The Humanitarian Action Initiative is an academic and research hub housed in the Elliott School of International Affairs that convenes and cultivates the school’s curriculum, scholarly research, and policy expertise on topics related to Humanitarian Action.
The purpose of humanitarian action is to save lives, preserve human dignity and minimize suffering resulting from conflict, natural phenomena, and epidemics. Humanitarian action is centered on basic and immediate human needs and is thus distinct from, though inextricably linked to, development, peace, and state building, which operate in a longer time horizon.
We currently face a growing number of disasters and emergencies around the world and unprecedented levels of humanitarian need exacerbated by dozens of highly violent, protracted conflicts, the COVID-19 pandemic, and climate change. The dynamic, evolving nature of humanitarian action guides our approach to its scholarship and practice.
Humanitarian crises are complex.
We bring an interdisciplinary approach to the study and practice of humanitarian action to improve understanding of the complexity of humanitarian crises and encourage scholars and practitioners to develop cross-cutting innovative research projects that address challenges in the field. Our faculty experts teach, study and practice humanitarian action from various disciplinary perspectives, including: anthropology, emergency and disaster medicine, emergency management, gender studies, geography, history, media & public affairs, medicine, political science, and public health. Students are educated in the latest theories and approaches and trained to view humanitarian action from a multidimensional perspective.
Humanitarian crises are embedded in a broader policy continuum.
We examine humanitarian action within the peace-humanitarian-development nexus, placing crises within the broader social, political and economic contexts that produce them. The ‘Triple Nexus’ approach is particularly important for designing effective humanitarian policy in fragile situations in order to meet human needs, mitigate vulnerability, and build resilience. We examine the contexts and conditions under which humanitarian action should be designed with longer-term human rights and social development goals in mind, and consider the types of financing, coordination, and governance mechanisms that enable cooperation across the nexus.
The global system of humanitarian response is in need of reform.
Despite unprecedented numbers of disasters, soaring humanitarian need, and continued global giving, global humanitarian appeals are underfunded, humanitarian responses are slow or uncoordinated, and crisis- and conflict-affected populations are often not included in decision-making and program planning. In our research and the classroom, we examine the power dynamics and hierarchies in the global humanitarian system to understand the factors that reinforce these structures. Our evidence-based academic research informs policy recommendations on how to rethink humanitarian action and transform its coordination, financing and governance to shift the power towards those affected by humanitarian crisis.
Professional education and training can contribute to improving humanitarian action and transforming the system.
By promoting critical thinking and reflection about the humanitarian system; encouraging analysis and deconstruction of the historical legacies, narratives, practices, and preconceptions shaping the field; and offering opportunities to engage in research projects independently or with leading humanitarian organizations, we train students to be reflective, effective, and ethical humanitarian practitioners.
