Laura Hammond Dept of Development Studies, SOAS SOAS/Mo Ibrahim Foundation Residential School on Governance & Development March 2015

 What is Humanitarian Governance? How does it relate to other aspects of governance you’ve been studying this week.  Responsibility to Protect – expectations of the state & humanitarian organisations  Accountability – where does it come from?  Changes in, and challenges of, humanitarian governance

 Rules, structures & mechanisms for promoting accountable & effective humanitarian practice, including prevention, mitigation, management, response, & recovery from disasters of all types. ◦ Actors: states (at all levels) but also regional bodies, LNGOs, INGOs, donors, UN agencies, etc.  Focus on saving lives, alleviating suffering  How can this be done most efficiently, with fewest adverse effects – how does it affect other forms of governance?

Community Rep NGO (health) NGO (wat/san) NGO (education) NGO (food) UN agencies– funding, coordination, protection ICRC/Red Cross Host Government Security, appeal for help, Regulation, some coordination Community Rep NGO

 Rapid onset disasters – ◦ floods, storms, earthquakes, tsunami, communicable disease epidemics  Slow onset disaster ◦ drought, climate change effects, chronic disease at epidemic levels  Complex emergencies ◦ conflict, state failure, often overlaid with natural disaster - Usually these three are interrelated

 =Trend-TrendAnalysis =Trend-TrendAnalysis

 what is their reputation?  what kind of relationship do they have with the state?  with local people?

 Do they engage directly –including channelling funds through government?  Does the state facilitate or constrain humanitarian action?

 1970s-80s: donors gave through direct payment to the state, even balance of payments support (Harvey 2009). INGOs were peripheral  1990s: shift to support through NGOs, Red Cross/Crescent. Donors assumed states were too weak or corrupt to handle aid themselves  2000s: resurgence in interest in direct assistance – recognition of increasing state capacity, though tied to conditionality ◦ Emphasis on national ownership

 State has the first ‘Responsibility to Protect’ – Sovereignty has obligations and rights  State ideally should be able to respond to risks/disasters on its own  Where it requires assistance, it should be able to coordinate, approve intervention plans, see and approve budgets, and evaluate (or see evaluations) of external activities  International norms & legal instruments can be used to back up national responsibility

 Provide protection & life-saving assistance if state cannot or will not  Under IHL, states must, if they are unable or unwilling to assist civilians, grant access to an organisation ‘like the ICRC’. ◦ Doesn’t mean that all NGOs have a right to access  HOs provide lens into how state and non- state actors inter- relate

 Independence, Neutrality, Impartiality are Key to preserving access usually ◦ HOs must choose between capacity building, service substitution, advocacy (& sometimes denunciation) ◦ Where states do not uphold social contract, IOs often see it as their role to speak out  But adherence to principles may result in distance between HOs and govt  Other humanitarians work for justice, equity, empowerment – these may be at odds with principles

 Strong response can provide a political boost for states, slow can undermine them  Conditionality is now regularly used to guide political policy  Humanitarian assistance used for state- building, hearts & minds  Humanitarian principles often used only with regard to humanitarian action & not development

 Without regulation/registration, international organisations are not likely to self-regulate ◦ Some accountability mechanisms: Humanitarian Accountability Partnership, Red Cross Code of Conduct, Sphere Guidelines, etc.  Coordination problems  But state regulation of humanitarian governance can also be used as a way of maintaining control over citizens, restricting LNGO activities, curtailing human rights

 Role of China as an Economic Partner  ‘Emergent’ donor countries – Turkey, Saudi Arabia, UAE  Increasing role of Diaspora in funding, providing humanitarian assistance  Faith-based humanitarianism (arguably not new, but its role is increasingly recognized)

 Humanitarian (& Development) Governance part of wider governance debates  Contradiction: provide support to government but preserve independence to be able to protect those who need it  Humanitarian space can be a ‘black hole’ of accountability but can also shine light on where state has failed vis. Accountability  Improving humanitarian practice comes from promoting accountability, vibrancy of non-state actor sectors