Abstract
Displacement due to weather and climate-related events (disaster displacement), including the adverse effects of climate change, is one of the greatest humanitarian challenges of the 21st ...century. Even though the forecasting of extreme events and early warning systems has improved globally, less attention has been given to translating anticipatory humanitarian action into the disaster displacement context with the aim to minimize forced displacement from extreme weather events through pre-allocated funds for the readiness, pre-positioning and activation costs. In this analysis, we assess the opportunities and challenges associated with utilising forecast-based financing (FbF) to expand anticipatory and early humanitarian action, based on the structured judgements of experts. These multi-disciplinary experts agree that FbF can reduce displacement risks and address the humanitarian impacts of disaster displacement early, or before a hazard materializes. We propose four action steps along the stages of disaster displacement to provide practical intervention points for researchers and practitioners. Finally, we discuss the implications of our findings and outline next steps. By integrating cross-disciplinary expert judgement, this paper provides a much-needed pathway to transform humanitarian action to be more anticipatory and adaptable to change, and help minimize disaster displacement in climate change vulnerable regions.
•Humanitarian forensic investigation should take into account psychosocial needs.•Forensic action with a psychosocial approach contributes to healing processes.•A psychosocial approach can improve ...the result of forensic investigations.•Coordinated interaction among forensic and psychosocial fields is required.
Forensic humanitarian action is aimed at alleviating suffering and maintaining human dignity, with the victims and their families at the core. International recommendations emphasize the importance of psychological support and psychosocial work as an integral part of forensic investigations into missing persons.
Psychosocial action does not simply refer to emotional support but is based on the idea of the individual being the holder of rights, encouraging decision taking, affirming actions, and elaborating personal and collective histories. In this framework, forensics and psychosocial sciences need to work in complementary and coordinated interaction for the benefit of the families and communities.
For forensic investigations to be restorative – their ultimate humanitarian objective – there are certain additional conditions apart from those of scientific quality and ethics: respect, information and coordination are among the main pillars for forensic action with a psychosocial approach, taking into account the need to treat on an individual and collective level the continuous psychological affectations caused by the disappearance of a loved one. On this basis, psychological and psychosocial accompaniment of the victims can contribute to the victims’ healing process and also improve the forensic investigations themselves.
This article, which is based on the experience of two decades of practical forensic and psychosocial work in the field, explains the main psychological effects of disappearances and the resulting needs. It gives a short historical overview of the origins and developments in psychosocial support and a perspective in relation to the search for missing persons and forensic interventions in Latin America. It goes on to demonstrate how coordinated interaction among the forensic and psychosocial fields strengthens both of them to the benefit of the affected families, groups and communities. Finally, it takes up some of the international recommendations of best practices with particular significance for the implementation of a psychosocial approach in forensic investigations.
Data-driven artificial intelligence (AI) technologies are progressively transforming the humanitarian field, but these technologies bring about significant risks for the protection of vulnerable ...individuals and populations in situations of conflict and crisis. This article investigates the opportunities and risks of using AI in humanitarian action. It examines whether and under what circumstances AI can be safely deployed to support the work of humanitarian actors in the field. The article argues that AI has the potential to support humanitarian actors as they implement a paradigm shift from reactive to anticipatory approaches to humanitarian action. However, it recommends that the existing risks, including those relating to algorithmic bias and data privacy concerns, must be addressed as a priority if AI is to be put at the service of humanitarian action and not to be deployed at the expense of humanitarianism. In doing so, the article contributes to the current debates on whether it is possible to harness the potential of AI for responsible use in humanitarian action.
Community engagement (CE) is essential to humanitarian assistance, and the social sciences have been credited in recent epidemics and disease outbreaks as having played a crucial, supportive role. ...Broadening this attention to other humanitarian fields, this scoping review asks what lessons learned can be found in grey and peer-reviewed literature on the integration of the social sciences in CE for conflicts and disasters. Using an analytical framework developed through a UNICEF-led project called Social Science for Community Engagement (SS4CE) in Humanitarian Action, we identified 1093 peer reviewed publications and 315 grey literature reports of possible relevance. The results show that only a small minority—18 publications and 4 reports—tangibly comment on the relevance of social sciences, mostly only in passing and implicitly. While social science techniques are used and the importance of understanding a community’s cultural, linguistic, and religious context is emphasized, further discussion on the integration of transdisciplinary and multidisciplinary social sciences is absent. Furthermore, CE is mostly seen as an instrumental (‘means to an end’) involvement, for example to collect data in emergency situations and receive feedback on interventions, but not as a critical and transformative intervention. We conclude that unlike the attention given to social sciences in disease outbreaks, there is a knowledge gap and an accordingly proper planning and implementation gap regarding the potentiality of social science to improve CE across all humanitarian contexts of disasters and conflicts.
Purpose
This study aims to propose an analytical tool based on the activities–resources–actors (ARA) model to understand the coordination mechanisms in humanitarian action. The tool identifies the ...phases of humanitarian action and analyzes the underlying mechanisms that facilitate coordination among organizations.
Design/methodology/approach
This study uses a literature review to develop analytical grids and theoretical propositions based on the ARA model.
Findings
The ARA model is a useful tool for understanding coordination mechanisms in humanitarian action. The study identifies key elements of interaction systems and characterizes the phases of humanitarian action. Effective coordination among organizations is essential for successful aid delivery. The study provides four theoretical propositions.
Research limitations/implications
Future research could validate the propositions formulated in this study through case studies.
Practical implications
The analytical grids proposed in this study can be used by humanitarian organizations to improve their coordination mechanisms and aid delivery processes.
Social implications
Effective humanitarian action can help alleviate the suffering of individuals affected by crises and contribute to the overall well-being of communities. The analytical tool proposed in this study can improve the effectiveness of humanitarian action and ultimately benefit society.
Originality/value
This paper presents an original approach by leveraging the ARA model to develop an analytical tool for humanitarian action, which is useful for both practitioners and researchers. In addition, the paper attempts to overcome the siloed vision of humanitarian action by highlighting “emergency-development” aspect.
Local actors are promoted as important agents in the humanitarian sector's latest reform efforts. Opinions on the exact meaning and the best means of implementing localisation differ, however. ...Applying an interface perspective, this paper analyses how the Rohingya response in Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh, became an arena of contestation, competition, and sometimes convergence among different actors in relation to localisation. It shows how misconceptions and divergent understandings of localisation and the best methods of achieving it were prevalent and hampered the joint endeavours of international and local humanitarian bodies. Although both sides sought common ground, conflicting views, interests, and perceptions of ‘self’ and ‘other’ stood in the way. A lack of trust between international and local organisations intensified divisions. The paper argues, therefore, that the humanitarian sector needs to engage in trust‐building between the various entities involved in humanitarian response if localisation is to be realised, including addressing underlying structural and systemic issues of (neo)colonialism, racism, and classism.
نبذة مختصرة
وبمقتضي تسمية توطين الجهات الفاعلة المحلية، يتم الترويج لها كعناصر مهمة في الاستجابات الإنسانية في جهود الاصلاحات الأخيرة التي يبذلها القطاع الإنساني. الآراء حول المعنى الدقيق وأفضل الممارسات لتنفيذ التعريب اختلفت على أية حال. يُحلل هذا البحث بتطبيق منظور الحد المشترك كيف أصبحت استجابة الروهينغا في كوكس بازار ساحة للتنافس والمنافسة والتقارب في بعض الأحيان بين مختلف الجهات الفاعلة حول التعريب. ويوضح البحث كيف كانت المفاهيم الخاطئة والفهم المتباين للتعريب، كذلك أفضل السُبل السائدة لتنفيذه والتي أعاقت الجهود المشتركة للجهات الفاعلة الإنسانية الدولية والمحلية. وعلى الرغم من أن كلا الجانبين سعى إلى أساس مشترك والتفاعل في حوار، فأن الآراء والمصالح والتصورات المتضاربة عن الذات وغيرها تقف في طريق ظهور رؤية مشتركة. وقد زاد الافتقار إلى الثقة بين الجهات الفاعلة الدولية والمحلية من حدة الانقسامات. لذلك، يتناقش هذا البحث في أن القطاع الإنساني بحاجة إلى المشاركة في جهود بناء الثقة بين مختلف الجهات الفاعلة المشاركة في الاستجابة الإنسانية إذا كان للتعريب أن يتحقق بما في ذلك القضايا الهيكلية والنظامية الأساسية للاستعمار (الجديد) والنعصرية والطبقية.
الكلمات الدليلية بنغلاديش، العمل الإنساني، التعريب، المنظمات غير الحكومية المحلية، استجابة الروهينغا، الثقة
摘要
在人道主义部门最新改革中，贴着本地化标签的地方行动者被提升为人道主义援助的重要推动者。然而，对于本地化的含义和最佳实施方法，人们的意见存在分歧。本文从接口的角度，分析了为何科克斯巴扎尔的罗兴亚人的人道主义援助，会让人们对本地化问题众说纷纭。本文展示了为何人们对本地化及其最佳实施方式有不同认识和误解，甚至阻碍了国际和当地人道主义行动者的共同努力。尽管国际和地方行动者双方寻求共同点并进行对话，但相互冲突的观点、利益和看法使得双方无法达成共识。二者之间缺乏信任，进一步加剧了分歧。因此，本文认为，如果要实现本地化，人道主义部门需要在人道主义援助者之间建立信任，包括解决（新）殖民主义、种族主义和阶级主义等潜在的结构性、系统性问题。
关键词：孟加拉国、人道主义行动、本地化、当地非政府组织、罗兴亚人道援助、信任
Narratives are a means of making sense of disasters and crises. The humanitarian sector communicates stories widely, encompassing representations of peoples and events. Such communications have been ...critiqued for misrepresenting and/or silencing the root causes of disasters and crises, depoliticising them. What has not been researched is how such communications represent disasters and crises in Indigenous settings. This is important because processes such as colonisation are often at the origin but are typically masked in communications. A narrative analysis of humanitarian communications is employed here to identify and characterise narratives in humanitarian communications involving Indigenous Peoples. Narratives differ based upon how the humanitarians who produce them think that disasters and crises should be governed. The paper concludes that humanitarian communications reflect more about the relationship between the international humanitarian community and its audience than reality, and underlines that narratives mask global processes that link audiences of humanitarian communications with Indigenous Peoples.
Humanitarian organizations are increasingly interested in using seasonal forecasts to prepare for and mitigate the impacts of potential disasters before they begin. El Niño teleconnections increase ...the predictability of flooding and drought events in Southern and Eastern Africa, providing humanitarian stakeholders with advanced warning of potential weather events. This study draws on evidence from key-informant interviews with humanitarian organizations and government officials in five African countries (Zambia, Somalia, Kenya, Ethiopia, and Malawi) to better understand how national, regional, and international humanitarian organizations respond to climate and weather warnings. We find that organizations looked to data from past El Niño events to develop contingency plans and gradually implement response activities but that few organizations attempt to monitor and evaluate their activities or use forecasts to help people capture additional benefits. Although they would like greater specificity and higher forecast skill, humanitarians largely trust international forecasts. Access to intermediaries, contextualized data, and flexible funding, and well-established social protection mechanisms facilitate action. Based on these results we recommend that future efforts focus on developing capacities and complementary, localized, information that will help actors translate the forecasts into action. Future research is also needed to understand whether action leads to desired impacts.
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