Time to let go: Remaking humanitarian action for the modern era

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Author(s)
Bennett, C. et al.
Publication language
English
Pages
84pp
Date published
01 Apr 2016
Type
Research, reports and studies
Keywords
Development & humanitarian aid, System-wide performance

Despite a decade of system-wide reforms, the humanitarian sector is still falling short in the world’s most enduring crises. The humanitarian system is simply not doing a good job in the eyes of the people it aims to help.It is time for the humanitarian sector to let go of some of the fundamental – but outdated – assumptions, structures and behaviours that prevent it from adapting to meet the needs of people in crises.

This is a proposal for radical change to create a humanitarian system that is fit to respond to the challenges of both today and tomorrow. It calls for:

  • letting go of power and control;
  • letting go of perverse incentives; and
  • letting go of divisions to embrace differences.