The Grand Bargain at Five Years: An independent review

2021 is proving to be another year in which millions of people are reliant on humanitarian assistance, as indicated by the Global Humanitarian Overview (GHO) 2021. The impacts of armed conflicts, disasters, climate change and the Covid-19 pandemic continue to push people into vulnerability. Humanitarian organisations and donors are faced with growing challenges and expectations as they respond to these needs, as it is not always easy to find solutions to the root causes of these problems. In their efforts to do so, the humanitarian community, including the signatories to the Grand Bargain, strives to assist in the best possible manner. The intentions and objectives of the Grand Bargain negotiators in 2016 were to work together, bound by the Bargain, to improve how assistance reaches people affected by crises and disasters. And their objectives were ambitious! Five years on, there is an opportunity to critically assess progress, individually and collectively. Once again, this year’s annual independent report supports us in this endeavour. The report looks at progress made in 2020, considers broader Grand Bargain developments since 2016 and reflects on the risk-sharing conversation, a topic the Grand Bargain signatories first discussed during the 2020 Annual Meeting