“War Criminals I have known” – On making humanitarian action in today’s world multilateral, legitimate and safe

A Film Journey and Conversation with Experts hosted by Arezou Azad

Humanitarian action in today’s world has been marred bythreats to multilateralism, inclusivity, and most recently, the Covid-19 pandemic. How can we meet the major humanitarian challenges that people in conflict zones today face? Lessons need to be learned; new paths forged. In this Live YouTube event, Arezou Azad takes us on a journey to (re-)discover one man who manoevred competing interests in conflict zones in the interest of humanitarianism with a skill that has been unparalleled: Sergio Vieira de Mello, who paid the ultimate sacrifice when he and 21 humanitarian colleagues were killed in an al-Qa’ida attack on a UN building in Iraq 17 years ago. Dr Azad will be joined by four expert guests, who have drawn inspiration from the film “En Route to Baghdad” (2005). They will show, and comment on, snippets of the film that can help us navigate these uncertain times.

Topics addressed by individual experts in the Live event include:

• Dealing with non-state actors during jihad (Dr Elisabeth Kendall)
• Attacks on humanitarian actors  - Trends, what the law says, and what else is required (Abby Stoddard and Emanuela-Chiara Gillard)
• Behind the scenes: The making of “En Route to Baghdad” (Simone Duarte)

More details about the event are on the Torch website.