The Role of Local Actors in the Delivery of Services to Vulnerable Groups in Protracted Crises (original) (raw)
Related papers
2020
This paper deals with the well documented problems of the most vulnerable and invisible social groups in disasters and complex emergencies, however, changes the focus of attention and action, furthermore analyses the possibilities of turning these threats into opportunities of empowerment. We identify the most vulnerable social groups – that is ethnic/religious minorities; children, pregnant and lactating women and children with disabilities – and investigate the impact of the threats to them in selected disasters/complex emergencies. Empirical evidence is collected about good practices on how to include the empowerment of these groups in humanitarian operations in these emergencies. These implemented operations show how humanitarian relief and development can be turned into a long-term opportunity of cooperation and empowerment of the most vulnerable communities.
Governing Disasters: Engaging Local Populations in Humanitarian Relief
Governing Disasters: Engaging Local Populations in Humanitarian Relief, Cambridge University Press, 2016
With growing awareness of the devastation caused by major natural disasters, alongside integration of governance and technology networks, the parameters of humanitarian aid are becoming more global. At the same time, humanitarian instruments are increasingly recognizing the centrality of local participation. Drawing on six case studies and a survey of 69 members of the relief sector, this book suggests that the key to the efficacy of post-disaster recovery is the primacy given to local actors in the management, direction and design of relief programs. Where local partnership and knowledge generation and application is ongoing, cohesive, meaningful and inclusive, disaster relief efforts are more targeted, cost-effective, efficient and timely. Governing Disasters: Engaging Local Populations in Humanitarian Relief examines the interplay between law, governance and collaborative decision making with international, state, private sector and community actors in order to understand the dynamics of a global decentralized yet coordinated process of post-disaster humanitarian assistance.
The Ukraine humanitarian emergency is divulging the failure of international humanitarian assistance to engage local community primary responders. The missed opportunities to trans-form the aid paradigm means if this cannot happen in a western crisis, it will not happen else-where. Emergencies occur nearly every day and affect many displaced communities around the world, leaving people in urgent need of help to survive. In any of these situations, rapid assistance can save lives. African local communities are the primary responders that deliver support within hours, when the need is most immediate and critical. It is thus important to understand how local communities can be made better prepared to respond to emergency situations; focusing on the response of primary responders to displacement as well as how they can be made better prepared to respond to emergencies. As part of the global coalition for peace and human security, our vision must be inspired to create an Africa that is free of authoritarianism and where every African can enjoy the full benefits of the right to life in peace, harmony and meaningful livelihood security. Innovative actions that ensure support for people running away from conflicts include inter alia, building the capacity of primary responders, changing the status quo ante of humanitarian action, developing humanitarian think tanks and innovative humanitarian partnership with local humanitarian groups and communities. The value of such partnership should embrace a set of common ideals and principles based on strong local leadership and commitment as the basis for effective action. Hence, conflict early warning information, capacity assessment of potential host communities and CSOs based on the early warning, establishing humanitarian emergency fund and using community adaptive strategies to build sustainable livelihoods: integrated packages of policy, technology, investment and appropriate decision-making tools. This brings up conceptualising crisis-affected societies’ engagement as a working process, which balanced against strategy, determines what makes for real, as opposed to vacuously formulated slogans, that suggests itself, seems within grasp only to elude, and appears readily operable only to resist fulfilment. Keywords: humanitarian crisis, primary responders, humanitarian action, partnership, humanitarian emergency fund, engagement of crisis-affected societies
From Relief to Resilience: The Dual Role of Humanitarian Assistance in Alleviating Poverty and Fostering Sustainable Development, 2025
ABSTRACT This paper explores the dual role of humanitarian assistance in responding to immediate crises and laying the ground for long-term sustainable development. It brings out how relief efforts stabilize communities in crisis through provision of essential services like food, shelter, and medical care and prevent further impoverishment. Nevertheless, such short-term objectives have to be combined with sustainable community resilience by way of capacity building, economic empowerment, and disaster preparedness strategies. This paper, through case studies and theoretical analysis, has tried to establish the integrated framework as a means to turn vulnerable populations into self-sufficient communities. The paper has also reiterated the role of stakeholder coordination, local agency, and adaptive programming in bridging the divide between immediate relief and longer-term socio-economic transformation. While undertaking a more nuanced understanding of humanitarian assistance, the study underscores its possible dual role in poverty alleviation and building resilience to support sustainable development.
Crisis management beyond the humanitarian-development nexus
Journal of Contemporary European Studies, 2019
The continuum in Rwanda after the genocide and in Indonesia after the Tsunami were typical of the unstructured processes which accompany the transition from humanitarian relief to development. The extent to which local ownership of governments and civil society is prepared and empowered to take charge following man-made or natural disasters is a major determinant of the length and sustainability of recovery. In the absence of standard patterns and processes, we are left with sets of principles and values, which are ultimately much more valuable as a guide to action. This book does well to distinguish the very different circumstances of recovery, both from natural disasters and from conflict.'-Stephen Browne, former UN Humanitarian and Development Coordinator 'The aid world is split into development and humanitarian assistance. This book tackles the long-standing question of how different aid instruments can best be combined to meet human needs defying categorization. It provides a rich series of case studies, as well as a unique Japanese perspective on the continuum of aid.'-Julia Steets, Director of the Global Public Policy Institute (GPPi) 'This is an ambitious and honest effort to address and deconstruct the ongoing dilemma of responding to one crisis after the other in increasingly complex environments. This collection of articles demonstrates the non-linear nature of recovery and reconstruction. It is recommended reading for practitioners and scholars.'-Margareta Wahlstrom, President of Swedish Red Cross and former Special Representative of the UN Secretary General for Disaster Risk Reduction 'An important contribution to current global conversations around crisis prevention and sustaining peace. Through detailed case studies from some of the most difficult conflict and disasters of the past 30 years, this book brings new analysis to the dilemmas around linking emergency response and long-term development that have eluded the aid sector for decades.'-Christina Bennett, Humanitarian Policy Group, Overseas Development Institute, UK Crisis Management Beyond the Humanitarian-Development Nexus In addressing humanitarian crises, the international community has long understood the need to extend beyond providing immediate relief, and to engage with long-term recovery activities and the prevention of similar crises in the future. However, this continuum from short-term relief to rehabilitation and development has often proved difficult to achieve. This book aims to shed light on the continuum of humanitarian crisis management, particularly from the viewpoint of major bilateral donors and agencies. Focusing on cases of armed conflicts and disasters, the authors describe the evolution of approaches and lessons learnt in practice when moving from emergency relief to recovery and prevention of future crises. Drawing on an extensive research project conducted by the Japan International Cooperation Agency Research Institute, this book compares how a range of international organizations, bilateral cooperation agencies, NGOs, and research institutes have approached the continuum in international humanitarian crisis management. The book draws on six humanitarian crises case studies, each resulting from armed conflict or natural disasters: Timor-Leste, South Sudan, the Syrian crisis, Hurricane Mitch in Honduras, the Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami in Indonesia and Typhoon Yolanda. The book concludes by proposing a common conceptual framework designed to appeal to different stakeholders involved in crisis management. Following on from the World Humanitarian Summit, where a new way of working on the humanitarian-development nexus was highlighted as one of five major priority trends, this book is a timely contribution to the debate which should interest researchers of humanitarian studies, conflict and peace studies, and disaster risk-management.
Responding to Changing Needs: Challenges and Opportunities for Humanitarian Action
2014
This study was commissioned in preparation for the Montreux XIII Donor Conference in November 2014. It aims to provide a forward-looking overview of the evolving problems the international humanitarian sector is facing and to suggest potential collective responses to them. The paper first sets humanitarian assistance challenges in a wider context of global trends and issues. Part 2 reviews the broader contexts in which humanitarian action takes place. It presents an overview of the changing global landscape and how this is in different ways challenging, constraining and stretching the humanitarian system. Part 3 switches from the focus on context and needs to look at recent trends in humanitarian response. As well as examining the financial allocation, scope and distribution of aid, it looks across the wider network of actors now involved in humanitarian efforts and explores what this means for the current humanitarian assistance modus operandi. It also reviews key trends and patterns in effectiveness and reform efforts. Part 4 presents an illustrative overview of the evolving nature of such needs by introducing four differentiated models of the interface between the international community, host governments and affected populations that are apparent when looking across the crises of the past 10 years. It reviews some of the lessons from and challenges arising in the international humanitarian sector response to each model. Using existing data, it illustrates some of the key trends in official donor financing across these different models. Part 5 concludes the paper by summarising the key challenges for consideration by participants at the Montreux XIII Conference. The overall purpose of the paper is to inform and support productive and action-oriented dialogue and discussions at the Montreux XIII Conference. It is also hoped that the meeting will be able to contribute to and inform discussions leading up to the World Humanitarian Summit in 2016.
Humanitarian response in middle-income countries
Question What evidence, lessons and best practice have emerged from previous humanitarian responses in middle income countries (MICS) that may be of particular relevance to ongoing responses across MENA? Summary The literature uncovered by this rapid review indicates that there is very little evidence available about the way in which humanitarian response is carried out in middle income countries in comparison to low income contexts (or an amalgamation of the two). Where there have been evaluations of humanitarian response in middle income countries, they have not really focused on transferable lessons or best practice for similar situations. Evidence, best practice and lessons emerging from the available literature for humanitarian response in middle income countries include: ◾Middle income countries generally have national capacity to lead the humanitarian response, and international humanitarian efforts should collaborate with these national systems and be carried out in partnership with the national government and civil society organisations. However, progress still needs to be made as international actors sometimes struggle to partner effectively with national organisations and have ended up setting up parallel systems. ◾Responding to humanitarian crisis in middle income countries has a higher financial cost as they are more expensive locations than many low income contexts. ◾The current humanitarian financing system does not provide enough support for middle income countries and the funds available to them are ill-suited to crisis response. As a result there are calls to make financing for refugees in middle income countries eligible for grants and concessional loans by reclassifying the eligibility criteria of the World Bank’s International Development Association (IDA) to follow the people in need and not the income levels per capita of the countries, for instance. ◾In middle income countries, the needs of those affected by crisis often intersect with the needs of other vulnerable communities. As a result, humanitarian response in middle income countries should work together with development efforts. This will involve responding to the needs of refugees/affected populations and host communities and supporting existing services. ◾Cash-based assistance may be more appropriate than in-kind assistance, especially in highly monetised economies. In some crises in middle income countries, cash transfer distributions have been linked to existing social protection systems. ◾The private sector could be supported to be more involved in humanitarian response in order to take advantage of private capital for humanitarian response and potentially help make humanitarian response quicker, bigger and more effective. ◾Previous experience suggests avoiding camp based solutions and proactively reaching out to urban refugees. ◾Planning and assessment should be flexible and quick to ensure activities remain relevant.