Protecting humanitarian workers: a ULiège-Protect Humanitarians partnership and a committed conference

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Dear colleagues,

It is with great pride that I take the floor this evening, as this meeting with international players in the humanitarian sector gives me the opportunity to announce a partnership that is dear to us, between the University of Liège and the NGO Protect Humanitarians, founded and directed by Olivier Vandecasteele.

I was introduced to this partnership more or less a year ago. Frédéric Bouhon, our professor at the University, and Olivier met me. I was immediately moved, of course, because it was really a meeting of two people. A trust that was built up between these two people and a university, and, as time went by, the meeting of other people at this university.

We could see just how difficult it was for Olivier Vandecasteele to set up this project. For us, it was perhaps simpler, as a university. I'd really like to thank you for the trust you placed in me and for the project that is now taking shape.

As you know, the year 2024 - and you may have the opportunity to discuss it this evening - is, according to the United Nations, once again the deadliest year for humanitarian workers. More than 700 of them were killed, injured, abducted or arbitrarily detained. These are obviously chilling figures, because behind them lie lives and commitments. There is also an immense need for justice, for a listening ear, when these humanitarian workers who put their lives at the service of the community are detained.

At a time when - as I said earlier - the richest man in the world is cutting off humanitarian aid to the world's poorest countries, it obviously seems to me that the urgency is vital for this kind of project and program, and that the university's social responsibility is critical. We look at these social issues. We don't look away. We look at them, we commit ourselves as a university to these three missions: the mission of research, the mission of teaching and the mission of service to the community, in line with societal issues and the democratic values that we all defend.

It is in this spirit that this project was built. There are two objectives: a research objective, to analyze the mechanisms of violence and impunity to which humanitarian workers are subjected; but there is also a component of reflection on the supports that we can bring. This will obviously be primarily legal and psychological, but the call is open to all. It's multidisciplinary, so we can better train, support and raise awareness of this work, this profession that takes a lifetime and is the fruit of a passion.

So it's a big and complex challenge. We have a little experience dating back a few years through the Mukwege Chair, which deals with violence against women and young children in conflict zones. I see here Christophe Deprez, Adélaïde Blavier, Frédéric Bouhon and many other professors who are involved in this international multidisciplinary chair. The ultimate aim of the partnership we are inaugurating today is to create a multi-disciplinary international chair that listens to the needs of humanitarian workers.

It also means giving them a voice, so that we can listen to them and better identify how to sensitize, train and inform the community to their needs.

I'd particularly like to thank Frédéric and Olivier for their support and their project, which has led to this partnership. And I'd also like to remind you that this partnership, this evening, is the beginning of a call to all those who wish to get involved, through this NGO Protect Humanitarians and our partnership.

Thank you, and good evening.

I'll now give the floor to the actors and professionals, starting with Frédéric Bouhon.

Madam Rector,

dear colleagues,

dear Olivier and dear humanitarian workers,

dear students,

dear audience,

As a university professor, it's not unusual for me to speak in public. However, it is with a special emotion that I have the honour to talk this evening.

The University is first and foremost, and must remain, a place for ideas, intellectual discussion, rigorous teaching and research.

The fact that university is a place of science and rationality does not mean that there is no room for passion and emotion. As researchers, we cannot let our feelings guide our research. But we can let them inspire us. We can decide to allocate part of our time and resources to questions that move us. We can hope that, driven by the energy of our emotions, our scientific ability will be able to make a difference.

What I'm talking about certainly applies to the topic of this academic evening.

Most of us are deeply affected by the humanitarian tragedies currently occurring in the four corners of the world. This evening will increase our awareness of the huge risks run by the ones who try to help in these situations, the humanitarian workers.

What they face – Olivier Vandecasteele will soon tell you more – arouses strong emotions. We can build on these emotions and decide to start research that could provide useful answers and resources for dealing with these challenges.

We are convinced that the University of Liège – ideally in collaboration with other universities – will be able to develop relevant research in several disciplines that we master and that are relevant to support to protect humanitarian workers. International law and psychology are so far the focus, but other disciplines could also be involved.

With the support of the Rector, the Board of this University decided that this made sense, and that is what we are celebrating this evening.

Before giving the floor to Olivier Vandecasteele, followed by two panels made up of humanitarian workers, I would like to take two minutes to look back at the history of this collaboration.

While Olivier Vandecasteele was being arbitrarily detained in Iran, several members of the University of Liège contributed to demonstrations and other initiatives aimed at obtaining his release, which finally – happily – took place in May 2023.

Last year in April, Olivier gave a lecture at my invitation as part of the Human Rights course I teach to the students of my Faculty. His talk was on ‘Law and humanitarian action’. He also explained to the students the goals of his non-profit organisation, the first stones of which had just been laid with the support of King Baudouin Foundation.

It gave me the opportunity to get to know a wonderful personality. I have no doubt that you all feel sympathy for Mr Vandecasteele. Getting to know him a little allows you to discover his discreet commitment to others, his quiet strength, his gentleness and his modesty.

Olivier has chosen to put aside what happened to him in Iran, which he does not wish to talk about, and which is not in itself the topic of this evening. Because Olivier is much more than a victim, he has decided to focus on the future, on helping others who experience similar incidents.

His enthusiastic nature was contagious and pushed me to contact other colleagues who could provide support. In addition to the attention of the Rector, whom I have already mentioned, Professors Christophe Deprez, who teaches public international law, and Adélaïde Blavier, a psychologist specialized in trauma, quickly embarked on the adventure to bring their respective abilities. It is these colleagues who will deliver the conclusions at the end of this evening.

Meanwhile, we will listen to Olivier Vandecasteele who will explain to you better than me why we are here tonight and how serious the situation is for humanitarian workers.

His speech will be followed by discussions organised in the form of two panels. The first will give you the opportunity to hear testimonies from several fields: Palestine, Ukraine and Sudan. The second will focus on the protection and support that can be provided as a solution.

I would like to thank the many people who helped prepare this evening: Didier Moreau, Estelle Portasseau, Marie Liégeois, Marie-Noëlle Chevalier from the University of Liège; Eglantine Deluz and Sarah De Grandis from Protect Humanitarians.

And thank you, members of the audience, for coming in such large numbers this evening. I hope that it will enable you to share both the emotions aroused by the questions we are dealing with, and the scientific rationality of the answers that can be given to them.

I now hand over to Mr Olivier Vandecasteele, founder of Protect Humanitarians.

Madam Rector,

Dear members of the academic community,

Dear Adélaïde, Frédéric, Christophe, Dear humanitarian colleagues,

Dear family, friends and supporters,

First of all, thank you. Thank you for being here in such large numbers, in empathy with the humanitarian actors, in solidarity and attentive to their needs.

Liège is said to be friendly and lively - you've lived up to your reputation.

Thank you in particular to the University, its Rector Mme Nyssen and her formidable team, for providing such a beautiful backdrop for humanitarian aid workers in the field.

I would like to introduce this evening of mobilization in three stages:

First, I'd like to describe theemergency that brings us together, a necessity, and finally the solutions we're putting forward - and for which we need YOU ALL.

But before that, a few more personal words:

Life is a daily miracle. But sometimes it requires us to face up to injustice. And it was literally in my cellar that this initiative, Protect Humanitarians , was born.

During my 456 days in captivity, I mobilized my brain to build this project - like clinging to a buoy in the middle of a storm.

Protect Humanitarians was born out of despair, but above all out of an urge to live. It was my hope that my life wouldn't end there, and that I'd regain my freedom and humanity.

Finally, it was a way of transcending the psychological torture that was my isolation into a collective action that mobilized me for an essential mission: that of reinforcing protection, psychological support and legalaid for national humanitarians who face violence every day - for the sole reason that they help their fellow man.

Because when you've got nothing left, when they've literally "taken everything away from you", you've still got your mind, "the last of human freedoms " as Viktor Frankl wrote: the freedom to choose your attitude in the face of hardship.

My torturers wanted to break me, and hoped that the impact of my detention would silence me. I choose to be here before you. To be resolutely an entrepreneur of solutions, as I have always been, faithful to my commitments - and more determined than ever.

So what's the urgency?

Due to a lack of diplomatic solutions to conflicts, and in the face of increasing climatic catastrophes, the UN estimates that over 300 million people worldwide are in urgent need of humanitarian aid this year.

In these contexts, humanitarians continue to commit themselvescourageously to providing aid, often vital in times of crisis. However, while the need to help is universal, we are increasingly becoming victims ourselves.

 

 

As you can see from this slide, over the last 25 years the number of colleagues killed, injured and detained has risen alarmingly.

In 2024, at least 771 colleagues have been killed, injured or are in captivity.

These are not just numbers. They are colleagues, relatives. I'd like to mention some of those we help through our NGO Protect Humanitarians.

• Mykola, a Ukrainian volunteer with the NGO Prolyska, a member of the Alliance that Mila represents here this evening, who was targeted by a Russian drone attack in Ukraine on March 7.

Russia has perfected this technique, known as "double tap", which aims to target civilian infrastructures once, and then wait for rescue workers and humanitarian aid workers to arrive before striking again - in order to break the chains of solidarity. He had a near-death experience, we support his revalidation.

• This is Ola, Sudanese and colleague of Mukhtar here. She was the victim of an incident on her way to the refugee camps. We supported her medically in her last days, but she didn't survive and left us 3 days ago. We thank her for her service.
• This is Alberto, who is still being arbitrarily detained in Venezuela and has been for over 5 months without contact with his family. We support his friends and his lawyer as they fight for his freedom. I invite you to sign his petition on our social networks.

 

This is the urgency. Over 700 humanitarians in one year, an increase of more than 126% in 10 years. Each of these lives is important. Each humanitarian killed, in captivity, is one less solidarity for populations in need.

So what's the point?

It's important to deconstruct the preconceived idea that humanitarians are expatriates. Nothing could be further from the truth. Most humanitarian aid workers are local and national. International support only partially reinforces local solidarity.

Take, for example, the dramatic floods in Liège, where it was local actors who were on the front line, responding to needs. The situation is identical in the crises in Sudan, Ukraine and Palestine.

 

Violence therefore disproportionately affects LOCAL humanitarians, but this statistic has only grown stronger: in 2024, over 97% of incidents affected local staff of international organizations or officials of national humanitarian organizations.

Paradoxically, front-line players (local and national NGOs) are the most exposed, but also the least protected, and the least equipped to deal with incidents.

On the one hand, the international system (NGOs and the United Nations) has developed and standardized forms of support for their staff, both in terms of prevention and post-incident response.

On the other hand, local players, who are more exposed, do not have sufficient access to this knowledge, these best practices and these tools.

And this is at the heart of our mandate and the solutions we propose

 

Protect Humanitarians is an independent NGO working to protect all humanitarian workers, regardless of nationality.

Inspired by other initiatives to protect professions at risk, such as Reporters Without Borders for journalists or Amnesty International for human rights defenders, we mobilize resources to improve support for humanitarians, particularly in terms of mental health and legal support.

Thanks to initial support from the King Baudouin Foundation, we have been able to open an emergency fund to help victims and organize 2 workshops for humanitarian actors on mental health issues and access to justice for victims and survivors - workshops to which the University of Liège contributed.

The partnership signed today with the University will enable us to examine in greater depth the needs of local players, as well as documenting best practices in terms of psychological support and legal aid for humanitarian victims.

All these productions will be shared free of charge with the local NGOs in our network.

Ladies and Gentlemen, this evening you will hear testimonies from Palestine, Sudan and Ukraine, some of the most violent contexts for humanitarian action.

We are deliberately giving a central place to front-line actors, not to talk about the populations they are assisting, but to share their experiences, their emotions and their needs.

It should be noted that this is a rare and sometimes difficult exercise for people who tend to keep their own needs to themselves, in order to shed light on those of the populations they serve.

We will then discuss how to strengthen the protection and support of our national colleagues. My heartfelt thanks to all the panelists for coming to Liège this evening.

I'll conclude by reiterating the urgent need to better protect those who protect our solidarity and humanity in crises and conflicts.

The need to strengthen local and national solidarity actors to improve the equity, justice and sustainability of humanitarian action.

And that solutions do exist. But we need to redouble our efforts to make them more inclusive, adapted and accessible.

Our collective is a force, a space for sharing, a tool for action.

I would like to thank the University for starting out on this journey with us, and invite you - all of you - to support our movement.

Thank you