At the Munich Security Conference, the language of deterrence, rearmament, and geopolitical rivalry dominates the halls. But the humanitarian sector also showed up to fight for its relevance in these conversations.
Armine Afeyan, the CEO of the Aurora Humanitarian Initiative, told Devex that she is there to reject the premise that we can either invest in humanitarianism or defense.
“It’s not an either-or,” she said. She was pleasantly surprised to see that humanitarian issues were not entirely peripheral to the discussions. “There’s an understanding that humanitarianism is increasingly part of the security apparatus,” she said.