Joanne Smyth
Deputy Director
Biography
Joanne Smyth is the Sanctions Co-ordinator for the Department of Foreign Affairs in Ireland, responsible for monitoring and contributing to Ireland’s policy on EU and UN Sanctions. She served on the Department’s UN Task Team during Ireland’s term on the UN Security Council from 2021 to 2022. Previously she was based in Ethiopia as Ireland’s Deputy Permanent Representative to the African Union. Joanne also has extensive humanitarian experience having worked for a number of years in the Great Lakes Region and as a protection advisor to humanitarian programmes in South Sudan, the Central African Republic and Lebanon among others.
Organisation
Department of Foreign Affairs
Member State authority
Speaker session
The opening ceremony of the European Humanitarian Forum aims to shed a light on the leadership and the contribution of the EU and its member states to humanitarian action. Keynote remarks will be delivered by Mr. Tomas Tobé (EU), Mr. Pekka Haavisto, Mr. Ikenna Azuike and Ms. Mirjana Spoljaric Egger (ICRC). HR/VP Mr. Josep Borrell will moderate the pledging session and invite all present EU Foreign Ministers to the stage to announce humanitarian funding pledges and priorities.
14 Foreign Ministers confirmed: Austria, Belgium, Croatia, Czech Republic, Estonia, Finland, France, Greece, Hungary, Latvia, Malta, Spain, Slovenia and Sweden; 6 Deputy Foreign Ministers confirmed: Bulgaria, Germany, Lithuania, Portugal and Romania
Russia’s war in Ukraine: protracted crisis and challenges of principled humanitarian action
Auditorium
This session will focus on reaching a common understanding and sharing best solutions on how to ensure effective and principled humanitarian action in Ukraine.
The session will discuss how donors can maintain a principled humanitarian approach, while being politically not neutral, and how we can ensure funding for Ukraine in the medium and long term. It will evaluate the opportunities and challenges for Nexus in Ukraine and debate how we can make sure that the humanitarian response can pave the way to the next steps, i.e. early recovery, social safety nets, and reconstruction.
Overall, the session will draw and evaluate lessons learnt in Ukraine and provide recommendations for future principled and sustainable humanitarian actions.
Johan Forssell
Minister for International Development Cooperation and Foreign Trade
Biography
2022- Minister for International Development Cooperation and Foreign Trade
2010-2022 Member of the Riksdag
2007-2010 Director of Planning, Moderate Party
2006-2007 Chief of Staff, Prime Minister's Office
Organisation
Swedish Ministry for Foreign Affairs, Government Offices of Sweden
Member State authority
Speaker session
The opening ceremony of the European Humanitarian Forum aims to shed a light on the leadership and the contribution of the EU and its member states to humanitarian action. Keynote remarks will be delivered by Mr. Tomas Tobé (EU), Mr. Pekka Haavisto, Mr. Ikenna Azuike and Ms. Mirjana Spoljaric Egger (ICRC). HR/VP Mr. Josep Borrell will moderate the pledging session and invite all present EU Foreign Ministers to the stage to announce humanitarian funding pledges and priorities.
14 Foreign Ministers confirmed: Austria, Belgium, Croatia, Czech Republic, Estonia, Finland, France, Greece, Hungary, Latvia, Malta, Spain, Slovenia and Sweden; 6 Deputy Foreign Ministers confirmed: Bulgaria, Germany, Lithuania, Portugal and Romania
Russia’s war in Ukraine: protracted crisis and challenges of principled humanitarian action
Auditorium
This session will focus on reaching a common understanding and sharing best solutions on how to ensure effective and principled humanitarian action in Ukraine.
The session will discuss how donors can maintain a principled humanitarian approach, while being politically not neutral, and how we can ensure funding for Ukraine in the medium and long term. It will evaluate the opportunities and challenges for Nexus in Ukraine and debate how we can make sure that the humanitarian response can pave the way to the next steps, i.e. early recovery, social safety nets, and reconstruction.
Overall, the session will draw and evaluate lessons learnt in Ukraine and provide recommendations for future principled and sustainable humanitarian actions.
Joseph Kamara
Regional Humanitarian &Emergency Affairs Director
Organisation
World Vision, East Africa region
NGO
Speaker session
The opening ceremony of the European Humanitarian Forum aims to shed a light on the leadership and the contribution of the EU and its member states to humanitarian action. Keynote remarks will be delivered by Mr. Tomas Tobé (EU), Mr. Pekka Haavisto, Mr. Ikenna Azuike and Ms. Mirjana Spoljaric Egger (ICRC). HR/VP Mr. Josep Borrell will moderate the pledging session and invite all present EU Foreign Ministers to the stage to announce humanitarian funding pledges and priorities.
14 Foreign Ministers confirmed: Austria, Belgium, Croatia, Czech Republic, Estonia, Finland, France, Greece, Hungary, Latvia, Malta, Spain, Slovenia and Sweden; 6 Deputy Foreign Ministers confirmed: Bulgaria, Germany, Lithuania, Portugal and Romania
Russia’s war in Ukraine: protracted crisis and challenges of principled humanitarian action
Auditorium
This session will focus on reaching a common understanding and sharing best solutions on how to ensure effective and principled humanitarian action in Ukraine.
The session will discuss how donors can maintain a principled humanitarian approach, while being politically not neutral, and how we can ensure funding for Ukraine in the medium and long term. It will evaluate the opportunities and challenges for Nexus in Ukraine and debate how we can make sure that the humanitarian response can pave the way to the next steps, i.e. early recovery, social safety nets, and reconstruction.
Overall, the session will draw and evaluate lessons learnt in Ukraine and provide recommendations for future principled and sustainable humanitarian actions.