Chancellor, it is an honour to introduce Gareth Owen to you and to the congregation.
Gareth has spent more than three decades delivering aid and protection to people in settings of disaster, armed conflict and displacement. He joined Save the Children UK, the world’s oldest and most influential child-focussed international non-governmental organisation, in 2002. He served as emergency advisor and Deputy Director for five years before taking on the role of humanitarian director in 2007 – a post he maintained until the end of last year.
Throughout his career Gareth has worked at the sharp end of humanitarian relief in some of the most challenging areas of the world beginning with his first posting in Somalia in 1993. He was 24 years old at the time having recently completed his studies in engineering and irrigation. In the last two decades Gareth has led responses to many major disasters and conflicts including Iraq, the Asian tsunami, Cyclone Nargis, Haiti, Pakistan, East Africa, Niger and the Philippines. He also played a pivotal role in the response to the Western African Ebola crisis in 2014 and the European migration crisis in 2015, including launching a search and rescue operation in the Mediterranean that saved 10,000 from the sea.
As a policymaker and practitioner Gareth has provided leadership in thought and practice to the humanitarian field globally. He has played a key role in establishing several groundbreaking initiatives. These include the Humanitarian Leadership Academy that enables current and future humanitarian workers to pursue self-study online; and a new international forum for dialogue about the future of humanitarian action entitled the Humanitarian Xchange.
Gareth has spoken openly about the trauma he experienced whilst being held captive during the deadliest months of violence in Angola. This experience motivated him to campaign for better understanding and support of humanitarian workers dealing with post-traumatic stress disorder.
Gareth has described himself as a ‘disruptor’, provoking reflection amongst senior humanitarians working in global institutions. As he has put it:
“Any big system can fall into status quo mode. You need people whose job it is to agitate things.”
This chimes perfectly with the aims of our teaching on humanitarianism and international development which strives to produce critical practitioners able to negotiate and innovate in a highly complex field.
Gareth’s tireless humanitarian work was recognised in the 2013 Queen’s birthday honours list, with an OBE for his services to emergency crisis response abroad. He has been a scintillating speaker at recent Bath University events including the launch for our Centre for the Study of Violence. He has challenged academics and students to think afresh about our engagement with human suffering around the globe. We are making plans to engage Gareth further in activities focussed on violence and humanitarian futures.
In 2022 Gareth published a book in which he reflects upon his very first posting overseas. Entitled “When the Music’s Over – Intervention, Aid and Somalia” it offers a detailed, honest and sometimes darkly humorous account of working to address suffering amidst extreme violence. We immediately adopted this riveting study for our teaching here at Bath. At the very end of the book Gareth offers this reflection on his career.
“The price you ultimately pay for a long career in humanitarian action is an enduringly heavy heart and a shrouding melancholia. … But you’re also imbued with endless hope. You are utterly inspired by the indomitable spirits of many people you have encountered in troubled places the world over, whose triumph over extreme adversity and fathomless courage simultaneously humble you and raise you to new heights of personal endeavour. I can think of no better or more privileged way to live a human life.”
Chancellor, for a lifetime dedicated to the prevention and alleviation of human suffering I present to you Mr Gareth Owen as eminently worthy to receive the Degree of Doctor of the University honoris causa.