Date: 30 September - 1 October 2026

Fragile Lives 2026

Evidence for human development, food security, and peace in poly-crises

martas Guesthouses Hauptbahnhof Berlin, Seydlitzstraße 20, 10557 Berlin.

About the conference

Fragile Lives 2026 is the third edition of an annual international expert conference. Fragile Lives focuses on:

using rigorous, scientific evidence to inform policy interventions in fragile, conflict-affected, and underdeveloped settings.

Conference Program

Fragile Lives 2026 will once again feature a range of presentations and discussions on cutting-edge research and pressing policy challenges. To this end, we are hosting presentations in cooperation with Households in Conflict Network (HiCN), thereby creating a space for academics studying the micro-level impacts of conflict and fragility to present and discuss their ongoing work. Beyond these academic sessions, we are partnering with a range of donor, policy, and practice organizations for research-to-practice sessions on some of the most pressing crises the world is facing.

You can find details in the preliminary conference program.

Keynote Speakers

Caitriona Dowd

Lecturer/Assistant Professor (Ad Astra Fellow), University College Dublin

Caitriona Dowd is Assistant Professor in the School of Politics and International Relations at University College Dublin, Ireland. Her research focuses on the role of violent conflict in humanitarian crises and food insecurity; civilian targeting; and the use of new and emerging methodologies for violence monitoring. Caitriona currently co-leads a Research Ireland-funded project on the gendered dimensions of hunger in peace and conflict, alongside projects on conflict and social capital, conflict and smallholder agriculture, and trauma-sensitivity in peace and conflict research.

Juan Vargas

Carlo Alberto Chair at the Collegio Carlo Alberto and Professor of Political Economy at the University of Turin

Juan Vargas is Carlo Alberto Chair at the Collegio Carlo Alberto and Professor of Political Economy at the University of Turin (ESOMAS). He is also the network director of the America Latina Crime and Policy Network (AL CAPONE) of the Latin America and the Caribbean Economics Association (LACEA). He has held visiting academic positions at NYU, Harvard, and UCLA. In 2018, Juan obtained the biennial "Juan Luis Londoño Prize", awarded to the best Colombian economist under 40.

Featured Attendees

Jeannie Annan

Chief Research and Innovation Officer, International Rescue Committee

Joanna van Asselt

Research Fellow, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI)

Ghassan Baliki

Director, Welfare Research Program, ISDC - International Security and Development Center

Luc Behaghel

Professor, Paris School of Economics

Hanna Berkel

Research fellow, UNU-WIDER

Alexandra Blackwell

Postdoctoral Researcher, University of Copenhagen

Ana Bojadjievska

Senior Project Manager Climate Change, Robert Bosch Foundation

Tilman Brück

Professor of Development Economics and Food Security, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin

Team Leader, Leibniz Institute of Vegetable and Ornamental Crops (IGZ)

Director, ISDC - International Security and Development Center

Antonia Delius

PhD Candidate, University of Oxford

Stefania Di Giuseppe

Statistician, The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)

Neil Ferguson

Director, Peacebuilding Research Program, ISDC - International Security and Development Center

Robert Gonzalez

Associate Professor, Georgia Institute of Technology

Arturo Harker

Associate Professor, Universidad de los Andes

Anke Hoeffler

Professor of Political Science, University of Konstanz

Bettina Iseli

Chief Program Officer, Welthungerhilfe

Bosco Kasundu

Head of MEAL TEAM, Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)

Kati Krähnert

Researcher, RWI – Leibniz Institute for Economic Research and Professor for Climate Change and Development, Ruhr University Bochum

Nang Lun Kham Synt

Research Analyst, International Food Policy Research institute (IFPRI)

Jon Kurtz

Independent Humanitarian Researcher

Jean Lacroix

Assistant Professor, Université Paris-Saclay

Sarah Langlotz

Assistant Professor of Development Economics, University of GÖttingen

Christian J. Meyer

Director, Oxford Martin Programme on the Future of Development; CEO, Tabiya

Laura Munoz

Assistant Professor, University of Exeter Business School

Maria Pilar Ouro Paz

PhD Fellow, UNU Merit & University of Maastricht

Henrique Pita Barros

Assistant Professor, University of Lisbon

Henning Plate

Head of Directorate 22 - Reconstruction, crisis prevention and management at the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ)