Beth's work encompasses a wide range of issues related to human rights, forced migration, humanitarian action, the role of civil society in protecting displaced populations and the security implications of displacement. The goal her work with the Brookings Institute is to develop global and regional normative standards on internal displacement, to support governments, civil society and international actors in their work with internally displaced persons(IDPs), and to carry out independent research on situations of internal displacement.
Prior to joining the Brookings Institution in November 2006, Ferris spent 20 years working in the field of humanitarian assistance. Most recently, she worked in humanitarian response and long-term development for the World Council of Churches in Geneva, Switzerland. Ferris served as the Director of the Church World Service’s Immigration and Refugee Program and the Research Director for the Life & Peace Institute in Uppsala, Sweden. She also served as chair of the International Council of Voluntary Agencies from 2003-2006 and, in that capacity, was an active participant in the Inter-Agency Standing Committee. She has been a professor at several US universities, including Lafayette College, Miami University and Pembroke State University, and served as a Fulbright Professor at the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México.
Our conversations ranges from her start in Humanitarian work to Environmental Disasters which displace people all over the world. From Draught to Sea levels rising and their impacts on communities, Beth is on the forefront of trying to get Government agencies to be prepared for these disasters and finding future solutions. I am honored to have gotten to sit down her and truly inspired. I hope you enjoy as much as I did!
