Tag: humanitarian

  • Suffering and Sovereignty – a UN system with misaligned values

    Suffering and Sovereignty – a UN system with misaligned values

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    by

    Edmund Page
    in

    The UN Chief, António Guterres, has warned that due to imminent financial collapse, the UN as we know it could implode. “Fifty years on, the UN continues to ask how it can remain relevant to people living in contexts of oppression and displacement. Yet the questions it poses often reveal a narrow understanding of what…

  • Why Donor-Led Agendas Are Failing Communities

    Why Donor-Led Agendas Are Failing Communities

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    by

    Ruth Njiri
    in

    For years, donors in the humanitarian sector, have relied on the concept of risk aversion and capacity gaps to justify rigid, restricted and time-bound grants when funding actors in the Global South.  To access this funding, organisations are expected to construct robust logframes, articulate detailed theories of change, and commit to predetermined outcomes, often within…

  • Do the work, build a foundation first!

    Do the work, build a foundation first!

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    by

    Ruth Njiri
    in

    One of the biggest misconceptions when it comes to the argument for building partnerships rooted in trust, is that one should trust immediately, absolutely and unequivocally. This cannot be further from the truth. Distrust within the humanitarian sector has deep roots in the sector’s history, structure, and power dynamics. Many of today’s systems were built…

  • The changing landscape of humanitarian financing: Understanding its uncertainties

    The changing landscape of humanitarian financing: Understanding its uncertainties

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    by

    Daniel Mekonnen
    in

    At the start of the year, the world was confronted with a new global reality when the newly elected U.S. government, historically the leading financier of global aid, announced it would discontinue much of its foreign aid. This abrupt decision has sent shockwaves across the humanitarian and development sectors, including UN entities, international NGOs, and…

  • Gathering Points and Relationship Based Aid

    Gathering Points and Relationship Based Aid

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    by

    Edmund Page
    in

    The Eastern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo is currently experiencing a crisis. Decades of bubbling tension has overflowed into wide scale conflict, with at least 7000 people killed so far. Traditional forms of humanitarian aid are not getting into the country. There are three main reasons why international aid is barely trickling into…