A Partnership at Risk? The UN-NGO Relationship in Light of UN Integration

The establishment of United Nations (UN) Integrated Missions – whereby humanitarian coordination and leadership are placed under the umbrella of political and peacekeeping missions – has raised serious concerns within the humanitarian community. This discussion paper explores how integration has impacted on humanitarian coordination and particularly the relationship between the UN humanitarian actors and NGOs.

The main assertions have been that UN integration undermines the independence of humanitarian action; silences the humanitarian voice and reporting of the UN; and distorts local power holders’ perception of humanitarian action and actors, risking the safety of both humanitarian workers and the people who benefit from humanitarian action.

This discussion paper aims to provide a different perspective on the ongoing integration debate. It explores an area that has received little attention to date: how integration has impacted cooperation within the humanitarian community – particularly between the UN and the NGOs. The paper also touches upon integrated UN security management. While security management is not directly linked to UN integration, it is seen as one of the greatest impediments to UN-NGO coordination.

The analysis is based on interviews with staff from UN missions, UN agencies, donor governments and NGOs working in Afghanistan, DRC and Somalia conducted in 2011 by the Norwegian Refugee Council. It also draws on consultations with other NGOs. Doubtlessly, Afghanistan, DRC and Somalia all present fairly extreme operating contexts, where humanitarian principles are tested to the limits. That makes it particularly important that the UN considers very carefully the implications of structural integration here. Yet, it is recognised that they are not necessarily representative of other humanitarian contexts in many respects.