I am a professor of humanitarian studies at the International Institute for Social Studies of Erasmus University in The Hague. In 2022, I was awarded the Spinoza Prize, one of the most notable Dutch awards in science. From this award, I am currently establishing a Humanitarian Studies Centre (HSC) based at the International Institute of Social Studies. My focus is on aid-society relations: studying how aid is embedded in the context, impacts on governments and society, and is shaped by the manifold actions of actors in and around programmes for protection, service delivery and capacity development. I have a special interest in the intersections of humanitarianism with development, peacebuilding and gender-relations.

My research programmes have taken place in settings affected by disaster, conflict and fragility, including Afghanistan, Angola, Burundi, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, the Philippines, Rwanda, South Sudan, and Sri Lanka. Currently, my main research programme concerns humanitarian governance: accountability, advocacy and alternatives. I also recently completer a programme on when ‘conflict meets disaster’, that studied disaster governance in high-conflict, low-conflict and post-conflict societies.

Research must be meaningful. I seek to make a difference for global development and social justice through my publications, through working with researchers and universities in crisis-affected areas, and through social activism and engagement in public debate.

Recent publications:

• K.C., Luna and D. Hilhorst (2022) “Gendered experience of disaster: Women’s account of evacuation, relief and recovery in Nepal.” International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction72 (2022): 102840.Hilhorst, D & R.
• Mena (2021). ‘When Covid-19 meets conflict: politics of the pandemic response in fragile and conflict-affected states’. Disasters.  https://doi.org/10.1111/disa.12514
• Hilhorst, D., Melis, S., Mena, R., & van Voorst, R. (2021). Accountability in Humanitarian Action. Refugee Survey Quarterly, 40(4), 363-389.
• Mena, R and D. Hilhorst (2021). Ethical considerations of disaster research in conflict-affected areas. Disaster Prevention and Management. Vol. ahead-of-print No. ahead-of-print. https://doi.org/10.1108/DPM-03-2021-0075
• Mena, R., & Hilhorst, D. (2021). The development–humanitarian nexus: Linking development and disaster risk reduction with relief in Yemen as a case of high‐intensity conflict. Disasters.
• Jaspars, S., & Hilhorst, D. (2021). Introduction “Politics, humanitarianism and migration to Europe”. International Migration, 59(3), 3-8.

Recent features:

• Webinar on the Humanitarian Crisis in Gaza: Video [in English]
• Doctors Without Borders – Understanding gender-based and sexual violence: Video [in Dutch]
• Radio Swammerdam – Climate inequality: Podcast [in Dutch]