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95-476: Ban Ki-moon, in his five-year action agenda released in January 2012, set out his vision to develop a humanitarian system that was more global, accountable, and robust. A key aspect of his agenda was "convening a World Humanitarian Summit to help share knowledge and establish common best practices among the wide spectrum of organizations involved in humanitarian action.' The summit’s goal was to fundamentally reform

190-439: A biomedical approach which does not always account for the alternative beliefs and practices about health and well-being in the affected regions. This problem is rarely explored as most studies conducted are done from the lens of the donor or Westernized humanitarian organization rather than the recipient country's perspective. Discovering ways of encouraging locals to embrace bio-medicinal approaches while simultaneously respecting

285-509: A broader development and resilience agenda. Further, the summit neglects to reinforce the obligations of states to uphold and implement the humanitarian and refugee laws which they have signed up to". Policy analyst Rahul Chandran has criticized the summit for lacking focus and specific proposals. Oxfam International and Save the Children , along with a number of other agencies, also expressed concern that adapting humanitarian action to

380-555: A country facing a humanitarian crisis, girls and women can have access to the appropriate aid they need. Some of the unintended effects of food aid include labor and production disincentives , changes in recipients' food consumption patterns and natural resources use patterns, distortion of social safety nets, distortion of NGO operational activities, price changes, and trade displacement. These issues arise from targeting inefficacy and poor timing of aid programs. Food aid can harm producers by driving down prices of local products, whereas

475-450: A crucial role in a timely delivery of humanitarian aid. How aid is delivered can affect the quality and quantity of aid. Often in disaster situations, international aid agencies work in hand with local agencies. There can be different arrangements on the role these agencies play, and such arrangement affects the quality of hard and soft aid delivered. Securing access to humanitarian aid in post-disasters, conflicts, and complex emergencies

570-548: A few short months, the bureaucracies did well to find so much to agree on." Another major achievement was in the area of disaster preparedness. A new " Global Partnership for Preparedness " was launched to help countries get ready for future disasters. The initiative is a collaboration between the V20 (a group of ministers of Finance of the Climate Vulnerable Forum which represents 43 high risk developing nations),

665-495: A given people's culture and beliefs remains a major challenge for humanitarian aid organizations; in particular as organizations constantly enter new regions as crises occur. However, understanding how to provide aid cohesively with existing regional approaches is necessary in securing the local peoples' acceptance of the humanitarian aid's work. Aid is funded by donations from individuals, corporations, governments and other organizations. The funding and delivery of humanitarian aid

760-480: A given situation, organizations frequently interact as competitors, which creates bottlenecks for treatment and supplies. A second limitation is how humanitarian organizations are focused on a specific disaster or epidemic, without a plan for whatever might come next; international organizations frequently enter a region, provide short term aid, and then exit without ensuring local capacity to maintain or sustain this medical care. Finally, humanitarian medical aid assumes

855-613: A government-supported project could weaken the insurgents' position. Related findings of Beath, Christia, and Enikolopov further demonstrate that a successful community-driven development program increased support for the government in Afghanistan by exacerbating conflict in the short term, revealing an unintended consequence of the aid. Waste and corruption are hard to quantify, in part because they are often taboo subjects, but they appear to be significant in humanitarian aid. For example, it has been estimated that over $ 8.75  billion

950-418: A humanitarian aid organization would clash with a government's approach to the unfolding domestic conflict. In such cases, humanitarian aid organizations have sought out autonomy to extend help regardless of political or ethnic affiliation. Humanitarian medical aid as a sector possesses several limitations. First, multiple organizations often exist to solve the same problem. Rather than collaborating to address

1045-437: A natural disaster. Food aid can be provided by importing food from the donor, buying food locally, or providing cash. The welfare impacts of any food aid-induced changes in food prices are decidedly mixed, underscoring the reality that it is impossible to generate only positive intended effects from an international aid program. Food aid that is relatively inappropriate to local uses can distort consumption patterns. Food aid

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1140-677: A non-intergovernmental process that was never its purpose. However, separate to the actual summit proceedings, 61 countries including the United States, Canada and other major donors endorsed a political communiqué , committing to support the " five core responsibilities " of the Secretary-General's " Agenda for Humanity ." The summit was attended by an impressive 173 member states, including 55 heads of state or government, many from countries affected by humanitarian crises. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon expressed disappointment that

1235-768: A perceived dependency syndrome associated with freely distributed food. However, poorly designed FFW programs may cause more risk of harming local production than the benefits of free food distribution. In structurally weak economies, FFW program design is not as simple as determining the appropriate wage rate. Empirical evidence from rural Ethiopia shows that higher-income households had excess labor and thus lower (not higher as expected) value of time, and therefore allocated this labor to FFW schemes in which poorer households could not afford to participate due to labor scarcity. Similarly, FFW programs in Cambodia have shown to be an additional, not alternative, source of employment and that

1330-555: A petition to have the issue tabled at the summit. The justification for the campaign was amplified in Guardian research that suggested a mental health crisis among aid workers. On 10 December 2015, the United Nations General Assembly also referred to this issue, noting " the importance of giving due consideration to the question of the safety and security of United Nations and other humanitarian personnel at

1425-406: A report its outcomes and a list of all commitments was released after the event. According to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, the summit resulted in about 1,500 commitments from 400 UN member states and other organizations. On a political level, the summit received mixed reviews. Critics of the summit argued that the lack of a binding agreement made it "toothless," although supporters say that as

1520-709: A result. This was a result of grain food aid inflows increasing the availability of low-cost inputs to the informal distilling industry. Recent research suggests that patterns of food aid distribution may inadvertently affect the natural environment, by changing consumption patterns and by inducing locational change in grazing and other activities. A pair of studies in Northern Kenya found that food aid distribution seems to induce greater spatial concentration of livestock around distribution points, causing localized rangeland degradation, and that food aid provided as whole grain requires more cooking, and thus more fuelwood

1615-533: A small portion of their diet. Massive shipments of wheat and rice into the West African Sahel during the food crises of the mid-1970s and mid-1980s were widely believed to stimulate a shift in consumer demand from indigenous coarse grains – millet and sorghum – to western crops such as wheat . During the 2000 drought in northern Kenya , the price of changaa (a locally distilled alcohol) fell significantly and consumption seems to have increased as

1710-506: A statistically significan large increase in casualties, as compared to other municipalities who were not part of the CDD. as a result, casualties suffered by government forces from insurgent-initiated attacks increased significantly. These results are consistent with other examples of humanitarian aid exacerbating civil conflict. One explanation is that insurgents attempt to sabotage CDD programs for political reasons – successful implementation of

1805-592: A target for armed forces, especially in countries where the ruling government has limited control outside of the capital. Accounts from Somalia in the early 1990s indicate that between 20 to 80 percent of all food aid was stolen, looted, or confiscated. In the former Yugoslavia , the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) lost up to 30 percent of the total value of aid to Serbian armed forces. On top of that 30 percent, bribes were given to Croatian forces to pass their roadblocks in order to reach Bosnia . The value of

1900-612: A time, rather than requiring annual requests for funding. Parties committed to put more funding into emergency funds, such as the Central Emergency Relief Fund , in order to increase flexibility of how funds can be used in emergencies. Government donors agreed to harmonise the reporting requirements they put on humanitarian agencies by 2018, and reduce the reporting volume. There was agreement to improve collaboration and coordination between groups working on prevention of humanitarian crisis, those working on mitigating

1995-456: A wide range of services, including but not limited to, the delivery of food, water, shelter, medical care, and protection services, and is delivered amidst challenging and often dangerous conditions, with the goal of reaching those most in need regardless of their location, political affiliation, or status. Aid workers are people who are distributed internationally to do humanitarian aid work. The total number of humanitarian aid workers around

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2090-464: Is a major concern for humanitarian actors. To win assent for interventions, aid agencies often espouse the principles of humanitarian impartiality and neutrality . However, gaining secure access often involves negotiation and the practice of humanitarian diplomacy. In the arena of negotiations, humanitarian diplomacy is ostensibly used by humanitarian actors to try to persuade decision makers and leaders to act, at all times and in all circumstances, in

2185-477: Is common. In recent years, a number of concerns have been raised about the mental health of aid workers. The most prevalent issue faced by humanitarian aid workers is post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Adjustment to normal life again can be a problem, with feelings such as guilt being caused by the simple knowledge that international aid workers can leave a crisis zone, whilst nationals cannot. A 2015 survey conducted by The Guardian , with aid workers of

2280-485: Is consumed, stimulating local deforestation . There are different kinds of medical humanitarian aid, including: providing medical supplies and equipment; sending professionals to an affected region; and long-term training for local medical staff. Such aid emerged when international organizations stepped in to respond to the need of national governments for global support and partnership to address natural disasters, wars, and other crises that impact people's health. Often,

2375-622: Is distinct from development aid , which seeks to address underlying socioeconomic factors. Humanitarian aid can come from either local or international communities through international non-governmental organizations (INGOs). In reaching out to international communities, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) of the United Nations (UN) is responsible for coordination responses to emergencies. It taps to

2470-693: Is ever-increasing and has long outstripped the financial resources available. The Central Emergency Response Fund was created at the 2005 Central Emergency Response Fund at the United Nations General Assembly. Humanitarian aid spans a wide range of activities, including providing food aid, shelter, education, healthcare or protection . The majority of aid is provided in the form of in-kind goods or assistance, with cash and vouchers constituting only 6% of total humanitarian spending. However, evidence has shown how cash transfers can be better for recipients as it gives them choice and control, they can be more cost-efficient and better for local markets and economies. It

2565-470: Is important to note that humanitarian aid is not only delivered through aid workers sent by bilateral, multilateral or intergovernmental organizations, such as the United Nations. Actors like the affected people themselves, civil society, local informal first-responders, civil society, the diaspora, businesses, local governments, military, local and international non-governmental organizations all play

2660-532: Is increasingly international, making it much faster, more responsive, and more effective in coping to major emergencies affecting large numbers of people (e.g. see Central Emergency Response Fund ). The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) coordinates the international humanitarian response to a crisis or emergency pursuant to Resolution 46/182 of the United Nations General Assembly . The need for aid

2755-828: Is no clear consensus on the trade-offs between speed and control, especially in emergency situations when the humanitarian imperative of saving lives and alleviating suffering may conflict with the time and resources required to minimise corruption risks. Researchers at the Overseas Development Institute have highlighted the need to tackle corruption with, but not limited to, the following methods: Reports of sexual exploitation and abuse in humanitarian response have been reported following humanitarian interventions in Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone in 2002, in Central African Republic and in

2850-404: Is thus important for humanitarian actors, such as the United Nations, to include challenges specific to women in their humanitarian response. The Inter-Agency Standing Committee provides guidelines for humanitarian actors on how be inclusive of gender as a factor when delivering humanitarian aid. It recommends agencies to collect data disaggregated by sex and age to better understand which group of

2945-516: Is to save lives, alleviate suffering , and maintain human dignity . While often used interchangeably, humanitarian aid and humanitarian assistance are distinct concepts. Humanitarian aid generally refers to the provision of immediate, short-term relief in crisis situations, such as food, water, shelter, and medical care. Humanitarian assistance, on the other hand, encompasses a broader range of activities, including longer-term support for recovery, rehabilitation, and capacity building. Humanitarian aid

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3040-415: Is usually exported from temperate climate zones and is often different than the staple crops grown in recipient countries, which usually have a tropical climate . The logic of food export inherently entails some effort to change consumers' preferences, to introduce recipients to new foods and thereby stimulate demand for foods with which recipients were previously unfamiliar or which otherwise represent only

3135-682: The High-Level Panel on Humanitarian Financing, appointing Kristalina Georgieva and Nazrin Shah of Perak , as co-chairs. The High-Level Panel on Humanitarian Financing produced the report Too important to fail - addressing the humanitarian financing gap which was presented at the World Humanitarian Summit in May 2016. The report highlighted a US$ 15 billion shortfall between the cost of addressing humanitarian needs and

3230-712: The International Aid Transparency Initiative data model was likely the best mechanism to record the data. They also commitment to increase spending on local organisations from 0.4% of the overall budget to 25% by 2020. In subsequent years, this effort became known as Localisation . On cash and voucher assistance , conflicting statements were made simultaneously mentioning the benefits of giving people with humanitarian needs cash, but without setting any specific targets, and also calling for more research into benefits and risks. Parties agreed to reduce duplication and management costs; to harmonise

3325-441: The Overseas Development Institute think tank found some progress but also pointed to fuzzy goals, unwieldy management, and slow-going in certain areas. Humanitarian aid Humanitarian aid is material and logistic assistance, usually in the short-term, to people in need. Among the people in need are the homeless , refugees , and victims of natural disasters , wars, and famines. The primary objective of humanitarian aid

3420-651: The Sphere Project ". It comprises nine core standards, which are complemented by detailed guidelines and indicators. Grand Bargain (humanitarian reform) The Grand Bargain: Agenda for Humanity , usually called the Grand Bargain , is an agreement to reform the delivery of humanitarian aid , that was struck at the World Humanitarian Summit in May 2016. The agreement contains 51 specific commitments, grouped into ten focus areas, with activity targets to be completed by January 1, 2020. Parties to

3515-539: The humanitarian aid industry to react more effectively to today’s many crises. World leaders were expected to come to the summit and announce the actions they will take to end the suffering of millions of women, men and children affected by armed conflicts and disasters . The summit convened 9000 participants from 173 countries, including 55 heads of state and government, hundreds of private sector representatives, and thousands of people from civil society and nongovernmental organizations. First announced in January 2012,

3610-540: The 1980s, and the prevention of relief aid in the Tigray War of 2020–2021 by the Abiy Ahmed Ali regime of Ethiopia was again widely condemned. Humanitarian aid in conflict zones is the provision of emergency assistance and support to individuals and communities affected by armed conflict, with the aim of alleviating suffering, maintaining human dignity, and preserving life. This type of aid encompasses

3705-525: The 1990s and 2000s. In 2017, the Aid Worker Security Database (AWSD) documented 139 humanitarian workers killed in intentional attacks out of the estimated global population of 569,700 workers. In every year since 2013, more than 100 humanitarian workers were killed. This is attributed to a number of factors, including the increasing number of humanitarian workers deployed, the increasingly unstable environments in which they work, and

3800-577: The Democratic Republic of the Congo. 2021 reporting on a Racial Equity Index report indicated that just under two-thirds of aid workers have experienced racism and 98% of survey respondents witnessed racism. Countries or war parties that prevent humanitarian relief are generally under unanimous criticism. Such was the case for the Derg regime, preventing relief to the population of Tigray in

3895-744: The European Commission , overseeing EU humanitarian aid worldwide. He previously held a number of senior positions in the European Commission, focussing on external relations, neighbourhood, development, energy and maritime policies. Before joining the EU, he worked in the German cooperation ministry BMZ and as a country representative in Morocco and Tunisia for the Konrad-Adenauer-Foundation . They are responsible for steering

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3990-626: The Global Development Professionals Network, revealed that 79 percent experienced mental health issues. Humanitarian aid workers belonging to United Nations organisations, PVOs / NGOs or the Red Cross / Red Crescent are among the list of protected persons under international humanitarian law that grant them immunity from attack by belligerent parties. However, attacks on humanitarian workers have occasionally occurred, and become more frequent since

4085-640: The Lendu (opposition of Hema). Humanitarian aid workers have acknowledged the threat of stolen aid and have developed strategies for minimizing the amount of theft en route. However, aid can fuel conflict even if successfully delivered to the intended population as the recipient populations often include members of rebel groups or militia groups , or aid is "taxed" by such groups. Academic research emphatically demonstrates that on average food aid promotes civil conflict. Namely, increase in US food aid leads to an increase in

4180-595: The Nigeria-Biafra civil war in the late 1960s, where the rebel leader Odumegwu Ojukwu only allowed aid to enter the region of Biafra if it was shipped on his planes. These shipments of humanitarian aid helped the rebel leader to circumvent the siege on Biafra placed by the Nigerian government. These stolen shipments of humanitarian aid caused the Biafran civil war to last years longer than it would have without

4275-614: The Summit preparations. "The summit is a point of departure in getting those in the aid community to work differently, to improve the way we deliver assistance," said summit head Antoine Gérard. The World Humanitarian Summit programme included 7 roundtables, 14 special sessions, 132 side events and an announcement plenary. At the Summit, governments, humanitarian organizations, business, and other stakeholders announced more than 1,500 commitments on how they want to improve humanitarian action. The summit proceedings were made available online and

4370-620: The UN and the World Bank. The partnership will help 20 most at-risk countries attain a basic level of readiness by 2020 for future disaster risks, mainly caused by climate change. The summit process also resulted in the " Education Cannot Wait " fund, the first global fund to prioritise education in humanitarian action. Several countries pledged financial contributions to the fund, including the UK, which committed £30 million. Another important outcome of

4465-603: The UN's aid chief Stephen O'Brien stating in an interview that the UN doesn't need to fundamentally change, but to "build on the best" and bring in additional innovation and skills. At the Global Consultation meeting in Geneva, Kenya-based Adeso and other humanitarian organizations called for a shift of power and funding from international organizations to those working on the ground. Currently, local organizations receive two percent of direct humanitarian funding with

4560-573: The United States food aid promoted civil conflict in recipient countries on average. An increase in United States' wheat aid increased the duration of armed civil conflicts in recipient countries, and ethnic polarization heightened this effect. However, since academic research on aid and conflict focuses on the role of aid in post-conflict settings, the aforementioned finding is difficult to contextualize. Nevertheless, research on Iraq shows that "small-scale [projects], local aid spending ... reduces conflict by creating incentives for average citizens to support

4655-746: The World Humanitarian Summit ." Rebecca Maudling, company director at ILS, wrote: 'of the 112 side events (at the summit), there is one co-hosted by RedR UK on strategies to end attacks specifically on health workers and one co-hosted by Humanitarian Outcomes on improving access and assistance which is likely to touch on the issues. However, despite targeting of aid workers and repeated violations of international humanitarian law which directly affects their safety, wellbeing, and ultimately their ability to deliver humanitarian assistance, this issue does not appear to have gained any prominence." Summit preparations also led to wider controversy over

4750-405: The World Humanitarian Summit built on several years of preparation, including consultations with more than 23,000 people in 153 countries. Notable documents include a synthesis report summarizing the findings of the consultations and a report by U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon titled ‘One Humanity, Shared Responsibility.’ Eight regional consultations were held between 2014 and 2015 to determine

4845-1261: The advancement of the Grand Bargain commitments. As of June 2023, the Grand Bargain is championed by three Ambassadors, in 2023-2026: Jemilah Mahmood , Manuel Bessler and Michael Köhler . Jemilah Mahmood , a humanitarian and medical professional, is currently the Executive Director of the Sunway Centre for Planetary Health at Sunway University in Malaysia . She also advises the Consultative Council for Foreign Policy Malaysia and Ministry of Health Malaysia . Manuel Bessler led humanitarian efforts at Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation and UN OCHA for over two decades, with roles in New York, Jerusalem, and Pakistan, and worked with UNPROFOR in Yugoslavia in 1994. Michael Köhler serves as Deputy Director-General for European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations at

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4940-413: The agenda for the summit and the key issues to be discussed. Online submissions were also accepted between May 2014 and July 2015. The results of the consultation process were presented in a synthesis report at the Global Consultation in Geneva, Switzerland, on October 14–16, 2015. On February 9, 2016, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon released a report building on the findings of the consultation process. In

5035-609: The agreement are national governments and humanitarian aid agencies, 30 of which initially signed up, rising to 48 within the first year; the 48 signatories controlled 95% of global humanitarian aid spending at the time. As of 2023, 66 signatories were part of the Grand Bargain process reform, representing an array of humanitarian actors including, 25 members states, 25 NGOs, 12 UN agencies, 2 Red Cross/Red Crescent movements and 2 Inter-governmental organisations. By 2020, only partial progress had occurred, prompting criticism from some humanitarian practitioners and reflection from others that

5130-465: The aid, claim experts. The most well-known instances of aid being seized by local warlords in recent years come from Somalia , where food aid is funneled to the Shabab, a Somali militant group that controls much of Southern Somalia. Moreover, reports reveal that Somali contractors for aid agencies have formed a cartel and act as important power brokers, arming opposition groups with the profits made from

5225-459: The differing needs of gender, age, and disability was not given high enough priority. There was also an online campaign to include issues around aid worker health and safety. This campaign was started by Brendan McDonald, a UN aid worker, in a July 2015 article in The Guardian , "Humanitarian agencies need to stop failing their staff on mental health", which called upon aid workers to support

5320-449: The effects of crisis and those responding to emergencies. In total, the Grand Bargain included 51 specific commitments each grouped under the aforementioned themes. In 2021, a strategic shift was made as the Grand Bargain and its signatories adopted a narrower set of objectives and related adjustments to structures and ways of working to ensure a higher political engagement. This transition was driven both by what had been achieved to date in

5415-417: The erosion of the perception of neutrality and independence. In 2012 road travel was seen to be the most dangerous context, with kidnappings of aid workers quadrupling in the last decade, reaching more aid workers victims than any other form of attack. The humanitarian community has initiated a number of interagency initiatives to improve accountability, quality and performance in humanitarian action. Four of

5510-435: The estimated global humanitarian response requirements amount to approximately US$ 46.4 billion, targeting around 188 million of the most vulnerable people in 69 countries. The three major drivers of humanitarian needs worldwide are conflicts, climate-related disasters, and economic factors. Food aid is a type of aid whereby food that is given to countries in urgent need of food supplies, especially if they have just experienced

5605-571: The first-ever global compact on including young people in humanitarian action. On 5 May Médecins Sans Frontières withdrew from the summit: "With regret, we have come to the decision to pull out of the summit. We no longer have any hope that the WHS will address the weaknesses in humanitarian action and emergency response, particularly in conflict areas or epidemic situations. Instead, the WHS’s focus would seem to be an incorporation of humanitarian assistance into

5700-410: The global budget to respond. It called for new ways to fund growing humanitarian needs, such as taxation for luxury goods and services. The group's report called for a Grand Bargain between nations to address the unmet humanitarian needs. Parties to the agreement committed transparently and harmoniously sharing high-quality data on humanitarian funding within two years. The agreement indicated that

5795-552: The goal of which is to ensure migrants and refugees retain access to basic goods and services and the labour market. Basic needs, including access to shelter, clean water, and child protection, are supplemented by the UN's efforts to facilitate social integration and legal regularization for displaced individuals. Since the 2010 Haiti Earthquake , the institutional and operational focus of humanitarian aid has been on leveraging technology to enhance humanitarian action, ensuring that more formal relationships are established, and improving

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5890-416: The government in subtle ways." Similarly, another study also shows that aid flows can "reduce conflict because increasing aid revenues can relax government budget constraints, which can [in return] increase military spending and deter opposing groups from engaging in conflict." Thus, the impact of humanitarian aid on conflict may vary depending upon the type and mode in which aid is received, and, inter alia,

5985-490: The humanitarian actors focus their efforts on quality funding, localisation, participation of affected populations, the nexus approach, innovative financing, and anticipatory action. As part of his 2012 goal to improve the humanitarian system, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon convened the 2016 World Humanitarian Summit in Istanbul with the goal of knowledge sharing and creating best practices. Ki-moon created

6080-406: The humanitarian system, the commitments were expected to save US$ 1 billion per year. Each of the ten focus areas has two co-conveners, a government donor and a humanitarian aid agency who report into a facilitation group that coordinates the work between the ten focus areas. Between 2016 and 2023, the Grand Bargain was championed by an Eminent Person, responsible for promoting and advocating for

6175-586: The incidence of armed civil conflict in the recipient country. Another correlation demonstrated is food aid prolonging existing conflicts, specifically among countries with a recent history of civil conflict. However, this does not find an effect on conflict in countries without a recent history of civil conflict. Moreover, different types of international aid other than food which is easily stolen during its delivery, namely technical assistance and cash transfers, can have different effects on civil conflict. Community-driven development (CDD) programs have become one of

6270-517: The interaction between formal humanitarian organizations such as the United Nations (UN) Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) and informal volunteer and technological communities known as digital humanitarians . The recent rise in Big Data , high-resolution satellite imagery and new platforms powered by advanced computing have already prompted the development of crisis mapping to help humanitarian organizations make sense of

6365-484: The interest of vulnerable people and with full respect for fundamental humanitarian principles . However, humanitarian diplomacy is also used by state actors as part of their foreign policy. The UN implements a multifaceted approach to assist migrants and refugees throughout their relocation process. This includes children's integration into the local education system, food security, and access to health services. The approach also encompasses humanitarian transportation,

6460-424: The local socio-economic, cultural, historical, geographical and political conditions in the recipient countries. International aid organizations identify theft by armed forces on the ground as a primary unintended consequence through which food aid and other types of humanitarian aid promote conflict. Food aid usually has to be transported across large geographic territories and during the transportation it becomes

6555-513: The most popular tools for delivering development aid. In 2012, the World Bank supported 400 CDD programs in 94 countries, valued at US$ 30 billion. Academic research scrutinizes the effect of community-driven development programs on civil conflict. The Philippines ' flagship development program KALAHI-CIDSS is concluded to have led to an increase in violent conflict in the country. After the program's initiation, some municipalities experienced

6650-635: The most widely known initiatives are, ALNAP, the CHS Alliance , the Sphere Project and the Core Humanitarian Standard on Quality and Accountability (CHS). Representatives of these initiatives began meeting together on a regular basis in 2003 in order to share common issues and harmonise activities where possible. The Sphere Project handbook, Humanitarian Charter and Minimum Standards in Disaster Response, which

6745-605: The new head of the secretariat. On March 7, 2016, there was a reorganization of the summit management team by OCHA . Stephen O'Brien , the Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and emergency relief coordinator, and Kyung-wha Kang , the Assistant Secretary-General and deputy emergency relief coordinator took responsibility for strategic oversight of the summit preparations. Gwi-Yeop Son , Director of OCHA Corporate Programmes,

6840-415: The organization of the summit. The secretariat was funded and supported by a wide range of donors including the European Commission for Humanitarian Aid and Civil Protection. In April 2014, Dr. Jemilah Mahmood of Malaysia was appointed as the chief of the secretariat. After the summit's global consultation, Mahmood left the secretariat to take up a new role. In November 2015, Antoine Gérard was announced as

6935-470: The original ambitions has an unrealistic time frame. Five years after the initial agreement of the Grand Bargain in 2016, the Signatories undertook a review in 2021, resulting in the launch of the Grand Bargain 2.0 for two years (until 2023). In June 2023, the 66 signatories endorsed the new iteration of the Grand Bargain for the 2023-2026 period. Anchored in the original commitments of the agreement,

7030-423: The population is in need of what type of aid. In recent years, the United Nations have been using sex and age disaggregated data more and more, consulting with gender specialists. In the assessment phase, several UN agencies meet to compile data and work on a humanitarian response plan. Throughout the plans. women specific challenges are listed and sex and age disaggregated data are used so when they deliver aid to

7125-533: The process towards its strategic objective. Each of them leads on specific focus area: participation , localisation , quality funding , and catalysing system-wide transformation . 30 governments and aid agencies signed up to the Grand Bargain initially, expanding to 48 by March 2017. At the time, the 48 signatories controlled 95% of global spending on humanitarian aid. By December 2021, 64 organizations had signed up. Government signatories included USA, UK, Germany, France, and Japan; aid agency signatories included

7220-469: The producers are not themselves beneficiaries of food aid. Unintentional harm occurs when food aid arrives or is purchased at the wrong time, when food aid distribution is not well-targeted to food-insecure households, and when the local market is relatively poorly integrated with broader national, regional and global markets. Food aid can drive down local or national food prices in at least three ways. Beyond labor disincentive effects , food aid can have

7315-457: The recipient countries. Aid stealing is one of the prime ways in which conflict is promoted by humanitarian aid. Aid can be seized by armed groups, and even if it does reach the intended recipients, "it is difficult to exclude local members of a local militia group from being direct recipients if they are also malnourished and qualify to receive aid." Furthermore, analyzing the relationship between conflict and food aid, recent research shows that

7410-399: The report, the Secretary-General noted five core responsibilities to improve humanitarian action: As an annex to the report, the Secretary-General put forward an agenda for humanity, which described his vision for the future of humanitarian action and outlined what was needed to deliver on the five responsibilities. In 2013 a secretariat was established to manage the consultation process and

7505-483: The rest going to organizations based in Europe and the United States. To continue advocating for this shift, the first ever Global Network of Southern non-governmental organizations is scheduled to be launched in May 2016 during the summit. Some in the aid community described the process as "endless", "top down", and a "smokescreen" doing little to deliver humanitarian aid more efficiently. A 2019 annual progress report by

7600-524: The stolen aid" Rwandan government appropriation of food aid in the early 1990s was so problematic that aid shipments were canceled multiple times. In Zimbabwe in 2003, Human Rights Watch documented examples of residents being forced to display ZANU-PF Party membership cards before being given government food aid. In eastern Zaire , leaders of the Hema ethnic group allowed the arrival of international aid organizations only upon agreement not give aid to

7695-574: The stolen or lost provisions can exceed the value of the food aid alone since convoy vehicles and telecommunication equipment are also stolen. MSF Holland, international aid organization operating in Chad and Darfur , underscored the strategic importance of these goods, stating that these "vehicles and communications equipment have a value beyond their monetary worth for armed actors, increasing their capacity to wage war" A famous instance of humanitarian aid unintentionally helping rebel groups occurred during

7790-454: The structure and distribution of power within the humanitarian system. At ALNAP ’s Global Forum in June 2015, humanitarian organizations called on the United Nations to reform its mandates and streamline UN agencies to better meet the humanitarian needs of people globally. Some have said that discussion of UN reform was resisted by senior UN leadership during the regional consultations process, and

7885-606: The summit was the Charter on Inclusion of Persons with Disabilities in Humanitarian Action. The charter was hailed as "a victory for disabled people who have been largely ignored in humanitarian aid operations". The summit generated many other commitments and initiatives. The Secretary-General and eight UN agencies signed a " commitment " to work in new ways across their humanitarian and development efforts in order to meet and reduce human suffering. Leaders also launched

7980-520: The templates for grant agreements between government donors and humanitarian agencies. There was agreement for unification of assessments of unmet humanitarian needs, although that element was criticised by ACAPS for not addressing the necessary changes they called for. A commitment was made to better include the perspectives of the people in communities affected by humanitarian crisis. Parties committed to multi-year funding; to provide aid agencies with agreements to fund their activities for multiple years at

8075-501: The unintended consequence of discouraging household-level production. Poor timing of aid and FFW wages that are above market rates cause negative dependency by diverting labor from local private uses, particularly if FFW obligations decrease labor on a household's own enterprises during a critical part of the production cycle. This type of disincentive impacts not only food aid recipients but also producers who sell to areas receiving food aid flows. FFW programs are often used to counter

8170-805: The use and coordination of cash-based programming • Workstream 4: Reduce duplication and management costs with periodic functional reviews • Workstream 5: Improve joint and impartial needs assessment • Workstream 6: Participation Revolution: include people receiving aid in making the decisions which affect their lives • Workstream 7&8: Increase collaborative humanitarian multi-year planning and funding & reduce earmarking of donor contribution • Workstream 9: Harmonise and simplify reporting requirements • Workstream 10: Humanitarian-development nexus and donors and donors and donors and donors and donors and inclusion and donors funding and donors earmarking of funds by nation and donors and donors and donors In addition to improving

8265-870: The various members of Inter-Agency Standing Committee , whose members are responsible for providing emergency relief. The four UN entities that have primary roles in delivering humanitarian aid are United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR), the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) and the World Food Programme (WFP). According to the Global Humanitarian Overview of OCHA, nearly 300 million people need humanitarian assistance and protection in 2024, or 1 out of 27 people worldwide. In 2024,

8360-740: The various thematic areas of the original Grand Bargain framework from 2016. As part of the 2023-2026 Grand Bargain iteration, two focus areas have been decided among the Signatories: • Focus Area 1: Continued support to localisation, participation of affected communities, and quality funding. • Focus Area 2: Catalysing sector wide transformation through the Grand Bargain. • Cross-cutting issues -Gender -Risk Sharing The Grand Bargain sets out 51 commitments, distilled into 10 thematic workstreams: • Workstream 1: Greater Transparency • Workstream 2: More support and funding tools for local and national responders • Workstream 3: Increase

8455-719: The vast volume and velocity of information generated during disasters. For example, crowdsourcing maps (such as OpenStreetMap ) and social media messages in Twitter were used during the 2010 Haiti Earthquake and Hurricane Sandy to trace leads of missing people, infrastructure damages and raise new alerts for emergencies. Even prior to a humanitarian crisis , gender differences exist. Women have limited access to paid work , are at risk of child marriage , and are more exposed to Gender based violence , such as rape and domestic abuse. Conflict and natural disasters exacerbate women's vulnerabilities. When delivering humanitarian aid, it

8550-430: The very poor rarely participate due to labor constraints. In addition to post-conflict settings, a large portion of aid is often directed at countries currently undergoing conflicts. However, the effectiveness of humanitarian aid, particularly food aid, in conflict-prone regions has been criticized in recent years. There have been accounts of humanitarian aid being not only inefficacious but actually fuelling conflicts in

8645-744: The world has been calculated by ALNAP , a network of agencies working in the Humanitarian System, as 210,800 in 2008. This is made up of roughly 50% from NGOs, 25% from the Red Cross/Red Crescent Movement and 25% from the UN system. In 2010, it was reported that the humanitarian fieldworker population increased by approximately 6% per year over the previous 10 years. Aid workers are exposed to tough conditions and have to be flexible, resilient, and responsible in an environment that humans are not psychologically supposed to deal with, in such severe conditions that trauma

8740-697: The world's most powerful leaders did not attend, notably those from the G7 countries except for German Chancellor Angela Merkel. However, at the closing press conference, Ban Ki-moon said "The absence of these leaders from World Humanitarian Summit does not provide an excuse for inaction." One of the summit's main achievements was the Grand Bargain , which is the name for a set of 51 "commitments" to reform humanitarian financing to make emergency aid finance more efficient and effective. According to IRIN reporting, "to some it hasn’t gone nearly far enough. Others say, given

8835-550: Was lost to waste, fraud, abuse and mismanagement in the Hurricane Katrina relief effort. Non-governmental organizations have in recent years made great efforts to increase participation, accountability and transparency in dealing with aid, yet humanitarian assistance remains a poorly understood process to those meant to be receiving it—much greater investment needs to be made into researching and investing in relevant and effective accountability systems. However, there

8930-599: Was placed in charge of all aspects of the summit logistics, including liaisons with the Government of Turkey. John Ging, Director of OCHA Operations, was assigned responsibility of delivering the Grand Bargain . Herve Verhoosel, an experienced communications expert, was recruited as Spokesperson for the Summit in March 2016. In March and April 2016 OCHA reassigned over 140 of their staff from existing emergency operations such as South Sudan and headquarter functions, to support

9025-736: Was produced by a coalition of leading non-governmental humanitarian agencies, lists the following principles of humanitarian action: Another humanitarian standard used is the Core Humanitarian Standard on Quality and Accountability (CHS). It was approved by the CHS Technical Advisory Group in 2014, and has since been endorsed by many humanitarian actors such as "the Boards of the Humanitarian Accountability Partnership (HAP), People in Aid and

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