Conflict and disaster have been part of human history for as long as it has been recorded. Over time, more mechanisms for responding to crises have developed and become more systematized. Today a large and complex ‘global humanitarian response system’ made up of a multitude of local, national and international actors carries out a wide variety of responses. Understanding this intricate system, and the forces that shape it, are the core focus of this book.
Daniel G Maxwell and Kirsten Gelsdorf highlight the origins, growth, and specific challenges to, humanitarian action and examine why the contemporary system functions as it does. They outline the main actors, explore how they are organised and look at the ways they plan and carry out their operations. Interrogating major contemporary debates and controversies in the humanitarian system, and the reasons why actions undertaken in its name remain the subject of so much controversy, they provide an important overview of the contemporary humanitarian system and the ways it may develop in the future.
This book offers a nuanced understanding of the way humanitarian action operates in the 21st century. It will be essential reading for anyone with an interest in international human rights law, disaster management and international relations.
Iraq. Recently displaced Iraqis reach safety
Iraqi IDP’s displaced by fighting in the village of Shora, 25km South of Mosul, reach an Iraqi army checkpoint on the Northern outskirts of Qayyarah. Qayyarah was liberated from ISIS over two months ago but is still engulfed in thick black smoke from oil wells set ablaze by the retreating militants. IDP's who reach Qayyarah are taken to Ja'dah IDP camp there.
Excerpt from the Preface
Almost ten years ago, Peter Walker and Dan Maxwell wrote Shaping the Humanitarian World. That book proved to be an essential addition to an expanding field of scholarship on the global humanitarian system. However, increased research, shifting policy priorities, altered political landscapes, and the rapid growth of humanitarian action worldwide have all rendered that book outdated. While the underlying institutional architecture of the humanitarian system remains largely the same, the expanding needs of populations caught in crisis, the duration of humanitarian crises, a more fraught operating environment, and a redefinition of who is a humanitarian actor and what defines humanitarian action have transformed how our humanitarian world is understood and what it may look like in the future.
In the ten years since Shaping the Humanitarian World was published, the number of people in need of formal humanitarian assistance globally has increased fivefold. The global humanitarian budget has increased by over 400 percent over the course of the decade. Yet the gap between assessed need and the ability of the traditional humanitarian system to respond has widened nearly every year since 2007. Furthermore, the majority of the 135 million people assessed as in need in 2018 also live in a state of protracted crisis— “short term” and “emergency” are no longer synonymous with “humanitarian.”
The operating environment has also become more complex. Today, most people displaced by conflict and disaster are no longer in camps, but in urban environments—thus challenging long-standing response protocols. Changes in the nature of armed conflict, particularly in light of the Global War on Terror and the greater association of traditional humanitarian actors with donor-government foreign policy, have tightened restrictions on Western actors working to gain humanitarian access and have led to deteriorating conditions in staff safety and security requiring the rise of remote management and new operational protocols—but also bringing greater attention to local actors. The nature of response has shifted away from in-kind material assistance to market-based programs, protection has become a more urgent priority, and enormous efforts have been made to make programs and policy more accountable and driven by evidence.
Finally, the humanitarian world is now recognized as comprising more than the traditional formal system of actors, activities, and policies established in the aftermath of World War II. It encompasses a much wider set of actors and changing policies and humanitarian practices, some of which may not be exclusively or even primarily humanitarian. All these factors have significantly changed the content and challenged old assumptions about humanitarian action, and have led to major reforms and innovations. But many familiar challenges remain, and more have been added. Perhaps the greatest challenges facing the humanitarian world are to learn from its own mistakes and successes and to adapt to an operating environment and policy context that is constantly in flux.