Description

Since the beginning of 2006, an interdisciplinary team has been working on a wide-ranging evidence-based research project that identifies the key issues that are likely to impact on humanitarian action in the coming decade, along with the practical implications of these issues for agency programming. During the first phase of the project, which ended in August 2006, the team researched four interrelated issues: the universality of humanitarianism, the implications of terrorism and counter-terrorism for humanitarian action, the search for coherence between humanitarian and political agendas, and the security of humanitarian personnel and the beneficiaries of humanitarian action.

As a result of comments and suggestions made during this first round of consultations, the Center has refined its plans for phase II of the project. Two significant changes have been made. The first is to expand the scope of the research to countries affected by disasters caused by natural hazards in addition to conflict (e.g., Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Nepal). This will allow for a verification of the extent to which the challenges to humanitarianism identified in conflict situations also apply in so-called natural disaster settings.