About the conference
As the world is engulfed by a rising flood of environmental, political and economic conflicts, are we in danger of being swallowed by never-ending disaster? How can uncertainty and risk shape positive communal change and help leaders to navigate the polycrisis?
These questions are at the heart of CHL’s 2025 Humanitarian Leadership Conference: Transformative leadership in times of polycrisis.
As the number of people living in crisis continues to break records, with more than 300 million people in need of life-saving assistance and billions more in or on the edge of extreme poverty, the climate emergency and polarising and inequitable political-economic systems are compounding and growing the problem.
The 2025 Humanitarian Leadership Conference will focus on the very human element of leadership: of who takes risks and how they can make real, positive change. Disrupting the usual discussions and creating space for emerging and insightful analysis, the 2025 Humanitarian Leadership Conference will explore the multiple aspects and impacts of the polycrisis as well as the multi-faceted nature and influence of transformative leadership. It will showcase the increasing reality of diverse leadership and its capacity to navigate and affect positive change in crises around the world.
The 2025 Humanitarian Leadership Conference is hosted by the Centre for Humanitarian Leadership in partnership with the Center for Conflict and Humanitarian Studies.
A hybrid format for maximum engagement
We’re thrilled to announce that the 2025 Humanitarian Leadership Conference will be hosted in Doha, Qatar. From April 8-9, delegates will gather at the Arab Center for Research and Policy Studies, home to the Center for Conflict and Humanitarian Studies, or can stream all the action from our dedicated digital conference platform.
Register to attend the 2025 Humanitarian Leadership Conference
Registrations to attend the 2025 Humanitarian Leadership Conference are now open! Register to attend virtually or in-person for the two-day event. Early bird pricing applies until January 31, 2025, and there is a tiered rate structure, with discounts for students, and those delegates from the Global South and/or working for local NGOs.
Visit the Cvent platform to register.
Present at the 2025 Humanitarian Leadership Conference
Submissions to present at the 2025 Humanitarian Leadership Conference are now open, and close on January 6, 2025. Check the ‘Get involved’ tab on this webpage for more details.
Conference Partners
Submissions open
Submissions to present at the 2025 Humanitarian Leadership Conference are now open. Deadline: Monday, January 6, 2025. Submit via the Cvent platform.
General enquiries
For all inquiries about the 2025 HLC, please email events@cfhl.org.au
Themes and sub-themes
Conference submissions should contain an outline of the proposed type of presentation, and should focus on any one of, or combination of, the three key sub-themes of the conference:
1. The Polycrisis
- What is it? Complex crises, cascading and compounding disasters, protracted and semi-permanent conflict.
- How are crises connected and interrelated? Through climate risks, through the international financial system, through the interconnected global food and water systems, etc.
2. Transformative leadership
- What types of leadership and leadership development are required and affective in navigating complex challenges?
- Feminist and intersectional leadership
- Non-dominant approaches to leadership development and support
- How does transformative leadership work in organisational and non-organisational contexts (such as networks, collaborations, collective advocacy, social movements)?
3. Transformative leadership and the polycrisis
- How can different approaches to leadership navigate the complexities of the polycrisis, reducing the frequency and depth of crises whilst also mitigating the impacts of crises on people around the world?
- How to build and maintain trust, relationships, wellbeing in complex and dynamic crises?
Conference Partners
Submissions open
Submissions to present at the 2025 Humanitarian Leadership Conference are now open. Deadline: Monday, January 6, 2025. Submit via the Cvent platform.
General enquiries
For all inquiries about the 2025 HLC, please email events@cfhl.org.au
Keynote Speakers
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Tammam Aloudat
CEO, The New Humanitarian
Dr Aloudat, a Syrian-Swiss physician, is currently the CEO of The New Humanitarian, the leading humanitarian newsroom reporting from the heart of crises. With over two decades of experience at the forefront of international humanitarian organisations, he is a leading advocate for decolonising global health and advancing humanitarianism. He started his humanitarian career as a volunteer for the Syrian Red Crescent, and then with the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) in Iraq after the invasion in 2003. Over the last 20 years, he has worked in emergencies ranging from conflicts and forced displacement to disasters and disease outbreaks – from Darfur to the Indian Ocean tsunami to the Haiti earthquake. His most recent role was as President of MSF Netherlands and as a member of MSF’s International Board.
Keep checking this page for more announcements on keynote speakers as they are added to the Conference line-up.
Present at the 2025 Humanitarian Leadership Conference
Applications to present at the 2025 Humanitarian Leadership Conference are now open.
We’re calling for proposals from those with lived experience of the polycrisis and transformative leadership, as well as from researchers, policy-makers, and practitioners. This includes people working in humanitarian operations, in disaster risk management, and in international and national political economies.
Submissions (abstracts) should be no longer than 500 words in length. We will accept proposals in languages other than English, however please note that Google Translate will be used to translate abstracts to English for reviewers, as such abstracts will not be weighted on the English but the content.
Applications to present have been extended! Submit your application via the CVent platform hosted by Deakin University by January 6, 2025.
Conference submissions should contain an outline of the proposed type of presentation, and should focus on any one of, or combination of, the three key sub-themes of the conference:
Sub-themes
- The polycrisis
- Transformative leadership
- Transformative leadership and the polycrisis
For more details, please click on the themes tab.
Submission Type:
- Oral Presentations – Presentations given by one or two people, often using visual aids discussing a key issue, topic or academic paper
- Poster Presentation – Poster outlining project, concept or academic paper with authors giving a short live or pre-recorded presentation
- Panel Presentation – Up to four speakers discussing a key issue, topic or academic paper
- Non-traditional Expressions – This can include storytelling, musical performances, and multimedia exhibitions. These must be relevant and will be measured against the same rubric.
- Workshops – These will be interactive sessions wherein attendees unpack, learn, experience and challenge various topics regarding the conference theme.
Submission criteria and assessment:
All submissions will be assessed against four key measurements:
- Relevant: To what extent is the proposal sufficiently connected to the Conference themes and likely to resonate with a global audience?
- Evidence-based: To what extent does the abstract proposal present and/or reference evidence to support the major claims, findings, and/or suggestions included in the proposal?
- Transformative: To what extent does the abstract proposal outline a novel or transformative idea or reflection on the conference themes? Does this proposal detail new thinking around existing or impending humanitarian problems?
- Leadership: To what extent does the panel, workshop, or presentation discuss ideas relevant to leadership and the conduct of leaders in times of the crises.
Conference Partners
Submissions open
Submissions to present at the 2025 Humanitarian Leadership Conference are now open. Deadline: Monday, January 6, 2025. Submit via the Cvent platform.
General enquiries
For all inquiries about the 2025 HLC, please email events@cfhl.org.au
Sponsor the 2025 Humanitarian Leadership Conference
CHL and CHS are looking for like-minded organisations to sponsor the 2025 Humanitarian Leadership Conference.
The Humanitarian Leadership Conference is a recognised event for challenging conversations. Every two years, the Centre for Humanitarian Leadership (CHL) leverages its unique position at the intersection of academia and practice to convene humanitarian leaders from across the sector to disrupt the usual discussions and create space for emerging and insightful analysis.
In 2025, CHL is combining forces with the Center for Conflict and Humanitarian Studies (CHS) to open the discussion and debate to new audiences in the Middle East region and globally.
Established in 2016, the CHS is an independent research center that generates scholarship and engages in policy and practice on conflict mediation, humanitarian action, and post-conflict recovery in the Arab world and beyond.
Sponsors gain visibility and connections with a diverse range of conference speakers and participants, in addition to noticeably demonstrating their solidarity with leaders who are seeking to disrupt the polycrisis with a focus on the human aspects of leadership.
The 2025 Humanitarian Leadership Conference brings together traditional and non-traditional perspectives from the Global South and North to discuss how leaders can move beyond systemic inertia towards affecting real-world change.
Email our team at events@cfhl.org.au to request a copy of the 2025 Sponsorship Prospectus.
