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On April 15, 2023, fighting erupted in Sudan's capital, Khartoum, between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and a paramilitary unit called the Rapid Support Forces (RSF). Since the start of […]

In this feature, Rob Jenkins, Public Policy Fellow at the Wilson Center, speaks with Nimo Hassan, Executive Director of the Somali NGO Consortium and Board Chair of the International Council […]

The organization Razom for Ukraine has been responding to humanitarian need and community-building in Ukraine since 2014. Dora Chomiak, chief executive officer of Razom for Ukraine, spoke to the Journal [...]

The study reported in this article aimed to find the extent to which the mutual accountability mechanism is applicable in fragile states where state capacity and legitimacy are insufficient. Donors provide foreign aid to fragile states even when there is no firm-standing counterpart to be held accountable. This is done to meet short-term development needs that are heavily focused on humanitarian relief. Based on an examination of the discursive evolution of fragility and donors' categorization of fragile states based on the capacity-legitimacy configuration, this found that development needs in fragile states can be met through mutual accountability relations with partnership platforms. Represented by the g7+, partnership platforms channel the development needs in a collective form and enable their Member States to gain a certain level of legitimacy. Individual approaches to these countries may be challenging, but seeking strategic responses to development needs through such partnership platforms can create new opportunities for development effectiveness. Keywords fragile states--mutual accountability--partnership platform--g7+--development effectiveness, 1 Introduction (1) Approximately 41 percent of those living in extreme poverty reside in politically fragile states, and more than 70 percent live in environmentally vulnerable conditions. (2) For decades [...]

V. SUPERVISORY ACCOUNTABILITY IN THE UN HUMANITARIAN ARCHITECTURE Institutional innovation and development in the humanitarian arena takes place in a tightly constrained normative landscape. Accountability strategies must navigate the preexisting [...]

ABSTRACT This Article critically assesses the crucial but troubled system for the coordination of international humanitarian assistance--the UN "cluster approach." Regardless of whether the cluster approach actually helps in disaster [...]

KABUL -- In the traditional pose of Afghan men, Abdul Zia sits quietly--squatting down on his haunches close to the ground. But something about Abdul Zia doesn't look like the [...]

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has often been maligned for its actions, or lack thereof, during the Second World War. In particular the Committee has been criticised for its apparent inability to compromise its mandate to provide impartial and non-politicised relief. This article discusses some of the problems of this interpretation of ICRC history by showing that, contrary to the image of the ICRC as a 'well-meaning amateur', the Committee responded to the challenges of the Second World War with a series of bold initiatives that were crucial to the organisation's long-term development. Not only did these initiatives improve the success of the ICRC's humanitarian mission, but they also stand as testament to an organisation that, though devoid of diplomatic status and political power, was able to conduct its work whilst being restricted by the policies of belligerent governments and the physical dangers of total war.

The coordination of relief in international humanitarian crises has long been viewed as fraught with problems of inadequate oversight and coordination. Contrary to this claim, this article argues that the international relief system, viewed as interdependent actors, is better understood on the basis of the principle of polycentricity. The authors sketch the conditions necessary to secure a polycentric social order and compare these to the international humanitarian relief framework. They argue that polycentricity may be a more apt aspiration for participants in the international relief system than are calls for new and more stringent forms of monocentric coordination, but its conditions too may be difficult for the relevant participants to realize. The authors explore the tensions and possibilities implicit in this refraining at both the strategic and operating scales. Keywords: humanitarian relief: polycentricity, coordination; sensemaking.

This paper builds on the idea that private sector logistics can and should be applied to improve the performance of disaster logistics but that before embarking on this the private sector needs to understand the core capabilities of humanitarian logistics. With this in mind, the paper walks us through the complexities of managing supply chains in humanitarian settings. It pinpoints the cross learning potential for both the humanitarian and private sectors in emergency relief operations as well as possibilities of getting involved through corporate social responsibility. It also outlines strategies for better preparedness and the need for supply chains to be agile, adaptable and aligned--a core competency of many humanitarian organizations involved in disaster relief and an area which the private sector could draw on to improve their own competitive edge. Finally, the article states the case for closer collaboration between humanitarians, businesses and academics to achieve better and more effective supply chains to respond to the complexities of today's logistics be it the private sector or relieving the fives of those blighted by disaster. Published online 14 December 2005 Keywords: emergency relief operations; humanitarian logistics; supply chain management

Recently, microcredit has become a fashionable cure-all for most non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in Bangladesh. The provision of services to the poor is by definition always difficult, and even NGOs have problems. NGOs in Bangladesh define the poor in different ways when creating their target groups. The policies of nearly all NGOs in Bangladesh are formulated by their senior managers, and field workers are rarely consulted. This paper will explore the opinions on microcredit of selected field workers of four types of NGOs in Bangladesh -- on how the problem of microcredit might be solved. Problems of microcredit programmes, they say, include non-accessibility to the poorest, low return, misuse and overemphasis on repayment. Field workers discuss what level of importance should be given to microcredit as against services like education, health or awareness creation. Most conclude that NGOs are overemphasizing microcredit, which leaves little time and few resources for other problems of the poor, so brin ging the whole 'development' effort of the NGOs into question. Most field workers think that many microenterprises are not sustainable and that in many cases clients will remain dependent on the NGOs for credit. KEY WORDS: Bangladesh, NGOs, microcredit, poverty

Until the terrorist attacks of 11 September 2001, few aside from professional aid workers paid attention to one of the first major humanitarian crises of the twenty-first century. After over [...]

Among the many complicated situations in which humanitarian a operate there have been numerous instances of injustice, cruelty, and manipulation that have been so unacceptable that relief organizations are forced [...]