Shifting sands: The search for ‘coherence’ between political and humanitarian responses to complex emergencies
نویسندگان
چکیده
The Humanitarian Policy Group at the Overseas Development Institute is Europe's leading team of independent policy researchers dedicated to improving humanitarian policy and practice in response to conflict, instability and disasters. between political and humanitarian responses to complex emergencies Photocopies of all or part of this publication may be made providing that the source is acknowledged. Requests for the commercial reproduction of this report should be directed to the ODI as copyright holders. Macrae has written extensively on humanitarian policy, focussing in particular on the analysis of aid in chronic political emergencies and the changing institutional relationship between aid and foreign policy and between relief and development aid. She has conducted research on Cambodia, Sudan, Ethiopia, Uganda and Sierra Leone. Nicholas Leader has worked for Oxfam in several countries in Africa, East Europe and Asia. At ODI he has worked on humanitarian principles, war economies and the relationship between humanitarianism and politics. Acknowledgements: This study treads on politically sensitive and conceptually challenging ground. Navigating our course has relied upon the input and openness of many individuals and organisations. Rob Dixon provided research assistance to the study, helping to underpin the study in a broader interpretation of international relations. Members of the study's Advisory Group (see Annex 1 for a listing) have provided important insights and advice during the course of the study, assisting in logistics, identifying key informants and documents and commenting on draft material. OCHA Belgrade facilitated the Serbia case study, and particular thanks are due to Robert Dann and Robert Painter for their assistance, logistical and otherwise. In Macedonia, Oxfam UK provided logistical backup and advice, for which we are grateful. Finally, many thanks to our colleagues in HPG who shared their insights and commented extensively on drafts of this report and other related material. While acknowledging these contributions, the authors emphasise that the report expresses only our views. We remain responsible for any errors of fact and interpretation. 'To what extent do you justify sacrificing the humanitarian imperative to long-term political strategy? We are not debating this — it is in the " too difficult " tray. ' 'The relationship between humanitarian aid and political action has always been ambiguous. The moment that political forces are absent or not coherent we ask for political action. The moment they get too involved, we ask them to stop.' 'What we are seeing is the re-emergence of the concept of …
منابع مشابه
The Politics of Coherence: the formation of a new orthodoxy on linking aid and political responses to chronic political emergencies
This paper is about the changing relationship between humanitarian aid and ‘politics’. Specifically, it is concerned to unpack the much touted calls for increased ‘coherence’ between political and humanitarian responses to complex emergencies. It argues that by sleight of hand, the coherence agenda has been reinterpreted such that humanitarian action has become the primary form of political act...
متن کاملThe Politics of Coherence: Humanitarianism and Foreign Policy in the Post-Cold War Era - HPG Policy Briefs 1 - Briefing papers
Humanitarian action has always been a highly political activity. The provision of humanitarian assistance and protection has relied upon engaging with political authorities in conflict-affected countries, and thus influenced the political economy of conflict. At the same time the provision of humanitarian assistance has been influenced by domestic political considerations in donor countries, re...
متن کاملPrimary health care in complex humanitarian emergencies: Rwanda and Kosovo experiences and their implications for public health training.
In a complex humanitarian emergency, a catastrophic breakdown of political, economic, and social systems, often accompanied by violence, contributes to a long-lasting dependency of the affected communities on external service. Relief systems, such as the Emergency Response Units of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, have served as a sound foundation for fieldw...
متن کاملNormalising the crisis in Africa.
Developmental relief has become the central doctrine of 'good practice' in humanitarian responses to complex political emergencies. This is despite the fact that a proliferation of such emergencies reflects a failure of development for people in those countries in crisis. Drawing on case study material from Sudan, Somalia, Rwanda and Uganda, this paper challenges assumptions made about the effi...
متن کاملStates of fragility: stabilisation and its implications for humanitarian action.
This paper explores the evolution of international stabilisation agendas and their significance for humanitarian action. Stabilisation includes a combination of military, humanitarian, political and economic activities to control, contain and manage areas affected by armed conflict and complex emergencies. Encompassing narrow security objectives and broader peace-building efforts, stabilisation...
متن کامل