A roundtable discussion entitled “How to Better Coordinate Humanitarian Response” will take place on October 27, 2011 from 2:00-5:00 p.m. at the Georgia Tech Marcus Nanotechnology Building during the 2011 “France-Atlanta: Together Towards Innovation” conference. The roundtable will consist of two panels: one dedicated to the lessons learned from the humanitarian response in Haïti following the 2010 earthquake; the other on NGO governance.  Pinar Keskinocak, co-director of the Georgia Tech Center for Health and Humanitarian Logistics, will be moderating the panel on “Governing Humanitarian Response.”

International cooperation in humanitarian efforts is one of the multiple themes to be addressed during this year’s France-Atlanta conference. In recent years, humanitarian emergencies, particularly those following natural disasters, have raised a major issue: how to achieve coordination and synergistic collaboration among different NGOs and government organizations, so as to avoid overlapping efforts, waste of resources, and inefficiencies. During this roundtable discussion, representatives from French and American NGOs and government agencies such as Handicap International, CARE, Medshare, and USAID will reflect on the tools that could be developed in order to improve management of humanitarian crises.

This is the second year Georgia Tech will be partnering with the Consulate General of France in Atlanta to present the France-Atlanta conference. “France-Atlanta: Together Towards Innovation” will be held October 26- November 12, and will include a series of fifteen French-American events centered on innovation, including scientific symposiums, business workshops, cultural events, and humanitarian focus events. 

“I am so pleased to partner once again with Georgia Tech to present this new edition of France-Atlanta. I believe this is through cooperation in sectors of the future that our two societies will thrive and tackle the 21st century challenges,” said Pascal Le Deunff, Consul General of France in Atlanta.

The France-Atlanta conference, which drew 3,500 participants last year, was designed to strengthen ties between France and the southeastern United States.  The conference is presented under the High Auspices of the Ambassador of France to the United States, His Excellency Mr. François Delattre, the Governor of Georgia, the Honorable Nathan Deal, and the Mayor of Atlanta, the Honorable Kasim Reed.

Click here to register for the roundtable discussion. For more information about the 2011 France-Atlanta conference, visit www.france-atlanta.org.