Humanitarian Crises...Preventive Measures Through Human Rights

September 28, 1999 – New York City

Mark Malloch Brown speaking at the 1999 Humanitarian Symposium

Mark Malloch Brown was a conference speaker at our 1999 conference.

This international conference was hosted by the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation in conjunction with the announcement of its fourth annual Conrad N. Hilton Humanitarian Prize. The 1999 Hilton Humanitarian Prize was presented to the African Medical and Research Foundation (AMREF) by Barron Hilton, chairman of Hilton Hotels Corporation, and The Honorable Mary Robinson, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights.

The Symposium brought together participants from around the world—opinion leaders, policymakers, and active participants in the fields of humanitarian issues and human rights. Participants represented governments, multinational institutions, businesses, foundations, the military, the media, and non-governmental organizations.

The one-day conference was designed to discuss the links between human rights issues and humanitarian responses. It provided a forum where participants could examine and challenge the traditional tendency to view human rights and humanitarianism separately—a separation than tends to define human rights in conceptual, abstract, and legalistic terms and humanitarian aid as a more direct, charitable response.

Speakers and presentations

Abdullahi Ahmed An-Na'im, Ph.D., LL.B.

Professor of Law and Fellow of the Law and Religion Program, Emory University

Human Rights Between International Law and International Relations (pdf)

Charlotte Bunch

Founder and Executive Director, Center for Women's Global Leadership, Rutgers University

Women's Human Rights: A Key Component to Building a Culture of Peace (pdf)

Kevin Cahill, M.D.

President, Center for International Health and Cooperation

Training a New Generation for Humanitarian Crises (pdf)

Francis M. Deng, LL.B., LL.M., J.S.D.

Former Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary-General on Internally Displaced Persons; Brookings-Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies Project on Internal Displacement

Creating Opportunities in Crisis (pdf)