Securing Access in Volatile Environments (SAVE) - Component 2: Enabling Access and Quality Aid in Insecure Environments

The goal of Component 2 is to improve the evidence base on enabling access and quality humanitarian aid in highly insecure settings. The research centres on two questions: what works for enabling humanitarian access in the most insecure environments, and what works to deliver quality aid in situations of reduced oversight and control.

The research methodology for Component 2 consists of aid-actor interviews, affected-population consultations and a series of stakeholder workshops in the four field settings: Afghanistan, South Central Somalia, South Sudan and Syria.

The following factors were examined to understand their relationship to aid access and quality: staffing and organisational issues; partnerships; risks and risk management; outreach and negotiations; humanitarian principles; and corruption, diversion and conflict dynamics. The research has also explored other factors – such as types of funding, the identity of the aid group, programming approaches and specific delivery mechanisms – that might influence the level of access and quality organisations have been able to achieve. In addition, consultations with affected populations seek to understand how people access aid safely and how they view its quality.