PUTTING PEOPLE AT THE HEART OF HUMANITARIAN ACTION

Minani Leodegard
World Humanitarian Summit
Consultant.

8/1/2015

Because my humanitarian favors reach thousand of communities

PUTTING PEOPLE AT THE HEART OF HUMANITARIAN ACTION

August 1, 2015

Innovation Promotion during Humanitarian Crises and emergencies.

Humanitarian system faces grave challenges, as record numbers of people
are displaced for longer periods by natural disasters and escalating conflicts.
At

the

same

time

new

technologies,

partners,

and

concepts

allow

humanitarian actors to understand and address problems quickly and

effectively. To contend with these growing, and changing, demands,
organizations

are

increasingly

exploring

the

idea

of

humanitarian

innovation, which draws upon concepts from the private sector to adapt and
improve

the

humanitarian

system.

As

sign

of

its

importance,

Humanitarian Assistance through Innovation Promotion will be the centre

point of this intended point o0f discussion of putting people at the centre of
humanitarian action.
As humanitarian aid has changed immensely over the recent decades, also
the number of actors engaging in the field of humanitarian aid is increasing.
This includes the various UN agencies, national governments, the Red Cross
movement, several large international NGOs, a multitude of smaller ones,
foundations and private initiatives with often limited experience and
capability of implementation. In many cases, this leads to problems in
cooperation, coordination and harmonization of sustainable humanitarian
assistance. These new developments have raised a number of questions
concerning the principles and quality standards of humanitarian aid. To
achieve this sustainable humanitarian assistance, humanitarians should use
the term innovation to refer to the role of technology, products and
processes from other sectors, new forms of partnership, and the use of the
ideas and coping capacities of crisis-affected people. However, as with many
emerging ideas, use of the term in the humanitarian system has lacked

PUTTING PEOPLE AT THE HEART OF HUMANITARIAN ACTION

August 1, 2015

conceptual clarity, leading to misuse, overuse, and the risk that it may
become hollow rhetoric. A better understanding of the humanitarian
assistance through innovation promotion can bring great benefits to the
humanitarian system.