UCD Centre for Humanitarian Action
The UCD Centre for Humanitarian Action (UCD CHA) is an internationally recognised platform of excellence for humanitarian research and education.
"All students should have the competencies to ‘inform an opinion’ of today's crises."
Global Humanitarian needs have reached unprecedented levels. We are increasingly aware of crises of various types; natural disasters, political conflicts, and technological crises. Current conflicts in Sudan, Palestine, and Ukraine are challenging our global governance system. The impact of climate change has reached the global North and the traditional donor states are pressurised to look after 'their own' before reaching out to the most vulnerable. These issues combined with the massive growth in displaced persons seeking refuge and/ or a better quality of life pose an existential risk to communities, societies, and ever-increasing populations across our planet.
How should one react to crises? A cursory review of academic literature ranges from calls to protest in solidarity with victims to a view that issues are best left in the hands of politicians. Further academic analysis might lead one down several diverging paths, legal, political, public health, social anthropology, environmental, or maybe economic/ management. UCD's schools and colleges are increasingly building expertise to contribute to global education and research on crises and related issues.
Whatever your areas of study at UCD, we at the UCD CHA believe that all students should have the competencies to ‘inform an opinion’ on today's crises. We offer a range of programmes, from the Structured PhD Programme for scholars who wish to contribute to humanitarian knowledge to the Introduction to Humanitarian Action for students who aim to develop the competencies necessary to have informed opinions on contemporary crises.
In the mantra of John Henry Newman – the founder of UCD – students should encounter more than one discipline as essential to their intellectual formation journey. In this same vein, the UCD Centre for Humanitarian Action's transdisciplinary philosophy aligns with Newman’s in advocating for a university that encourages students from different disciplines to consider solutions to common societal problems.
