Event

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Humanitarian Leadership Conference 2027: We Are the Systems

Doha, Qatar | 20–22 April 2027 | In person and online, with events running either side

Co-hosted by the Centre for Humanitarian Leadership and the Center for Conflict and Humanitarian Studies

The theme: We Are the Systems

Every Humanitarian Leadership Conference has started with a question. Who are the humanitarians? Why is the system stuck? What does leadership look like in a polycrisis? For 2027, the question turned back on us.

Why Systems, plural. What we heard consistently is that there has never been only one humanitarian system. Alongside the formal architecture sit community networks, mutual aid, cultural leaders, faith and diaspora groups, and local organisations that respond first and stay longest. People closest to crisis have always built the systems that respond to it. The plural names that.

Who is “we”? Everyone with a hand in how crises are met: communities, local responders, cultural institutions, NGO staff, donors, researchers, and us. The theme doesn’t leave room to stand outside and point in. It asks what each of us is holding, and what we want to reflect on and change.

A theme we worked towards. The theme started inside CHL, went through several rounds of discussion and changed more than once. Then we took it to our networks, alumni and partners, ran a poll, and met again. What came back shaped the final wording.

Built towards Doha. HLC 2027 is the summit moment of Beyond Reform, a multi-year initiative bringing together regional convenings across Africa, Asia, West Asia and Latin America. What comes out of those conversations feeds into the conference themes, program and activations. In Doha, that work is tested, negotiated and turned into commitments with named owners.

Program

The program is being shaped by the regional convenings, so sessions will be released as priorities emerge from partners. Alongside panels, workshops and negotiation sessions, spoken word, music, performance, film and creative testimony from crisis-affected communities, including diaspora, will sit in the program as evidence in their own right.

The 2027 content agenda will be shaped by outputs from the regional convenings rather than a standalone open call for abstracts. CHL and CHS are working through what this looks like in practice, with a shared intent toward a decolonised co-design model. More detail will follow as this is confirmed with regional partners.

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Around HLC 2027

HLC 2027 runs 20–22 April, with events hosted by partners in the days either side.

• NEAR Network ten-year anniversary — 18–19 April. NEAR marks a decade of local and national civil society organising, and NEAR members stay on for the conference.
• Alliance for Feminist Movements donor convening — 19 April.
• ALNAP Members’ Learning Day — 23 April. A day on ALNAP’s Supporting Mutual Aid research, continuing the conversation from We Are the Systems.

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Speakers

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Beyond Reform: cultivating emergent humanitarian systems

Beyond Reform is redesigning the humanitarian system with local and national actors. Regional convenings led by partners, including Acapaca, Shabaka, the NEAR Network, ALNAP, Shift the Power and Pledge for Change, are setting the agenda for Doha.

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HLC 2027 is designed to end in decisions. Commitments may include reform packages for donors and pooled funds, risk-sharing models, shared storytelling frameworks, guidance for resourcing local actors, and community-led accountability metrics, all tracked after the conference with named owners and timelines.

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Partners and sponsors

Co-host: Center for Conflict and Humanitarian Studies

Convening and regional partners: Shift the Power, Acapaca, Shabaka, NEAR Network, ALNAP, Pledge for Change and others

Partner with HLC 2027

We are inviting community groups, organisations, foundations, governments and networks to help shape what comes next in humanitarian action. Partnerships are designed together. Our partnership package is a starting point for a conversation, not a fixed sponsorship package.

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partnerships@cfhl.org.au

Events on the road to Doha

The regional convenings feeding into HLC 2027 run from November 2026, starting in Chile and Kathmandu. Follow them, and other events we’re part of, on our events page.

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Reflections and resources

Before the event: regional convening reflections via the storytelling feed. After the event: session recordings, reflections and resources.

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