Humanitarian principles

The role of the humanitarian agency

Humanitarian agencies are diverse, with differing operating and structural models, mandates and founding principles according to their history. Some agencies operate almost entirely on a voluntary basis; others more closely resemble private-sector businesses, while others appear more military in their set-up. The reform of the UN system has thrown up increasingly complex questions about the role of the third sector in response and the best way to effectively coordinate a diverse community. Recent years have also seen the appearance of private sector actors, with no underlying 'humanitarian' mandate, delivering services in disaster relief operations as 'for-profit' initiatives; and the increasing incidence and coverage of military participation in relief activities blur the perception of who and what is a humanitarian actor, and threaten the independence and neutrality of humanitarian action. While there can be strength in diversity, the increase in humanitarian crises anticipated over the next decade will require innovating uses of available resources and skills, and a more sophisticated understanding of the impact of perceptions on the security of aid workers and beneficiaries.

• Humanitarian Professionalisation

ELRHA is commissioning a unique piece of research that aims to provide the humanitarian community with the opportunity to explore the idea of humanitarian professionalisation, with an ultimate aim to identify the ideal scope and structure of a framework through which the transformation to a professionally recognised and regulated sector could be achieved.

Accountability

Over the last two decades the concept of 'accountability' has grown in prominence within the humanitarian field. Today there are a multiplicity of 'accountability' frameworks and initiatives, each with a mission to improve the relationship between the intervening agency and the disaster affected beneficiary. While there is wholehearted agreement within the sector of the need for a recognised mechanism to ensure agencies are accountable to beneficiaries there is concern that the main thrust of accountability is focused on ensuring the uptake and implementation of programmatic 'tools', and that such a technically embedded process might overlook the importance of the people, attitudes and behaviors of humanitarian staff in ensuring relief is accountable.