Fast facts on humanitarian response

This information sheet covers:

• What is humanitarian response, why it occurs and who is involved
• Humanitarian response in disaster management
• Trends in humanitarian response including accountability, reform and challenges

What is humanitarian response?

Humanitarian response in an international context relates to the actions taken by the international community in response to disasters or hazards. Humanitarian response is coordinated through relationships between local authorities and international and domestic agencies, and is crucial to minimising the impact of disasters and hazards on an affected community.

Why does humanitarian response occur?

Disasters and hazards, whether man-made or natural, all impact on local communities and it is often the people living in poverty in these communities who will suffer the most. Many of the world’s poor live day-to-day and often lack capacity to cope with a disruption to their lifestyle. Most essential services, such as access to food, water, sanitation, shelter and health care, are in some way impacted in the wake of a disaster or hazard. This then places marginalised members of society, such as the poor, women, children and the elderly, in a precarious situation and reliant on assistance in order to survive. Rapid action is therefore necessary after a disaster to ensure the impact of the disaster is minimised.

Who coordinates the response to disasters and hazards?

Humanitarian response is managed by the government of the country affected, utilising any management plans and specialised local agencies they have in place for disasters or hazards. If a disaster or hazard is beyond the capacity of the affected country, the country may then turn to the international community for assistance. During this time, humanitarian agencies in the country will begin to assess and respond to the event.

Foreign governments acting on a call for help will pledge a certain amount of aid to be administered through their own government-run aid distribution agency, with capacity for this to be partially channelled through selected non-government organisations (NGOs). The response effort will be determined by the advice and needs of the government of the impacted country. Assistance can include military personnel and equipment deployments, cash funding, emergency food and water supplies, specialists or medical assistance.

NGOs are critical players in assessing needs and providing assistance to affected communities. They are the only players in emergency response that have strong, long-standing links with affected communities and are integrated into civil society networks. Through utilisation of existing funding and/or coordinating emergency appeals, NGOs are able to finance humanitarian response efforts shortly after the event. By either creating new relationships, or utilising existing ones with local authorities and other agencies, NGOs are able to identify threats within the community, and target their efforts towards reducing the impact of these threats and alleviating the burden of human suffering created by the hazard or disaster.

Within the NGO sector, local NGOs have typically grown out of the community and are well placed to address the unique needs of that community. International NGOs (INGOs) can also be present. INGOs have varying structures and can have an established presence or work through local NGOs to provide relief.

The United Nations (UN) is also a key player in humanitarian response, and can play a number of different roles. UN agencies involved in humanitarian response in a direct assisting role include the World Food Programme, the World Health Organisation, the United Nations Children’s Fund and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. Coordination of global humanitarian response efforts is through the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA), an arm of the UN Secretariat. UNOCHA coordinates NGO activities thought sectoral groups or ‘clusters’ such as the water and sanitation, food or shelter cluster. UNOCHA provides a framework for stakeholders in humanitarian response to communicate and collaborate with one another and identify effective ways to respond and reduce duplication of activities. The UN can also play a security role in the region, through Security Council mandates and the deployment of peacekeepers, and act as mediators in political disputes.

Global institutions such as the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank use research conducted by local and international governments and NGOs to coordinate their efforts in providing assistance. Multilateral organisations are also able to use their influence over the global community to call for increased assistance to affected countries, and launch their own programs aimed at addressing critical shortages in the global response to an event.

There are a number of other stakeholders involved in international humanitarian response efforts including the private sector which can provide security services, transportation and logistics. The local markets are also critical players. Finally, bilateral and regional government bodies are also emerging players.

What role does humanitarian response play in disaster management?

Disaster management typically follows the cycle illustrated below. Humanitarian response can be identified in all stages of the disaster cycle, through its effect on short-term crisis management and long-term risk management.

In the short term, crisis management is undertaken incorporating response, rehabilitation and reconstruction in humanitarian response efforts. After a disaster has occurred, assessments of the damage and needs are undertaken and immediate relief is provided based on these assessments – for example, search and rescue operations, safe evacuations, identification of sites for displacement camps, coordinating construction of displacement camps, provision of medical supplies, shelter, food, water and sanitation. This assistance is delivered as soon as possible to provide people with access to basic necessities and to ensure the safety and security of the region. Restoration and rehabilitation of infrastructure and facilities, along with community structures, and the reconstruction of damaged structures also falls under crisis management but can also be incorporated into risk management.

Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) in the form of prevention, mitigation and preparedness is included in long-term risk management strategies once the development and recovery process has started. These measures include such things as building code reform, land zoning, evacuation plans, public education and warning systems. These disaster mitigation measures are often incorporated in short-term humanitarian responses in the rehabilitation and reconstruction phases. This proactive approach to disaster management is seen to be more cost effective then the reactive, short-term crisis management approach, and minimises the scale of human suffering in the event of a future disaster or hazard.

Has humanitarian response efforts grown in recent years?

In line with the upward trend in the number of reported disasters worldwide, more humanitarian responses are being launched. Global mega trends such as climate change, food insecurity, urbanisation and migration have made many regions susceptible to conflict and vulnerable to man-made and natural disasters. With a rapidly increasing world population, especially in developing countries where approximately 92 per cent of people affected by natural disasters each year are located, larger numbers of people are at risk of being affected by a disaster or hazard.

How is the humanitarian sector kept accountable?

In the last two to three decades, many professional NGOs have been taking steps to increase accountability and transparency in their organisations. Some of the ways in which the NGO sector has achieved increased accountability is through joint sector codes such as the ICRC Code of Conduct for Disaster Relief which maintain the integrity of the principles of humanitarian response and ensure that agencies follow ethical standards in their efforts,. In addition, the sector-wide agreement of minimum technical standards indicators, as outlined by the SPHERE Minimum Standards in Disaster Relief, has also achieved basic standards for response. The Humanitarian Accountability Partnership (HAP) is also a key standard for encouraging an audited standard for humanitarian response.

NGOs also adhere to domestic and donor regulations regarding accountability of financial operations and governance as well, such as the ACFID Code of Conduct. There are a myriad of accountability frameworks which guide best practice response and help to ensure accountability. These include measures such as annual and situation reports of their efforts, financial accounts to show where finances flow to and from, and performance measures to evaluate the success of each program.

Has the humanitarian sector undergone any reform?

In the aftermath of the 1994 Rwandan genocide, it was widely recognised within the global community that the humanitarian sector needed drastic reform. Reform has been an ongoing process; however reform has begun to occur more rapidly over the past two decades. The UN has tried to ensure more effective ways of working through the humanitarian reform process launched in 2005 by UNOCHA. The creation of UNOCHA has provided the sector with a much needed international disaster and hazard response framework, allowing for greater communication and cooperation between stakeholders in response efforts. However, there no global action or agreement has been reached regarding widespread reform of the sector. This has pushed NGOs to find ways of ensuring accountability and transparency within their own operations while distributing assistance in the most effective way possible.

Training in humanitarian assistance response has increased over time and the professionalisation of the sector to respond to emergencies is increasing. For example, the UN International Search and Rescue Advisory Group (INSARAG) was established in 1991, and is a global network of more than 80 countries and disaster response organisations. INSARAG maintains a common standard for best practice and provides mandatory requirements for minimum standards in training. Although the NGO sector is not standardised globally, training NGO staff is undertaken at an organisational level and there are also a number of global training bodies which provide training in technical and common standards for effective response.

What are some of the challenges faced by the sector?

Despite some immense humanitarian response successes, there are still a number of constraints that threaten to affect the sustainability and effectiveness of future humanitarian response efforts.

Shortfalls in funding are a major constraint on the success of humanitarian response efforts. Funding is essential for all donors to enable them to respond to a hazard or a disaster. However, due to the size and the scale of disasters and hazards, and even with cooperation between NGOs, foreign and domestic governments and multilateral organisations, there is seldom enough funding available to completely eradicate the impact of a disaster or hazard. The challenge for funding also extends to the issue of proportionality. Often, it is the most prolonged and chronic situations that receive the least amount of attention and financing. The need to ensure the spotlight remains on acute vulnerable populations rather than moving from sudden-onset disasters remains a huge challenge.

With the increased occurrence of disasters and hazards worldwide, and the continuing growth in global population, the impact of disasters and hazards are also increasing. Large-scale disasters, such as cyclones, are becoming more severe, while smaller scale events like floods are affecting larger numbers of people. With resources already stretched across the sector, this increase only adds to the burden felt by donors.

Finding the most effective way to respond to humanitarian crises is a key process to ensuring the best outcome of a response. Although the humanitarian reform process has increased effectiveness in response, the operating environment remains a massive challenge. Even with preparedness, accountability and best measures in place, the uniqueness of each emergency context has unquestionable impacts on effectiveness. For example, damage to infrastructure makes access to certain areas limited, bureaucratic processes such as visa applications slows down response time, and complex political environments cause tensions between the domestic government and foreign donors. Conflict and the complex inter-relationships with civil and military actors can also cause challenges. Finally, and most importantly, all communities have different level of resilience and adaptability which also impacts on the effectiveness of a response.

A further challenge is when goods are purchased then taken into an affected country when they are not appropriate, not needed or are already being locally produced. This wastes money on transport costs and can have huge implications for local economies.

Further information:

United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA)

The Sphere Project Handbook 2004

Contact: ACFID Policy Team