Humanitarian Agenda 2015: Final Report: The State of the Humanitarian Enterprise

This report summarizes the findings of a major research project on the constraints, challenges, and compromises affecting humanitarian action in conflict and crisis settings. The building blocks are 12 case studies of local perceptions of humanitarian action, conducted in 2006 and 2007 in Afghanistan, Burundi, Colombia, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Iraq, Liberia, Nepal, northern Uganda, the occupied Palestinian territory (oPt), Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and the Sudan.
The approach is evidence-based. Findings have been distilled through an inductive process involving interviews and focus group discussions at the community level aimed at eliciting local perceptions on the functioning of the humanitarian enterprise. Additional data was collected through interviews with aid staff and other knowledgeable observers at the country level. All in all, more than 2,000 people provided inputs into the research.
The findings are analyzed around four “petals” or issues:
• the universality of humanitarianism;
• the impact of terrorism and counter-terrorism on humanitarian action;
• the thrust toward coherence between humanitarian and political agendas;
• the security of humanitarian personnel and the communities benefiting from humanitarian action.