The International Organization for Migration (IOM) Mission in the Republic of Korea (ROK), together with Concern Worldwide Korea and Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) Korea, hosted a 3-day webinar series from 16 to 18 August 2023 in commemoration of the World Humanitarian Day.  

Supported by the Bureau of Humanitarian Assistance (BHA) of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the webinar was attended by approximately 120 participants, including relevant professionals from NGOs, academia and government, as well as interested general public.  

WHD debuted 20 years ago following the bombing aimed at the United Nations headquarters in Iraq. It commemorates the tragic incident and brings public attention to honouring humanitarian workers and their tireless effort to deliver life-saving assistance to crisis-affected populations all over the world. Enshrining WHD's spirits, the webinar series also intended to raise awareness of humanitarian assistance among the ROK public and tighten stakeholders’ engagement. The event particularly addressed the topic of resilience-building in the framework of Humanitarian-Development-Peace Nexus (HDPN).  

Each of the host organizations delivered a live webinar session and presented respectively flagship interventions in various pertinent topics in the humanitarian work of our times, including community stabilization, social cohesion and peace-building programming in conflict fragile contexts (IOM), climate resilience in the fragile Horn of Africa region (Concern Worldwide) and mental health and psychosocial support in areas of armed conflict (MSF).  

The event kicked off with IOM’s session led by Jason Aplon, Peacebuilding and Post-Conflict Advisor at IOM Headquarters who presented IOM's comprehensive prevention and solutions programming, in connection to the HDPN approach. The presentation, in particular, brought the audience’s attention to the community stabilization, peacebuilding and social cohesion programmes, the unique capacity of IOM which complements its robust humanitarian response in various fragile contexts across the globe.  

Attendees were also able to gain insights into methodologies for stabilization programming through case studies from conflict contexts such as those of Somalia, South Sudan and Chad, with a specific emphasis on community engagement. A subsequent Q&A session with the audience delved into key issues of sustainability of the stabilization intervention, community and government engagement in conflict-prone or crisis situations and the use of data for preparedness and predictability.  

Since 2014, IOM ROK, with support from USAID, has been supporting ROK humanitarian actors with capacity enhancement, including awareness-raising and advocacy activities, targeting both the general public and humanitarian professionals.  

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For more information, please contact Eunice Jieun KIM, IOM Republic of Korea Mission, Tel.: +82 70 4820 0291, Email: jikim@iom.int.