Bracing for Europe's Humanitarian Crisis

PAST EVENT VIDEO

Panel

Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein, Ertharin Cousin, and David Miliband join Ivo Daalder to discuss the human rights threatened by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the scope of the looming humanitarian crisis.

Reuters

Speakers

Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein
Ertharin Cousin
David Miliband
Ivo H. Daalder

Event Date

March 3, 2022

About This Event

The Russian invasion of Ukraine has displaced more than 660,000 people in just a few days, with UN estimates projecting as many as four million refugees. This marks the largest flood since nearly a million Syrian refugees arrived in Europe in 2015. While neighboring countries have committed support, not all refugees are being treated equally. As the conflict intensifies and war crimes are alleged, International Peace Institute President and CEO Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein, International Rescue Committee President and CEO David Miliband, Distinguished Fellow Ertharin Cousin, and Council President Ivo Daalder discuss what can be done to safeguard lives, uphold international rule of law, and protect human rights while mobilizing humanitarian support.

About the Speakers

Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein

President and CEO, International Peace Institute

Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein is currently President and CEO of the International Peace Institute and Perry World House Professor of the Practice of Law and Human Rights at the University of Pennsylvania. Previously, he was the UN human rights chief from 2014 to 2018 and served twice as Jordan’s ambassador to the United Nations and once as Jordan’s ambassador to the United States. He was awarded the Stockholm prize for human rights in 2015 and the Tulip prize in 2018.

Ertharin Cousin

Distinguished Fellow, Global Food and Agriculture

Prior to joining the Council, Ertharin Cousin served as executive director of the UN World Food Programme where she led the world’s largest humanitarian organization from 2012 to 2017. She also previously served as US ambassador to the UN Agencies for Food and Agriculture in Rome. Cousin is founder and CEO of Food Systems for the Future.

David Miliband

President and CEO, International Rescue Committee

David Miliband is the President and CEO of the International Rescue Committee. He oversees the agency’s operations in 40 crisis-affected countries and its refugee resettlement and assistance programs throughout Europe and the Americas. He previously served as Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs for the United Kingdom.

Ivo H. Daalder

CEO, Chicago Council on Global Affairs

Ivo H. Daalder served as the US ambassador to NATO from 2009 to 2013. He joined the Council as president in 2013 and took on the new role of CEO in 2023. Previously, he was a senior fellow in foreign policy studies at the Brookings Institution and served as director for European affairs on President Bill Clinton’s National Security Council. He is the author or editor of 10 books.