On Friday 9th and Saturday 10th March 2012, took place the 3rd edition of Humani'BOOK, the humanitarian book fair, in the Cinéma Nouveau Latina (Paris, 4e). Back to this solidarity and literary event, yearly organized by the Red Helmets Foundation.
The 3rd edition of the humanitarian book fair was made up by three high points : signing sessions, workshops for young students and an afterwork focusing on the captivity risks of humanitarian staffs. This year, the event was built in close partnership with the 10th edition of the International Festival for Human Rights Movies.
On the Friday morning : pedagogical workshops
Several classes of secondary school met at the Cinéma Nouveau Latina to watch "Blood in the mobile", documentary by the Danish director Frank Piasecki Poulsen, which highlights the bloody connection between raw materials we can find in our cell phones and political tensions in North-Kivu, Democratic Republic of Congo. Once the showing over, the young students could discuss with Mona Levinson-Levavasseur and Jessica Reus-Nliba, two authors who were confronted in their lives to that kind of issues, as children work. They are both authors invited to the signing session of the humanitarian book fair.
On Friday evening: Afterwork focusing on humanitarian actors hostages
With Nicole Guedj, Secretary of State for victims' rights and President of the Red Helmets Foundation, were gathered Isabelle Lambret, former hostage in Somalia, Pierre Salignon, General Director of Doctors of the World, Patrick Verbruggen, Co-fonder et co-director of "Triangle Génération Humanitaire", NGO which had to face several abductions those last year, notably in Yemen, Pierre Micheletti, Associated Professor in Sciences Po Grennoble, and Cyril Cosar, who has been psychologist in Action Against Hunger for almost 6 years. The discussions around the question "Is captivity the price of humanitarian commitment?" were moderated by Philomé Robert, Haitian journalist for France 24. Confronted to a public made of initiates, NGO members or students aiming to work in the humanitarian sector, the analyses and stories raised many questions, as the perception by the local populations of the humanitarian staffs, their role towards armies, the implication of medias in case of abductions and its impacts... The debate ended with a series of questions and answers with the 150 participants.
On Saturday afternoon, signing sessions
Thirty-two authors, writing on humanitarian action, development aid or Human Rights, were invited to 2 signing sessions in Humani’BOOK. For everybody, this afternoon will have been charged in interesting encounters and discoveries. The Foundation Krousar Thmey was represented fittingly with the book written by its founder Benoit Duchateau-Arminjon, A humanitarian actor in Cambodia (2011) ; Roberto Garcia Saez was promoting his first book ONU soit qui mal y pense (Editions Les Etoiles, 2011) ; Simone Fluhr, presented her book, entitled My country is not safe, anthology of stories told by asylum-seekers, etc.
The Red Helmets Foundation wants to thanks vividly all those who took part in the organization of the event, which made it a real success : volunteers, Nouveau Latina and International Festival for Human Rights Movies teams, the "Librairies Fontaine", and the helpful medias, One Heart Channel, Grotius.fr and Là-bas but also all the participating authors.
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