The speaker will present the major lessons learned from recent large-scale humanitarian response efforts, especially in the rebuilding of war-torn
societies after many years of conflict. Drawing on personal experience in
a number of war-torn countries, notably Cambodia, he will discuss these lessons and apply them to the current situation in Afghanistan, where the Afghan people, the new Afghan government, and the international community face tremendous challenges.

About the speaker:

Joel R. Charny is Vice President for Policy of Refugees International. He is responsible for overseeing the policy and advocacy program of the organization.

Mr. Charny assumed this position in July 2000 after working for four years in Cambodia as Deputy Program Manager with the CARERE project of the United Nations Development Program. Prior to working for the UNDP in Cambodia, Mr. Charny spent sixteen years with Oxfam America, a relief and development organization based in Boston. He first worked inside Cambodia during the famine emergency there in 1980 and went on to manage the agency’s work in Southeast Asia and the wider Asia region. In 1989 he became Overseas Director and in 1994 Policy Director.

 Mr. Charny is the author of Obstacles to Recovery in Vietnam and Kampuchea: U.S Embargo of Humanitarian Aid, published by Oxfam America in 1984. He is also the author of articles on humanitarian issues in volumes published by Kumerian Press and the Brookings Institution, as well as articles for The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, Asiaweek, The Asian Wall Street Journal, and The Christian Science Monitor. He has a Masters degree in international education from the Harvard Graduate School of Education.