We’re delighted to introduce Anna-Joy Rickard, who has been appointed as the new Director of the Humanitarian Centre.

Despite the provocative wording of the motion, CUiD’s recent debate on the role of religious NGOs in development was a remarkably cordial affair. The placid tone of the discussion—while it may have disappointed some in search of a cathartic clash—was nevertheless immensely gratifying. The speakers Justin Agnes from Serving in Mission (SIM), Ben Niblett, head of campaigns for the Christian NGO Tearfund, and self-proclaimed humanist Patricia Rogers, closely involved with the Jubilee Debt Campaign, engaged each other in the kind of reasoned, respectful debate that, far from glossing over key differences, cast them in a new and brighter light.

8th March 2011 was the 100th anniversary of International Women’s Day, an occasion to celebrate women’s achievements and highlight the ongoing struggle for gender equality. Cambridge University marked the centenary by holding its first International Women’s Day lecture, which took place at Emmanuel College on Monday 7th March. The lecture, titled ‘Iraqi Women’s Untold Stories: Between Violence and Mobilisation’, was given by Nadje Al-Ali, Professor of Gender Studies and Chair of the Centre for Gender Studies at SOAS in London.

To mark the launch of a new Anti-Trafficking Project, Cambridge University Lawyers Without Borders held a panel discussion by Dr Liz Hales, Fiona Mactaggart MP, and Charmaine Jelbert. The panel examined a number of issues, including the treatment of migrant women in custody, the UK government’s response to human trafficking, and the possibility of the London 2012 Olympics causing an increase in trafficking.

In an event hosted by Cambridge University International Development and Cambridge Futures, Pasca Lane gave the ‘1.4 billion reasons’ presentation, exploring the meaning of extreme poverty, what can be done to combat it, and how lawyers can help to tackle the barriers that sometimes stand in the way. Pasca is the Educational Programmes Coordinator at Advocates for International Development (A4ID), an organisation that seeks to unite legal and development professionals in order to achieve the Millennium Development Goals.

On 9th February, around 90 Cambridge university students from a range of disciplines attended the documentary presentation ‘Hard Rain: Our Headlong Collision with Nature’, in the third of a series of events organised by student-led network the Cambridge Hub.

The Humanitarian Centre Annual Lecture has become a landmark in the Cambridge calendar. It draws a diverse crowd of familiar and new faces, eager to attend the talk itself and to learn more about the work of a range of Cambridge-based NGOs at the drinks reception held afterwards. This year’s lecture, which took place on 7th February, was titled ‘Humanitarian-Military interaction in complex emergencies: the experience of Pakistan.’

“Volunteering: help or hindrance?” was the topic of a debate held by Cambridge University International Development (CUID) on 28th January at Emmanuel College, Cambridge. The event featured panel speakers Matt Reynolds, Operations Manager at Global Xchange, Shiraz Vira, Co-ordinator of Camvol, and Ian Sanderson, Chairman of Afrinspire.