Humanitarian emergencies, protection, and displacement projects

(15 April 2025) Connecting grass roots understanding with positions of power can help make for better policy response – connecting community-based research findings across various scales.

Dr Zoe Bell (ANU/CEVAW) presented evaluation findings and discussed how best to tackle violence against women and the value of community-based research as part of a roundtable with the Hon. Jodie Minister Harrison: Minister for Women, Minister for Seniors, and Minister for the Prevention of Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault. 

Minister Harrison was briefed on the evaluation of the 'Me, Myself and I' program — a CALD domestic and family violence community awareness initiative. Around the table in Lakemba, NSW were community members and leaders from the Urdu speaking and Rohingya community including from ARWDO, Jannawi Family Centre, and Canterbury City Community Centre 

(March 2025) Bina D'Costa  and Michelle Godwin convened a series of multi-disciplinary activities at ANU about extreme vulnerability in situations of forced migration and humanitarian response. 

A key workshop uniquely brought together 30+ scholars and leading crisis response practitioners working in humanitarian protection, women’s and children’s rights from all over the world on Ngunnawal and Namburi country. The group used a deliberately inclusive method to facilitate remarkable discussions across methodologies and contributions to important conversations on difficult issues including violence, the aid changing landscapes, displacement, genocide, war, indigeneity, resistance, vulnerabilities, solidarity and protection for all, including children. 

Ngambri-Ngunnawal custodian Paul Girrawah House welcomed everyone followed by a panel discussion on “moving beyond acknowledgement” with First Nations participants in dialogue.The workshop sat at the intersection of several research projects supported by the ARC and led by Bina D’Costa, including CEVAW (Migration & Trafficking). The workshop was also supported by the Myanmar Research Centre and Girls Run the World, among others.

Photos: Welcome to Country, Paul Girrawah House in a moving ceremony that honoured women's leadership and his mum - Gambri-Kamberri Walgalu, Wallabalooa (Ngunnawal) and Wiradyuri Elder, Dr Matilda House. 
A panel with Bina D’Costa visiting and local First Nations and other scholars followed on taking up the call to “move beyond acknowledgement” 

(March 2025) Together with University of Queensland and ICRC, ANU held a photographic exhibition Towards Alternative Humanitarian Visuals? The exhibition curated photographic works from three previous ICRC exhibitions that share stories of resilience amid warfare in the highlands of PNG, display portraits from landmine affected countries, and visualise the impact of armed violence in Afghanistan, Colombia, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Georgia, Haiti, Lebanon, Liberia and the Philippines.

The collection asks us to consider what balance is required between showing devastating truths, beauty, individual dignity, identity, consent, and humanitarian response activities. When eliciting human connection for action, we are invited to pay attention to our own emotions and related responses, such as shock, solidarity, indifference, responsibility, and care. We know that humanitarian images have often foregrounded suffering. How can we provide more complex visualisations that also show complexity and ensure collaboration, and protection?

Celebrating the life of Associate Professor Emma Hutchison – whose pathbreaking work was critical to the Visualising Humanitarian Crises project, a reception was held to open the exhibition. Contributions were given from Samuel Barasi (ICRC) Roland Bleiker (UQ), Bina D’Costa, (ANU), Amporn Marddent (Thammasat University), Gabriella Sanchez (Georgetown University), Michelle Heiglin (ActionAid), Jeremy Shusterman (UNICEF), as well as  Myanmar Research Centre, Girls Run the World, CEVAW, and the Coral Bell School of Asia Pacific Affairs, among others.

(March 2025) ANU node is thrilled to partner with ActionAid Australia to join hands in research-led advocacy work on violence against women in the Pacific as part of  CEVAW. The research/practice team canvased how to embed programming and practice considerations research workplan so that efforts are grounded in real practice from the outset. The group hopes to collaborate with the Pacific and Women’s Rights Climate Change Network. Carol Angir -  Humanitarian Lead, and  Michelle Higelin – Executive Director, shared their insights with students, leading displacement and protection scholars in a week of research engagement, planning, and teaching activities in Canberra.