Helen Durham

Helen Anne Durham (born 1968) is a humanitarian lawyer and academic, and the CEO of RedR Australia.

Education
Durham has a PhD in international humanitarian law and international criminal law from The University of Melbourne.

Humanitarian
Durham has devoted her career to strengthening legal protections for many of the world's most vulnerable people, notably the victims of war. This includes operational humanitarian missions with the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and as an advocate on humanitarian affairs within Australia and globally. She is one of only a handful of international humanitarian lawyers to assist the ICRC in an update of the Commentaries to the Geneva Conventions and their Additional Protocols, in particular provisions relating to special protections for women.

Durham was a key player in the drafting of an historic resolution to prohibit the use of nuclear weapons. She also played a key role in the creation of the International Criminal Court (ICC) at The Hague in 2007. The ICC is the first permanent, international criminal court established to help end impunity for the perpetrators of the most serious crimes of concern to the international community.

From 2014 to 2022, Durham was the Director of International Law and Policy at the ICRC, the first woman and Australian to hold this position. Prior to this, she had served as Director of International Law, Strategy, Planning and Research at the Australian Red Cross. She has worked as Head of Office for ICRC Australia, as well as a legal adviser to the ICRC Pacific region delegation.

Durham is currently the CEO of RedR Australia, a humanitarian organization that identifies, trains and deploys experts into crisis and conflicts globally. She oversees a register of more than 1,000 senior humanitarians and 80 humanitarian trainers.

In an episode of RedR Australia's Humanitarian Conversations podcast in October 2023, Durham explained that:"'The core of humanitarian work is about using your skills...in a respectful way, to move society into a better space. So at the core of it, [these are] the fundamental principles... We do it for humanity, we do it in an impartial way. We are independent, we're not there for political purposes.'"When discussing leadership in the humanitarian sector, Durham said:"'I think any leader, but particularly in the humanitarian sector...[has to] balance compassion and courage. If you're too compassionate, you don't take hard decisions. But if you're too courageous, often you just steamroll over people...my mantra is often, as a leader, 'how to balance courage and compassion?''"In the episode, Durham also reflected on her experience in high-level, complex negotiations, such as with the UN Security Council or with Russian military. She described it as "terrifying, exhilarating, privileged, difficult, long". She also said: "'You use your whole self. It's not just intellectual. Use the pauses in the breaks; you understand the dynamics in the room. So it's almost a whole-person experience. But it always comes back to the people [you're trying to support] and the aims you're trying to get.'"Durham was one of the participants at TEDxSydney in May 2015, where she explained that, even in the worst conflicts, there is still a space for humanity.

Durham is also a board member for Geneva Call, an NGO that works to improve the protection of civilians in armed conflict.

Academic
Durham is an expert in international humanitarian and criminal law, and has published academic work on topics such as women and war; the laws of war; and the prosecution of crimes against civilians.

Durham has worked at the Asia Pacific Centre of Military Law at Melbourne Law School as Director of Research.

She is currently a senior fellow at Melbourne Law School and lectures in international humanitarian law.

Durham is also a senior fellow at the United States Military Academy's Lieber Institute.

Honours
In 2014, Durham was inducted into the Victorian Honour Roll of Women.

In 2017, Durham was appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia for distinguished service to international relations in the area of humanitarian and criminal law, to the protection of women during times of armed conflict, and to legal education.

Personal life
Durham is married to singer/songwriter Greg Arnold. The couple have two children. She was the inspiration for the song "Happy Birthday Helen" by Arnold's band Things of Stone and Wood.