Closing Statements

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(1)Closing Statements Myriam Felber, Samuel Whyte, Charlene Perilla Webster University, Geneva. In the name of the members of the Student Organizing Committee, and on behalf of the Webster Community a warm thank you to our key note speakers and to all the other speakers: the representatives of UNHCR, ICRC, ECHO, Medecins du Monde, and the representatives of governments and NGOs, and of the academic community, who have by way of their various speeches contributed to the program. And a special thank you also to our host the International Conference Center of Geneva and to the Government of Geneva under whose auspices Webster’s Annual Humanitarian Conference has once again taken place and to Mr. Jean-Luc CHOPPARD who conveyed to the Conference the opening message of the Geneva authorities. We began planning our Ninth Annual Humanitarian Conference during summer 2003. As in previous years, the organization of this event required patience, commitment and teamwork. As we now move to close our conference this afternoon, not only are we pleased with the level of participation during the course of the last day and a half: we are also grateful to you for freely and generously sharing your experience and giving your time. Why do we as students consistently and year after year reach out to the Government of Geneva, to you our invited guests, speakers and fellow students to host and participate in what can be now called your conferences? What are these conferences about and what is to be gained from hosting these conferences? These meetings give us the opportunity to reflect and harmonize ideas in a melting pot, where we are sure disagreements on the issues exist. And that is what hosting these conferences is about. It is bringing the issues to the forefront as we understand them to be and allowing an academic discussion to ensue. For us students Geneva offers the opportunity to pursue our academic studies in the ambiance of a multi-cultural, multi-ethnic and dynamic environment that is in the heart of Europe, while providing us with the ability of accessing the practical tools that will aid our craft. As the European headquarters of the United Nations, Geneva is also blessed with having a large number of other international organizations, non-governmental organizations and other institutions within its environs. Having access to these multilateral institutions, by way of our academic studies allows us the opportunity to readily grasp and understand most of.

(2) Refugee Survey Quarterly, Vol. 23, No. 4, 2004. 247. the issues as they unfold. These issues could very well be trade, humanitarian, labor political or health related matters. This bundle of benefits, that is, having the opportunity to study in an environment that is truly international, together with academics who are willing and prepared to contribute to our intellectual and personal development adds value to our overall educational experience. During the last day and a half, we have had the opportunity to meet and listen to a diverse group of experts within their various fields introduce their subjects and articulate their views on a range of issues that are of interest and concern not only to them but maybe to all of us. Subjects such as the responsibility to protect, the new threats against humanitarian workers, the cooperation with the military, the military and the ICRC, humanitarian action and counter-insurgency, to mention at random some of the topics dealt with, contain issues that are real, and not imagined, to which easily defined solutions are sometimes not forthcoming. Despite the challenges that these issues present, collectively and individually we must have hope. And so long as we are able to infuse or inject new ideas and have meaningful dialogue and discussion about these issues, there is the prospect that one day with determined efforts, amenable solutions can be realized..

(3) 248. Closing Statements. David Carl Wilson Dean, School of Arts and Sciences, Webster University, St. Louis. The central question of this conference was posed by Colum Murphy, who asked, “Will this century be safer than the last?” The best answer we have heard was offered by Salvatore Lombardo of UNHCR: “It’s a Dutch sky. There are clouds, but there is some sunlight.” What can be done to dispel those clouds? General Dallaire argued that many of the clouds are caused by blindness to the ambiguity in the world around us. We must, he urges, assign a much larger role to military and humanitarian personnel who can understand and deal with ambiguity. And this comes in part, he says, from ensuring that they study such disciplines as philosophy, anthropology, and sociology. But, at the same time, there should be no ambiguity regarding what we care about. General Dallaire put this powerfully: “No human being is more important than another. No soldier is more important than a civilian.” In his keynote address, President Sommaruga put an even finer point on it. He held before us the words of a Swiss officer as he sent his troops into Switzerland’s last military engagement: “You should strive not only to emerge victorious, but also to emerge blameless.” If we are guided by this and the other wisdom we have heard in this room, let us hope that the sky in the future will be less Dutch and more Californian..

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