The end of humanitarian aid (as we know it)?

The report examines whether humanitarian aid is entering a new phase amid declining funding, growing politicisation, weakening respect for international humanitarian law and diversification of actors. Drawing on a roundtable held in collaboration with LSE IDEAS - bringing together academics and practitioners from LSE and the University of Oxford, ODI Global, the World Food Programme, the European Commission, and the British Red Cross - the report discusses the current status of the humanitarian system and its implications. The discussion suggests that humanitarianism is not ending, but that the internationally led, donor-dependent and Global North-centred model that has dominated recent decades is undergoing profound change. Particular attention is given to the emergence of 'survival humanitarianism', the longstanding crisis of legitimacy exposed by current funding cuts, and the increasingly explicit instrumentalisation of aid. The report also examines localisation, highlighting both the growing importance of national and local actors and the risk that localisation becomes a transfer of responsibility and risk under conditions of scarcity. Finally, it considers the expanding roles of private actors and technology. It concludes that the future is likely to be characterised by a more plural humanitarian ecosystem, with multiple actors, sources of legitimacy and understandings of humanitarian responsibility.

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