Working Groups & Panelists

Working Groups | Panel 1 | Panel 2 | Panel 3 | Panel 4

Symposium Themes

Planning for the Symposium was undertaken by a Symposium Steering Group and an Experts’ Group, made up of technical specialists from the UN, Red-Cross movement and NGOs. Regional consultations were also conducted. The panel and working group themes were developed and elaborated by these groups. The five Working Groups consisted of 120 humanitarian information practitioners drawn from across the humanitarian community whose purpose was to prepare presentations that would highlight best practices, lessons learned, and recommend future action. The Panels consisted of senior decision-makers whose purpose was to stimulate discussion relating to their areas of expertise.

Structure of the Symposium

The first two days of the Symposium (22 and 23 October) consisted of five focused working groups and brought together information practitioners from a cross-section of the humanitarian community. Each working group was expected to identify best practices, lessons learned and key issues in humanitarian information. The working groups also recommended proposed agreed information standards guide the humanitarian community in good information management practices.

Days 3, 4 and 5 (24-26 October) were the plenary session with keynote speakers and four expert panel discussions followed by question and answer period.

During the plenary, the working groups each presented their outcomes, which would be incorporated into a final statement to be endorsed by the Symposium participants on the final day.