Articles

Revisiting the Sphere standards: comparing the revised Sphere standards to living standards in three urban informal settlements in Nairobi, Kenya

Humanitarian actors have long used the Sphere Handbook and its minimum standards to guide operational practice. The new revision attempts to update these standards partly to address urban crises that have chal...

Authors: Ronak B. Patel and Jay Chadhuri

Hosting as shelter during displacement: considerations for research and practice

Hosting or local families taking in displaced families is an important way to shelter persons displaced during war or by natural disaster. While field-level evidence of hosting is on the rise, academic and pol...

Authors: Cynthia M. Caron

Responding to mental health vulnerability in Maltese detention centres: the use of psychological support groups as an intervention tool

Maltese immigration law means that individuals seeking asylum in this country undergo a period of mandatory detention upon arrival lasting a maximum of 18 months. During their stay in detention centres, these ...

Authors: Julian Caruana and Alexia Rossi

‘Safeguarding’ as humanitarian buzzword: an initial scoping

Suddenly, talk of ‘safeguarding’ and a sector-wide ‘safeguarding crisis’ seems to be everywhere. Grappling with the scope and content of ‘safeguarding’ as a parameter of humanitarian practice, this commentary ...

Authors: Kristin Bergtora Sandvik

Lessons from the Interagency Emergency Health Kit for access to essential medicines in Canada

Despite Canada’s efforts to position itself as a global health leader, important medicines, including multiple drugs found on the WHO Model List of Essential Medicines, are not available domestically. Of the f...

Authors: Adam R. Houston and Jason W. Nickerson

Crowdsourced mapping in crisis zones: collaboration, organisation and impact

Crowdsourced mapping has become an integral part of humanitarian response, with high profile deployments of platforms following the Haiti and Nepal earthquakes, and the multiple projects initiated during the E...

Authors: Amelia Hunt and Doug Specht

Thematic analysis of aid workers’ stressors and coping strategies: work, psychological, lifestyle and social dimensions

Aid workers experience elevated levels of stress which has a detrimental impact on individuals, organisations and the aid sector; however, there is limited qualitative research capturing aid worker’s views on ...

Authors: Tarli K. H. Young, Kenneth I. Pakenham and Michael F. Norwood

Search and rescue with autonomous flying robots through behavior-based cooperative intelligence

A swarm of autonomous flying robots is implemented in simulation to cooperatively gather situational awareness data during the first few hours after a major natural disaster. In computer simulations, the swarm...

Authors: Ross D. Arnold, Hiroyuki Yamaguchi and Toshiyuki Tanaka

The impact of emergency aid work on personal relationships: a psychodynamic study

Humanitarian organisations and researchers have paid increasing attention in recent years to the psychological wellbeing of aid workers. This attention, however, has tended to focus more on the practicalities ...

Authors: Mark Snelling

Culture’s influence on social network vulnerabilities for ethnic minorities in rural disaster events

This paper aims to explain survey findings regarding disaster recovery processes among ethnic groups in a rural Texas community. The research was conducted over a 4-year period with most of the survey data col...

Authors: Kim B. Galindo, Zohreh R. Eslami and Hassan Bashir

Blockchain for humanitarian action and development aid

Blockchain technology is swiftly entering the fields of humanitarian and development aid. While it has the potential to revolutionize the aid sector, e.g., through pairing smart contracts with forecast-based f...

Authors: Andrej Zwitter and Mathilde Boisse-Despiaux

Repatriation of Afghan refugees from Iran: a shelter profile study

One in every nine refugees worldwide is from Afghanistan, and Iran is one of main host countries for these refugees. Close to 40 years of hosting Afghan refugees have depleted resources in Iran and resulted in...

Authors: Mitra Naseh, Miriam Potocky, Paul H. Stuart and Sara Pezeshk

Classical humanitarianism and resilience humanitarianism: making sense of two brands of humanitarian action

Humanitarian aid has long been dominated by a classical, Dunantist paradigm that was based on the ethics of the humanitarian principles and centred on international humanitarian United Nations agencies and non...

Authors: Dorothea Hilhorst

Moral experiences of humanitarian health professionals caring for patients who are dying or likely to die in a humanitarian crisis

Wars, disasters, and epidemics affect millions of individuals every year. International non-governmental organizations respond to many of these crises and provide healthcare in settings ranging from a field ho...

Authors: Matthew Hunt, Ani Chénier, Kevin Bezanson, Elysée Nouvet, Carrie Bernard, Sonya de Laat, Gautham Krishnaraj and Lisa Schwartz

A humanitarian response to the West African Ebola virus disease outbreak

The 2014–2016 Ebola virus disease (EVD) outbreak in West Africa was of unprecedented magnitude with a total of 28,616 suspected, probable, and confirmed cases reported in Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone.

Authors: Linda M. Mobula, Jolene H. Nakao, Sonia Walia, Justin Pendarvis, Peter Morris and David Townes

Towards an holistic approach to energy access in humanitarian settings: the SET4food project from technology transfer to knowledge sharing

The increasing number of displaced people in the world not only requires rapid humanitarian actions, but also attention to host communities and a holistic and long-term vision. Energy has not been really consi...

Authors: Jacopo Barbieri, Fabrizio Leonforte and Emanuela Colombo

Humanitarian aid workers’ knowledge of minority cultures in Iraqi Kurdistan

The Yezidi population in northern Iraq has faced genocide by the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS), have been driven from their homes, and forced to take refugee anywhere that is deemed safe. The curren...

Authors: Kyle A. Msall

The new informatics of pandemic response: humanitarian technology, efficiency, and the subtle retreat of national agency

Digital communication technologies play an increasingly prominent role in humanitarian operations and in response to international pandemics specifically. A burgeoning body of scholarship on the topic displays...

Authors: Christopher Wilson and Maria Gabrielsen Jumbert

Research agenda-setting on cash programming for health and nutrition in humanitarian settings

While the evidence base for cash transfer programming (CTP) in humanitarian contexts is more established for food security, it is very limited for health and nutrition. The aim of this study was to develop a r...

Authors: Aniek Woodward, Andre Griekspoor, Shannon Doocy, Paul Spiegel and Kevin Savage

Pilot testing and evaluation of a toolkit for menstrual hygiene management in emergencies in three refugee camps in Northwest Tanzania

Displaced adolescent girls and women face many challenges managing their monthly menstrual flow with dignity and comfort in various challenging settings around the world, such as refugee camps, informal settle...

Authors: Marni Sommer, Margaret L. Schmitt, Tom Ogello, Penninah Mathenge, Magdalena Mark, David Clatworthy, Samanatha Khandakji and Ruwan Ratnayake

Palliative care in humanitarian crises: a review of the literature

This paper presents findings from a systematic review of the literature (2005–2017) on palliative care in humanitarian crises (e.g., disasters, armed conflicts, epidemics). This review set out to describe pall...

Authors: Elysée Nouvet, Mollie Sivaram, Kevin Bezanson, Gautham Krishnaraj, Matthew Hunt, Sonya de Laat, Stephanie Sanger, Laura Banfield, Pedro Favila Escobio Rodriguez and Lisa J. Schwartz

Social capital in vulnerable urban settings: an analytical framework

Social capital has been identified as crucial to the fostering of resilience in rapidly expanding cities of the Global South. The purpose of this article is to better understand the complexities of urban socia...

Authors: Desire Mpanje, Pat Gibbons and Ronan McDermott

Safety planning for technology: displaced women and girls’ interactions with information and communication technology in Lebanon and harm reduction considerations for humanitarian settings

The appropriate use of mobile technology for service provision, information dissemination, empowerment activities, and data collection in humanitarian settings can have several benefits on both the micro and m...

Authors: Kristy Crabtree and Petronille Geara

The militarization of cattle raiding in South Sudan: how a traditional practice became a tool for political violence

Cattle raiding, a longstanding practice among pastoralists in South Sudan, was historically governed by cultural authorities and ritual prohibitions. However, after decades of on-and-off integration into armed...

Authors: Hannah Wild, Jok Madut Jok and Ronak Patel

Practices and consequences of using humanitarian technologies in volatile aid settings

This article presents the results of an exploratory study into aid agencies’ use of technologies for security purposes. Since there appears to be a consensus in the aid sector that areas of operations are incr...

Authors: Jori Pascal Kalkman

Non-state actors and education as a humanitarian response: role of faith-based organizations in education for Syrian refugees in Turkey

In the shadow of the Syrian conflict generating millions of displaced people, education provision for Syrian children has become one of the biggest challenges for Turkey. This paper sheds light on the role and...

Authors: Aslıhan Tezel Mccarthy

Future role aspirations, achievement motivations and perceptions of personal help-seeking among humanitarian aid trainees

Humanitarian aid workers experience adverse mental health effects from their work at higher rates than the military, police and other emergency service personnel. Whilst there is considerable literature invest...

Authors: Kelsey Skeoch, Garry J Stevens and Melanie Taylor

Medical conditions and treatment in a transit camp in Serbia for Syrian, Afghani, and Iraqi migrants

Thousands of migrants arrived in Europe via the Balkan route, many with various health conditions. The camp of Preševo, Serbia, close to the Macedonian border, was established by the Serbian government and run...

Authors: Einav Levy, Michael Alkan, Sharon Shaul and Yori Gidron

Community-based health needs assessment in Léogâne and Gressier, Haiti: six years post-earthquake

This article summarizes initial findings from a community-based health needs assessment designed to identify resources and gaps within the community and to prioritize community-identified health needs in Gress...

Authors: Elizabeth A. Wood, Kelly S. Chapman, Valery M. Beau de Rochars and Sarah L. Mckune

Who is your constituency? The political engagement of humanitarian organisations

The World Humanitarian Summit of 2016 was an attempt to elevate humanitarian organisations more completely into the international political domain. Humanitarian organisations are agencies which provide life-sa...

Authors: Christopher Lockyear and Andrew Cunningham

Now is the time to deliver: looking for humanitarian innovation’s theory of change

Since the publication of the ALNAP study on innovation in international humanitarian action in 2009, innovation has emerged as a central vehicle for change in the humanitarian sector. As the field of humanitar...

Authors: Kristin Bergtora Sandvik

Post-conflict contexts and humanitarian organizations: the changing relationship with states

The operational environments for humanitarian international non-governmental organizations (INGOs) are conflict zones and situations of natural and man-made disasters. To INGOs, these are defined as “humanitar...

Authors: Andrew J. Cunningham

Providing safe motherhood services to underserved and neglected populations in Yemen: the case for vouchers

States of fragility and insecurity often give rise to urgent health needs that need to be met quickly and effectively, particularly for women and adolescents. Vouchers are a demand-side financing mechanism whi...

Authors: Corinne G. Grainger, Anna C. Gorter, Eman Al-Kobati and Luke Boddam-Whetham

Displacement and dispossession: redefining forced displacement and identifying when forced displacement becomes pillage under international humanitarian law

Conflict-induced migration is arguably the most urgent humanitarian challenge today. A growing number of people are forced from their homes each year. The dispossession of civilians by armed parties, furthermo...

Authors: Kerrin Geoffrey Buck

Kidnapping and the limits of acceptance

For many humanitarian agencies, acceptance—gaining the trust and protection of local communities—is the preferred security management tool for reasons of perception, ease of access and cost (both real and oppo...

Authors: Andrew J. Cunningham

Discussion of “Health service utilization and access to medicines among Syrian refugee and host community children in Lebanon” by Lyles et al.

Authors: Fadi El-Jardali, Michael Woodman, Rawan Hammoud, Ola Kdouh, Randa Hamade and Walid Ammar

The burden of choice: a qualitative study of healthcare professionals’ reactions to ethical challenges in humanitarian crises

Healthcare professionals are a vital aspect of public health delivery in humanitarian crises. Both overt and subtle complexities in the decision making process during periods of instability may involve moral a...

Authors: Sarah Gotowiec and Elizabeth Cantor-Graae

Review of “For Humanity or For the Umma? Aid and Islam in Transnational Muslim NGOs” by Marie Juul Petersen

Marie Juul Petersen, For Humanity or For the Umma? Aid and Islam in Transnational Muslim NGOs, London: Hurst Publishers; 2014, 356 pages, ISBN-13: 978-1849044325, ISBN-10: 1849044325

Authors: Zeynep Sezgin

Review of “The Ethics of Armed Humanitarian Intervention” by Don E. Scheid (ed.) and “Aid in Danger: The Perils and Promise of Humanitarianism” by Larissa Fast

Don E. Scheid (ed.)

Authors: Kai Chen

Are cash-based interventions a feasible approach for expanding humanitarian assistance in Syria?

The conflict in Syria is the largest driver of displacement worldwide with 4.1 million Syrian refugees, more than 6.5 million internally displaced people (IDPs), and 13.5 million people in need (PiN) of protec...

Authors: Shannon Doocy, Hannah Tappis and Emily Lyles

Crisis analytics: big data-driven crisis response

Disasters have long been a scourge for humanity. With the advances in technology (in terms of computing, communications, and the ability to process, and analyze big data), our ability to respond to disasters i...

Authors: Junaid Qadir, Anwaar Ali, Raihan ur Rasool, Andrej Zwitter, Arjuna Sathiaseelan and Jon Crowcroft

Refuting Da’esh properly: a critical review of the “Open Letter to Baghdadi”

The emergence of the “Islamic State” or Da’esh in the Syrian war brought a whole new dimension to the war on terror. To counter the “Islamic State” ideology, Islamic scholars from all around the world issued a...

Authors: Fajri Matahati Muhammadin

Health service utilization and access to medicines among Syrian refugee and host community children in Lebanon

With over 500,000 Syrian refugee children in Lebanon, we undertook this study to assess unmet child health needs and health service utilization among Syrian refugees and affected host communities in Lebanon wi...

Authors: Emily Lyles, Baptiste Hanquart, Michael Woodman and Shannon Doocy

Review of ‘Cultures and Disasters: Understanding Cultural Framings in Disaster Risk Reduction (2015)’ edited by Fred Krüger, Greg Bankoff, Terry Cannon, Benedikt Orlowski, and E. Lisa F. Schipper

Edited by Fred Krüger, Greg Bankoff, Terry Cannon, Benedikt Orlowski, and E. Lisa F.

Authors: Olivia Wilkinson

Comparative study on inter-organizational cooperation in disaster situations and impact on humanitarian aid operations

Given the increased numbers of disasters and humanitarian crises which occur in the face of diminishing global resources, the contemporary disaster management and humanitarian fields face greater challenges to...

Authors: Mizan Bustanul Fuady Bisri

Documenting the complex relationship between self-efficacy, resiliency, and workplace empowerment: a case study of humanitarian workers in Palestine

There remains a critical gap in understanding challenges faced by humanitarian workers who may be key in providing assistance during complex emergencies. This study examines self-reported views by humanitarian...

Authors: Jess Bonnan-White and Ameena Issa

Understanding sexual violence in armed conflict: cutting ourselves with Occam’s razor

Sexual violence has been firmly put on the internal agenda of the humanitarian community. Despite commendable advances in both policy and practice, there continues to be a gap between what is recommended and t...

Authors: Rosanne Marrit Anholt

The humanitarian challenge and the aims and scope of the Journal of International Humanitarian Action

Authors: Hans-Joachim Heintze, Andrej Zwitter and Ronan McDermott

The anatomy of the Milošević trial (2001–2006)

Authors: Hirad Abtahi and Grant Dawson

Review of ‘In the Eyes of Others: How People in Crises Perceive Humanitarian Aid’ Caroline Abu-Sada (ed.) and ‘Dilemmas, Challenges, and Ethics of Humanitarian Action: Reflections on Médecins Sans Frontières’ Perception Project’ Caroline Abu-Sada (ed.)

Abu-Sada C (ed.)

Authors: James Dominic Smith