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Operational Challenges

The structure of the humanitarian INGO

Given the diversity of humanitarian agencies, there is little coherence between the operational structure and management systems that agencies use to deliver humanitarian programmes. To date there is a lack of analysis of the efficiency of different operational approaches, and more needs to be done to develop and implement internal learning mechanisms to inform structural and managerial decision making. While the staffing profile of each agency will reflect its own mandate and ethos, a comparative understanding of structures could be helpful.

Human Resources

When responding to humanitarian crises individual agencies must make crucial decisions over the staffing profile of their programmes. Such decisions include whether to manage programmes through national or ex-pat staff, whether to work through local partners, volunteers and external consultants or to manage programmes through internal agency staff. There is a lack of cohesion within the humanitarian workforce itself, with little consensus within the sector over universally required job roles and person specifications, this in turn hinders the recruitment and recognition of qualified staff, the ease of transfer of staff between agencies and the development of relevant training courses, staff development opportunities and staff care and support services.

Information Management and communication

The management of information within and between humanitarian agencies is a chronic challenge that continues to impact on the efficiency of international humanitarian response. While the UN cluster system has gone some way in improving the coordination of information and activities, individual agencies continue to struggle in responding, organising and communicating information to their own staff, to beneficiaries and to the international community. In a rapid response situation, agencies are often forced to start programming in a relative information blackout, building their knowledge base iteratively through their response. Systems to gather and manage information are rarely standardised and in many cases produce too much, or the wrong kind, of information, making it difficult for managers to make responsible rapid decisions.

The International Funding Environment

The international funding environment for humanitarian relief is going through a period of transformation. The current global financial crisis is expected to have a significant impact on funding streams, most severely for chronic or slow-onset emergencies. Short-term funding cycles dominate the sector, which are oriented to rapid response or country-based DRR linked to the 'known' emergency situations of the recent past, rather than the 'unknown' of the future. At the same time new donors and funding markets are emerging; new philanthropist foundations in the middle-east, new Chinese NGOs; and active Diaspora communities. The changing funding environment may also signal a change to the established humanitarian players; likely consequences include mergers and acquisitions between agencies, and the appearance of new NGOS linked to the new donors.