International humanitarian response to crises employs 210,000 people and accounts for nearly $15 billion in spending globally each year. Most action is carried out by not-for-profit organizations working with United Nations (UN) agencies, military organizations, and commercial entities. UN agencies employ many technical experts, often retaining them for five or more years. As yet there is no in...

There have been significant improvements in the design and management of humanitarian aid responses in the last decade. In particular, a significant body of knowledge has been accumulated about public health interventions in emergencies, following calls for developing the evidence base of humanitarian health interventions. Several factors have prompted this, such as the increased volume of huma...

The U.S. Agency for International Development’s strategy for fragile states recognizes the importance of providing health and other key social services as part of humanitarian emergency response and post-conflict interventions (USAID 2005). Concentrating on health needs is critical for dealing with immediate epidemiological crises (Checchi et al. 2007), restoring state functioning, and contribu...