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To give you an insight into some of the things we cover on our programme, we're running a series of free online events exclusively for applicants.
Our free online events will run throughout the spring and summer. Informal and interactive, these sessions are run by lecturers on the programme and you’ll have the chance to ask questions.
By joining the events, you'll get:
- insight into the subject;
- a chance to meet the teaching staff and other offer holders; and
- a taste of life as a student in the department.
You must register for these events via Zoom. Registration links will be emailed to applicants, but please email irdr-comms@ucl.ac.uk if you haven't received an invitation.
Please note, we will record the presentations at each event, but not the Q&A section, so that they are available to view afterwards.
How can you evaluate the impact of interventions in humanitarian contexts?
Dr Rozana Himaz
Monday 7 February, 5–6pm GMT
Global spending on humanitarian assistance is very large at around US$30 billion a year from 2015-2020 and the demand for aid very often exceeds supply. Assistance targeted at individuals or households include cash transfers, support in kind in terms of food, equipment, or training programs to assist livelihood development. How can we rigorously evaluate if such interventions have been 'effective'? What are the specific challenges of evaluating a programme's impact in a crisis situation? This lecture looks at how impact can be evaluated using quantitative methods, from an economics perspective.
Additional resources:
- Aurino, E., Brück,T., Daidone, S., Natali, L., & Schwab, B. (2018, June 21). Administrative data: Missed opportunity for learning and research in humanitarian emergencies? (Evidence for Action blog). United Nations Children’s Fund. https://blogs.unicef.org/evidence-for-action/administrative-data-missed-opportunity-for-learning-and-research-in-humanitarian-emergencies/
- Bakrania, S., Balvin, N., Daidone, S. and De Hoop, J., 2021. Impact Evaluation in Settings of Fragility and Humanitarian Emergency. https://www.unicef-irc.org/publications/pdf/Impact-Evaluation-in-Settings-of-Fragility-and-Humanitarian-Emergency.pdf
Refugee Children: Aging Faster?
Dr Yulia Ioffe
Monday 21 March, 5–6pm GMT
About half of the world’s refugee population today are children, although children account for less than a third of the global population. In the last three decades, children have increasingly fled human rights violations and travelled alone. Most refugee children do not have documents confirming their age. Many countries provide refugee children with more protections (as compared to adult refugees), which include fuller access to welfare benefits, health care, and educational opportunities, as well as freedom from immigration detention (practice of imprisoning people for migration-related reasons). To determine whether to provide these protections, numerous countries have established procedures to determine whether a person claiming to be a refugee child is indeed a child. Such procedures vary from dental age assessment (looking at a person’s teeth to determine age) to psychological age assessment (interviewing a person to establish their psychological maturity). Using the age assessment procedures in the UK as an example, we will try to understand: Is age assessment necessary? Are children fundamentally different from adults? Do children need special protection, different from adults?
Additional resources:
- Mary Anne Kenny & Maryanne Loughry, ‘Addressing the Limitations of Age Determination for Unaccompanied Minors: A Way Forward’ (2018)
- Ruth Brittle, ‘Age Assessment in the New Plan: Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed… Something Blue?’ Refugee Law Initiative (2021) (blog)
- Asylum seekers: 'They didn't believe I was a child' - BBC Newsnight video
Who needs humanitarians, anyway?
Dr Lisa Guppy
Wednesday 11 May, 5–6pm BST
We see disasters and conflict on the news every day. From drought to Covid-19 to war, in towns we know well or countries we have never heard of, events happen that impact thousands, or even millions, of people. It can feel like there is nothing we can do to help.
That's where humanitarians come in.
Alongside other people – firefighters, paramedics, United Nations Peacekeepers, government experts, and more – humanitarians respond to save lived and alleviate suffering with dignity in all kinds of ways. They deliver food, manage disaster information, provide safe spaces for children who are lost in the chaos, provide emergency medical attention, and fulfil almost any roles you can think of that is needed after a crisis hits.
They fill a gap when the government is overwhelmed and emergency responders in a country cannot cope.
With climate change impacting many poorer countries and conflict worsening its impacts on civilians, reports show that "humanitarian need" – the number of people who are falling into in the gap now – is growing. Not only are humanitarians needed, but more skilled, better prepared and better educated humanitarians are needed. Could you be one of them?