I cycled through.

Joe raised funds for UK-Med, a charity based at The University of Manchester which provides healthcare assistance during humanitarian crises around the world. A team of volunteer medics from the charity has set up clinics across Ukraine to provide care for the many people in need, and is also providing support and training for local healthcare staff who are having to respond to situations far beyond anything they’ve ever dealt with before.

“I want to congratulate Joe on his epic challenge to raise funds and awareness of our humanitarian work in Ukraine,” said Jackie Snell, UK-Med’s Interim Director of Fundraising. “Cycling 1600km is no easy feat, and we applaud Joe for his determination to take on this fundraiser!”

“With this donation we can get life-saving medical aid to where it's needed most, and support the rebuilding of a health system overwhelmed by war. We thank Joe and all of his supporters for their incredible generosity.”

For more information about the work UK-Med is doing in Ukraine, please visit their Facebook page.

HCRI to host annual Careers in Humanitarianism day for students and sixth-formers

Tue, 05 Apr 2022 16:42:34 +0100

The Humanitarian and Conflict Response Institute (HCRI) will host its annual Careers in Humanitarianism Day on 29 April 2022 in University Place.

It is set to be an exciting day, with a plethora of speakers from organisations such as Save the Children, UK-Med, Médecins Sans Frontières and many others.

The event is open to all University of Manchester students, with sessions dedicated to medical humanitarianism, child protection and a school session open to sixth form students.

Speaking in the first plenary is UK-Med CEO, David Wightwick. David joined UK-Med in January 2018 as the new Chief Executive of the organisation. He has a background as a Senior Adviser in emergency response with WHO, as Global Operations Director for Merlin, Health Director with GOAL, Director of Operations Management at Save the Children International and as a Country Director with IMC.

Other speakers include Yasser Kamaledin, who has been working with MSF since 2012, as their Humanitarian Aid Coordinator. Since the onset of the Syrian war, Yasser has worked with refugees from Syria in the MENA region and across the migration path in Italy and Agreed. As a humanitarian operations coordinator, he has developed and led the on-ground implementation of medical humanitarian programs in a variety of countries including Afghanistan, Iraq, Lebanon and Kenya. Prior to working with MSF, Yasser worked with UNHCRI in refugee protection, before that he was working in healthcare as pharmacist.

HCRI is also proud to have Gareth Owen who is the Humanitarian Director of Save the Children UK. Over the last two decades he has led responses to numerous emergencies all over the world including the Boxing Day Tsunami, Pakistan and Haiti earthquakes, Cyclone Nargis in Myanmar, East Africa and Niger food crises and the Somalia, Angola, Kosovo, Iraq, Afghanistan and Syria conflicts. Today, he leads a team of 190+ humanitarian professionals and in June 2013 he was awarded the OBE for ‘For services to Emergency Crisis Response Abroad’.

To secure your free place at this fantastic event, register now.

University staff member cycling 1400km to raise money for Ukraine war victims

Wed, 30 Mar 2022 09:00:00 +0100

A member of staff from The University of Manchester is set to cycle around the entire circumference of The Netherlands – 1400km in total – to raise funds for UK-Med’s Ukraine Appeal.

News and Media Relations Officer Joe Stafford was so moved by the images of refugees fleeing Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the harrowing stories told by people in the firing line, that he decided he had to help in some way.

UK-Med - a charity based at The University of Manchester - has provided humanitarian healthcare assistance during crises around the world, and is currently seeking to raise money to provide emergency medical aid for the millions of people displaced by the war.

Their expert medical team is currently based in Lviv, and is working tirelessly by visiting hospitals, health facilities, shelters and centres for internally displaced people to understand the critical health needs caused by the conflict. They are working closely with partners on the frontline to rapidly assess priority health needs, in order to enable them to provide support quickly to affected communities.

They hope to raise enough money to fund a range of health response options, potentially including a World Health Organisation approved facility to provide emergency care for injuries and other significant healthcare needs. The facility, which is the size of a football field, can provide triage, first aid and treatment for minor trauma to over 100 people a day.

Joe will be cycling the challenging Ronde van Nederland route, which broadly follows the coastlines and borders around the whole of The Netherlands. Along the way, he plans to speak to as many people as he can to raise the profile of the work UK-Med is doing, and he will be posting about the journey on social media.

“I have Ukrainian colleagues and acquaintances, and what they are going through right now is simply unimaginable – their friends and families are either trapped in basements sheltering from Russian missiles, or have fled the country leaving their whole lives behind. We in the UK have a responsibility to help however we can, whether that be offering shelter through the Homes for Ukraine scheme, raising funds or donating much-needed supplies.”

“This is a wonderful thing to do on behalf of UK-Med’s work in delivering essential emergency healthcare to Ukraine and its neighbouring countries,” said The University of Manchester’s Professor Tony Redmond, who founded UK-Med. “Thank you so much Joe - every penny you raise will go towards relieving the terrible suffering of the Ukrainian people.”

To donate to Joe’s fundraising appeal, please visit www.cycle4ukraine.com, where Joe will also be posting updates about his journey. For more information about the work UK-Med is doing in Ukraine and Poland, visit their Facebook page.