Humanitarian Assistance in a World of War and Disaster

Abstract: Amid proliferating armed conflicts and climate-related disasters, humanitarian assistance—the provision of essential goods and services to save lives, alleviate suffering, and protect human dignity—has become increasingly urgent. In this talk, Professor Marina Sharpe will present her new book, Humanitarian Assistance in International Law (OUP 2026), which examines how international law governs humanitarian assistance in armed conflict, violence, peacetime disasters, and at sea. She will discuss how the law shapes humanitarian access, the delivery of assistance, and the roles of governments, the United Nations, and non-governmental organizations.

Biography: Marina Sharpe is Associate Professor of international law at Royal Military College Saint-Jean and was formerly Senior Legal Officer with UNHCR. Her research on how international law protects people in and from crisis has earned several major Canadian grants, including a Trudeau Scholarship and SSHRC’s Banting Fellowship and Insight Grant. She serves on the editorial boards of The Canadian Yearbook of International Law and the International Journal of Refugee Law and on the board of directors of the Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation. She holds a DPhil in law from Oxford, an MSc in development studies from LSE, and degrees in law (BCL, LLB) and economics (BA) from McGill.