First Things First: Understanding Priorities in Humanitarian Action (Executive Summary)

In the humanitarian arena, actors interpret and prioritize different humanitarian actions. The various ways in which they interpret their mission generates multiple understandings of lifesaving criterion. As the criteria and definitions of life-saving keeps evolving, these multiple understandings may create confusion within the humanitarian community as humanitarian actors have differing priorities in times of crisis and differing means to address these priorities.

The overall objective of this research project was to better understand how the priorities of humanitarian action have changed over time. More precisely, it studies how the understanding of ‘life-saving’ has evolved since the first edition of the Sphere Handbook, which was published in 2000. Specifically, this report examines; 1) the evolution of humanitarian priorities throughout history, and 2) analyzes the evolution of the notion of lifesaving in the Sphere Handbooks by looking at the Minimum Standards of the first (2000) and last (2018) editions as a reference.

The cornerstone of this research is Sphere and more specifically, the Minimum Standards that have been developed through the Sphere Handbooks. We chose to focus on the Sphere Handbooks, because they represent a major contribution in terms of humanitarian priorities and standards and have become a global reference in the humanitarian sector. The Sphere Standards have been created in order to “improve the quality of assistance provided to people affected by disasters, and to enhance the accountability of the humanitarian system in disaster response” (Sphere Handbook, 2000). Sphere understands life-saving assistance as including four main sectors: WASH (water supply, sanitation and hygiene), shelter, food assistance and health.