Category: Blog (Page 2 of 6)

The African-Asian Conference 65 years on: a neglected conference and its daily bulletin

April 28, 2020 / Sean Eedy

by David Webster

This blog is cross-posted on David Webster’s website.

The Asian-African Conference Bulletin, published daily during the African-Asian conference at Bandung in April 1955, 65 years ago, is a significant and unused source in international history. In its pages, as much as in the conference hall around it, was born the idea of Asian-African solidarity and non-alignment. The Bulletin and other sources from the conference are now digitized as an e-dossier at historybeyondborders.ca (a new web site to which CNNH members and readers are invited to contribute).

Announcing MITACS Accelerate Project

April 6, 2020 / Sean Eedy

by Helen Kennedy

As everyone’s inboxes and newsfeeds are flooded with announcements of cancellations and postponements of all things academic and otherwise, it is nice to have the opportunity to announce the start of something.

The Canadian Network on Humanitarian History and Carleton University’s Department of History have partnered with five Canadian NGOs to conduct historically grounded work relevant to each organization. With matching funding provided by a MITACS Accelerate grant, Dr. Dominique Marshall and Helen Kennedy (PhD candidate) are aiming to demonstrate how micro-histories of individual organizations can be used to address global humanitarian challenges and effectively contribute to the future of humanitarian networks.

Oxfam celebrates Meyer Brownstone’s legacy

March 30, 2020 / Sean Eedy

By Sandrine Murray

Julie Delahanty’s voice softens remembering Meyer Brownstone, a knowing smile spreading across her face: “the world we know is a much, much better place for having him in it,” the executive director of Oxfam says, ending her speech.

A Samaritan State Revisited, Book Launch, November 19, 2019

February 24, 2020 / Sean Eedy

by Greg Donaghy

This article is cross-posted with the permission of the Bill Graham Centre of Contemporary International History.

On November 14th the Graham Centre marked the launch of A Samaritan State Revisited: Historical Perspectives on Canadian Foreign Aid, a University of Calgary Press publication, edited by Centre Director Greg Donaghy and David Webster of Bishop’s University. The launch took the form of a lively and well-attended panel discussion that featured two contributors to the volume, David Black of Dalhousie University and Stephen Brown of the University of Ottawa, as well as Margaret Biggs, former President of the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) and the 2019-2020 Graham Centre / Massey College Visiting Scholar in Foreign and Defence Policy. The discussion and an invigorating Q & A was moderated by Donaghy.

David Black’s opening remarks highlighted the historic relationships between Canadian aid policy-makers and the university community. Early aid, dominated by technical assistance programs, drew regularly on university researchers for expertise. From the 1960s to the 1980s, universities also provided a supportive if not uncritical constituency for ODA.

Carleton University’s MacOdrum Library accepts deposit of Canadian Red Cross materials.

February 19, 2020 / Sean Eedy

Our Advisory Group member, Professor Dominique Marshall, has recently notified us that with the assistance of Dr Sarah Glassford, historian of the Canadian Red Cross, selected materials from the Canadian Red Cross archives have now been deposited in the Archives and Special Collections of Carleton University’s MacOdrum Library (Ottawa, Ontario, Canada).

The History of the BCCIC: a Peek Back and a Look Forward

January 11, 2020 / Sean Eedy

CNHH members Jill Campbell-Miller and Kevin Brushett at the recent Annual General Meeting of the BCCIC. The following blog from BCCIC focuses on the presentation given by Dr. Campbell-Miller regarding the history of the BCCIC as an organization. Dr. Brushett’s presentation, not featured in the blog to follow, spoke about the history of international cooperation in Canada more generally. Continue reading

The International Year of the Child celebrates 40 years

August 31, 2019 / Carlos Uriel Contreras Flores

By Sandrine Murray

: On the occasion of the celebrations of 40th anniversary of the Year of the Child, the Canadian Network on Humanitarian History used the archives of the Landon Pearson Resources Centre for the Study of Children and Children’s Rights (LPC) to prepare an exhibition on the report.

The United Nations proclaimed 1979 the International Year of the Child (IYC). Back then, television was the technology of the day, colour broadcasting introduced only a few years prior. No one could predict the arrival or impact of social media on children decades later. But how they viewed children’s rights at the time set a standard for today. Continue reading

CNHH Sixth Annual Meeting and Workshop

August 1, 2019 / Sean Eedy

by Lydia Wytenbroek

The Canadian Network of Humanitarian History (CNHH), an affiliate member of the Canadian Historical Association, held its sixth annual meeting and workshop on June 6, 2019 at UBC. The meeting offered an opportunity to reflect on network activities over the past year. CNHH members have furthered the study of the history of humanitarianism and development assistance through a range of exciting and innovative publications. Over the past year, more than a dozen original blog posts were published on the CNHH website on innovative topics pertaining to development aid and humanitarianism. Several CNHH members also contributed chapters to the open-access book, A Samaritan State Revisited: Historical Perspectives on Canadian Foreign Aid, published in 2019 by University of Calgary Press. As we reflected on the success of these posts and publications, we also discussed the need for a broader, comprehensive project that explores the history of Canadian development efforts. The opportunity to network, discuss the future of humanitarian history and consider future collaborative projects was a highlight of the meeting.

“A Very Fortunate Life” by Roger Saint-Vincent

June 13, 2019 / Sean Eedy

by Mike Molloy

Produced 14 years ago, and printed in only a few dozen copies for friends and colleagues, the memoirs of one the main actors of Canada’s actions towards displaced persons between 1945 and 1980 is now available widely, thanks to the digitization services of the MacOdrum Library. His long time co-worker Mike Molloy reviews the book for a joint blog with the Canadian Immigration Historical Society; the illustrations come from his collection. Continue reading

Entrevues et documentation pour l’histoire d’une aventure montréalaise de solidarité internationale

June 2, 2019 / Sean Eedy

Par Anne-Michèle Lajoie, étudiante stagiaire, Université Carleton

Image en vedette ci-dessus: 1. Kiosque des bénévoles: Prise au Sommet des Peuples à Québec avril 2001. C’est un sommet en parallèle avec le Sommet des chefs d’État. C’est la réponse populaire démocratique, internationaliste au processus de mondialisation structuré autour de celui des governments et des patrons. Cette photo démontre l’importance des bénévoles dans la mission d’Alternatives.

L’organisation montréalaise de solidarité internationale « Alternatives » aura 25 ans en novembre 2019 et l’organisation a le souhait de bâtir une mémoire, en faisant ressortir des moments clés de son histoire, en mettant la lumière sur des étapes de son évolution qui ont un intérêt historique au-delà du strict cadre institutionnel. Anne-Michèle Lajoie, étudiante en « Public Affairs and Policy Management » à Carleton, a passé les 13 jours de son « practicum » en histoire à les aider. Dans ce blog, elle raconte son expérience et réfléchit sur les liens entre les praticiens et les historiens de l’humanitaire. Continue reading

by David Webster

by Helen Kennedy

by Greg Donaghy

By Sandrine Murray

by Lydia Wytenbroek

by Mike Molloy

Par Anne-Michèle Lajoie, étudiante stagiaire, Université Carleton

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