The directors of four civil society campaigns will examine how the humanitarian approach to disarmament has influenced their work and how they have adapted it to respond to contemporary challenges. They will discuss efforts to curb the urban use of certain explosive weapons, reduce the environmental impacts of armed conflict, preempt new technology that could autonomously make life-and-death decisions, and control the unlawful trade in arms.

Panelists include Laura Boillot, International Network on Explosive Weapons; Doug Weir, Toxic Remnants of War Network; Mary Wareham, Campaign to Stop Killer Robots; and Anna Macdonald, Control Arms. It will be moderated by Jasmin Nario-Galace, Center for Peace Education.

This conversation is the second public event of a conference, Humanitarian Disarmament: The Way Ahead, which will launch the Armed Conflict and Civilian Protection Initiative, housed in Harvard Law School’s International Human Rights Clinic (IHRC). The conference is co-organized by the IHRC, the Harvard Humanitarian Initiative, and Harvard Kennedy School’s Carr Center for Human Rights Policy.

Funding was provided by the Harvard Provost Fund for Interfaculty Collaboration, IHRC, HHI, PAX, and an anonymous donation in honor of Carl S. Thorne-Thomsen, Harvard Class of 1968.