The CSIS Humanitarian Agenda is hosting the first annual Washington Humanitarian Forum on September 19th, 2019. This full-day conference will focus on humanitarian challenges that sit at the intersection of United States national security and foreign policy priorities. This year’s theme is Unlocking Humanitarian Access – Opportunities for U.S. Leadership.

The Washington Humanitarian Forum will include the launch of a report produced by the CSIS Task Force on Humanitarian Access. The Task Force, co-chaired by Senator Todd Young (R-IN) and Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ), looked at ways in which denial, delay, and diversion prevents humanitarian assistance from reaching the most vulnerable populations, and vice versa, in conflict-affected areas. The Task Force report analyzes challenges in priority countries for the United States and includes recommendations for how United States leadership can mitigate the most pressing access challenges.

• Video Address: Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ) and Senator Todd Young (R-IN)
• Introductions: J. Stephen Morrison, Senior Vice President and Director, Global Health Policy Center, CSIS
• Opening Keynote: Mark Lowcock, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs

• Moderator: Kimberly Flowers, Director, Humanitarian Agenda & Global Food Security Projects, CSIS

• Ambassador Ertharin Cousin, former Executive Director, UN World Food Programme

• Patricia McIlreavy, Vice President for Policy and Practice, InterAction
• Dr. Paul B. Spiegel, Director, Center for Humanitarian Health, Johns Hopkins University
• Anne Witkowsky, former Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Stability and Humanitarian Affairs, Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy, U.S. Department of Defense
• Moderator: Kimberly Flowers, Director, Humanitarian Agenda and Global Food Security Project, CSIS

The Humanitarian Implications of Cyber Conflict * Colonel Gary Corn, Director and Adjunct Professor, Washington College of Law, American University * Shanthi Kalathil, Senior Director, International Forum for Democratic Studies, National Endowment for Democracy * Moderator: James Andrew Lewis, Senior Vice President and Director, Technology Policy Program, CSIS

Yemen’s Crisis * Dr. Aisha Jumaan, Founder and President, Yemen Relief and Reconstruction Foundation * Peter Salisbury, Consulting Senior Analyst on Yemen, International Crisis Group * Sheba Crocker, Vice President for Humanitarian Policy and Practice, CARE * Moderator: Jon Alterman, Senior Vice President, Zbiegniew Brzezinski Chair in Global Security and Geostrategy, and Director, Middle East Program, CSIS

Access in the Hot Zone: Navigating the DRC Ebola Outbreak * Admiral Tim Ziemer, Senior Deputy Assistant Administrator, Bureau for Democracy Conflict, and Humanitarian Assistance, USAID * Ella Watson-Stryker, Humanitarian Representative, Médecins Sans Frontières * Jeremy Konyndyk, Senior Policy Fellow, Center for Global Development * Moderator: J. Stephen Morrison, Senior Vice President and Director, Global Health Policy Center, CSIS

The Growing...