Perceptions of Success and Failure in Humanitarian Action

The French Institute for International and Strategic Affairs (IRIS) is one of the main independent European Think Tanks on geopolitical and strategic issues.

IRIS, a public-interest association created in 1991, is a French think tank on geopolitical and strategic issues. It is the only international think tank to have been set up as a totally private initiative in an independent approach. IRIS activities can be divided into four fields: research, organisation of events and meetings, publishing and training.

Under the direction of Michel Maietta, Senior Research Fellow at IRIS and Head of the Strategy and Analysis Unit at Action Against Hunger France. This space of reflection aims to be an open forum for dialogue and research on humanitarian space’s evolution and the role of its stakeholders.

The humanitarian sector is going through an identity crisis; discussions about its west centric orientation, interventionist nature and more recently the resilience agenda have stirred new thinking but not revolutionary change. This is perhaps because serious consideration of these issues could radically challenge the established models, question our set of values and redefine the balance of power between the humanitarian actors.

This observatory aims to facilitate discussions which will bring together the perspective of actors in the humanitarian field and contribute to the thinking around a new generation of humanitarian organisations.Abstract:

As of mid-2015, responding to four simultaneous level 3 emergencies at the same time, to a global health emergency, and to a significant increase in the numbers of refugees and internally displaced people had certainly put the humanitarian system to the test. This article describes several factors explaining why humanitarian organisations tend to transform failures into promises of change, and to set inappropriate success targets, perpetuating artificial structures and unfair power relations, and limiting the effectiveness of the assistance we provide to those in need.

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