Geographic information systems (GIS) are increasingly used for integrating data from different sources and substantive areas, including in humanitarian action. The challenges of integration are particularly well illustrated by humanitarian mine action. The informational requirements of mine action are expensive, with socio-economic impact surveys costing over US$1.5 million per country, and are...

An increasing number of non-governmental organisations (NGOs) provide humanitarian assistance, including healthcare. Some faith-based NGOs combine proselytising work with humanitarian aid. This can result in ethical dilemmas that are rarely discussed in the literature. The article explores several ethical issues, using four generic activities of faith-based NGOs: (1) It is discriminatory to den...

The notion of humanitarian government has been increasingly employed to describe the simultaneous and conflicting deployment of humanitarianism and security in the government of ‘precarious lives’ such as refugees. This article argues that humanitarian government should also be understood as the biopolitical government of host populations through the humanitarian government of refugees. In part...

Ida Maria Haugstveit SINTEF Forskningsvn. 1, 0314 Oslo, Norway Fax: + 47 22067350 E-mail: [email protected] ABSTRACT Civic engagement on Facebook has evolved, but there are still few studies of people’s motivations and reasons for liking humanitarian causes on Facebook. Introduced in 2009, the “like” button has become a part of users’ daily Facebook routines and a way for them to e...

Web publication: 27 August 2008 In the last 35 years, the disaster and humanitarian communities have evolved rapidly in two parallel cohorts. The disaster enterprise in the US and Latin America grew up in the 1970s in response to a series of major earthquakes, hurricanes, and forest fires, culminating with the nuclear disaster at Three Mile Island and the formation of the Federal Emergency Mana...

BACKGROUND The health needs of children and adolescents in humanitarian emergencies are critical to the success of relief efforts and reduction in mortality. Measles has been one of the major causes of child deaths in humanitarian emergencies and further contributes to mortality by exacerbating malnutrition and vitamin A deficiency. Here, we review measles vaccination activities in humanitarian...

Adele Harmer is a Research Officer with HPG. Andre Griekspoor (Emergencies and Humanitarian Action Department, WHO) is an adviser on health issues (Southern Africa study and main report). Fiona Watson (NutritionWorks) is an independent consultant on food security (Southern Africa study and main report). Mark Bradbury is an independent consultant. He was team leader for the field study on Southe...

BACKGROUND Global health policy and development aid trends also affect humanitarian health work. Reconstruction, rehabilitation and development initiatives start increasingly earlier after crisis, unleashing tensions between development and humanitarian paradigms. Recently, development aid shows specific interest in contexts affected by conflict and fragility, with increasing expectations for h...

Disasters are on the rise, more complex, and donor support is increasingly unpredictable. In response to this trend humanitarian agencies are looking for more efficient and effective solutions. This paper discusses the evolution of supply chain management in disaster relief and the role of new players like the private sector. It is based on research conducted by the Humanitarian Research Group ...

This Background Note outlines key lessons on impact evaluations, utilisation-focused evaluations and evidence-based policy. Drawing on recent and ongoing work by the Overseas Development Institute (ODI), the Active Learning Network for Accountability and Performance in Humanitarian Action (ALNAP), the International Initiative for Impact Evaluation (3ie) and others, it is aimed at researchers, p...