Humanitarian Space: Trends and Issues

Key messages

 

• The widely held belief that humanitarian space is ‘shrinking’ is misleading. Many of the problems agencies face today are not only familiar when compared with the past, but are also in many respects a consequence of expanding humanitarian engagement in conflict-affected crises.

 

• There is a need for greater scrutiny of the international humanitarian system itself and how its nature and evolution affect humanitarian space. Most discussions of humanitarian space are overly preoccupied with the policies and actions of external players, such as militaries, donor governments and UN peacekeeping missions.

 

• The protection of civilians is absent from most discussions of humanitarian space, which are primarily concerned with the ability of international aid agencies to operate and provide material assistance. The sole focus on agency space must give way to an emphasis on how to protect civilians, including the roles played by other actors such as states and armed groups.