Crises in a New World Order. Challenging the humanitarian project

In 2010, vast humanitarian crises from Haiti to Pakistan almost
overwhelmed the international system’s ability to respond.
Despite years of reform, UN agencies, donors, and international
NGOs (INGOs) struggled to cope. In 2011, Somalia yet again saw a
response too little and too late, driven by media attention, not a
timely, impartial assessment of human needs. At the same time,
humanitarian action is needed now more than ever. The growing
number of vulnerable people, the rise in disasters, and the failure
to put most fragile states on the path to development, will
significantly increase needs.
Western-based donors, INGOs and the UN provide only part of the
answer. Already, new donors and NGOs from around the world
provide a significant share of humanitarian aid. Future
humanitarian action will rely on them, and on the governments
and civil society of crisis-affected countries even more. The UN
and INGOs will be vital, but their contribution will increasingly be
measured by how well they complement and support the efforts of
others, and encourage every humanitarian actor to uphold
humanitarian principles.