Global Humanitarian Aid and the Coronavirus Pandemic

This event was hosted by the Baker Institute Center for the Middle East on May 19, 2020.

With the added threat of the coronavirus pandemic, ongoing global humanitarian situations are becoming increasingly unstable, and aid organizations are having to adapt. At this webinar, experts shared their insights about crises in countries such as Venezuela and Greece as well as food security issues around the world. Marcia Biggs, a special correspondent for PBS NewsHour, shared her reporting on Venezuela’s crumbling medical sector and the extra strain it faces as a result of the virus. Devon Cone, senior advocate for women and girls at Refugees International, discussed findings from her recent trip to refugee camps in Greece, which are bracing for an outbreak. Lastly, Chase Sova, senior director of Public Policy and Research at World Food Program USA (WFP), explained global food security impacts from the pandemic and how WFP is managing, scaling, and adapting its operations in the face of this new threat. A Q&A moderated by Kelsey Norman, the director of the Women’s Rights, Human Rights and Refugees Program at the Baker Institute, followed the presentations.