Planning from the Future: Is the Humanitarian System Fit for Purpose?

Is the humanitarian sector t for purpose? Does it have the capacity and vision to tackle the crises of today, tomorrow and deep into the future? The scale and complexity of the conflicts and disasters confronted by humanitarians and the populations they aim to help leave them bruised and sometimes abused. There is a widespread feeling of frustration among humanitarian organisations and donors, both in the field and at their headquarters.

If the humanitarian system is unable to deal with the challenges of today, what does this tell us about its ability to prepare for the challenges the next generation will face? Imperfect as it is, buffeted by politics and chronically underfunded, humanitarian action remains essential for people in extremis. The question that Planning from the Future (PFF) raises, therefore, is how will these tensions and interactions be managed in the future – twenty or thirty years from now? What do we need to do now to prepare for then – for a humanitarian future that will be paradigmatically different from the past? The PFF project explores the reasons why fundamental reform is critical to achieving a more modern, effective and adaptative humanitarian system, and argues that this goal requires a rethink of how the sector looks and operates.