On March 12th we were joined by Violette Khammad who is a Rotary Peace Scholar with the Balsillie School of International Affairs.
Violette was accompanied and introduced by Kelly Schultz, Senior Development Officer at Faculty of Arts, University of Waterloo.
Violette is pursuing a Master of Arts in Global Governance at the Balsillie school. She gave an impassioned presentation on her research and current day issues.
She did her undergraduate degree at Western University in Sociology and Political Science. Her undergraduate thesis focused on two international organizations - ICRC (Red Cross) and MSF (Medecins sans Frontieres-Doctors Without Borders). The research looked at these organizations in two cases - Syria and Eastern Ukraine.
She highlighted four current global debates and major issues
- Duplication of efforts
- Dunantist vs. Wilsonian organizations
- IHL (International Humanitarian Law) and the challenges of contemporary armed conflicts
- Militarization of aid
She also noted ICRC's commitment to Principles of Impartiality and Neutrality.
You can find out more about Violette's work and other amazing scholars and their pursuits at Violette Khammad or Balsillie School.
Notes by Duane Eby