Network Paper 46: Humanitarian Futures

Author(s)
Kent, R.
Publication language
English
Pages
23pp
Date published
01 Apr 2004
Type
Research, reports and studies
Keywords
Organisational, System-wide performance
Organisations
ODI

 This paper is about the future, and about how agencies can

adapt to meet it. The humanitarian environment of
tomorrow may well not look much like the humanitarian
environment of today. Many of the changes that are
occurring now – scientifically and technologically,
economically and environmentally, in terms of security and
demography – are likely to impinge in some way on the
humanitarian community. In the foreseeable future, we
may face new types of humanitarian crisis, with new tools
at our disposal to reduce their impact. In turn, many of the
assumptions upon which humanitarian organisations base
their work may be becoming increasingly less relevant. The
question – and the central issue addressed here – is
whether and how humanitarian organisations can deal
with the dynamics of change, and its consequences. What
strategies do they need to develop, and how should such
strategies be linked to policies and practice on the ground?