International humanitarian law at a crossroads
At the end of the first World Humanitarian Summit in Istanbul in May 2016, diplomats and heads of state were agreed on the goal of “upholding the norms that safeguard...
World Humanitarian Summit: a lost opportunity?
Did the World Humanitarian Summit which was the major topic covered in the last issue of Humanitarian Alternatives – published just a few days before the event – hold all...
The World Humanitarian Summit: What lies ahead?
After February’s inaugural release of Humanitarian Alternatives, it was obvious that this second issue could only be devoted to the first major event of its kind: the World Humanitarian Summit....
World Humanitarian Summit: on the road to Istanbul
To take the full measure of the innovation, challenges and uncertainties that surround the World Humanitarian Summit, it is necessary to retrace the process used in the different steps of...
Regaining a sense of the humanitarian imperative
You have to wake people up; to revolutionize their way of identifying things. You’ve got to create images they won’t accept; oblige them to express their outrage; force them to...
A humanitarian consensus à la française
French humanitarian NGOs could not stay aloof of the World Humanitarian Summit, where a major reorganization of the international humanitarian system will be sketched out. At Coordination SUD, the French...
Revisiting the Nexus: numbers, principles and the issue of social change
Might the concept of social change enable us to work towards a better synergy between the current actors in the development-humanitarian aid-conflict prevention Nexus? This is the hypothesis of the...
Reflections on patriarchy and the fight against gender-based and sexual violence in the humanitarian sector
If the humanitarian sector is not immune to gender-based and sexual violence, it is because it is subject to patriarchal male-female dynamics, as are so many other sectors of society....
The professionalisation of humanitarian action: a work still in progress
For a long time, the humanitarian sector has claimed its complete “professionalisation”. However, a recent study conducted by Bioforce puts this plaudit into perspective. Rory Downham, who led it, reviews...
The Summit of greater uncertainty
Fear and apprehension, just as the expectations that the World Humanitarian Summit inspires are not limited to the French speaking world, let’s say to these “French doctor” NGOs, with a...
Crossing glances from Asia and Africa towards Istanbul
If the World Humanitarian Summit generates many expectations, it also gives rise to many questions. In spite of the eight regional consultations that took place between the spring of 2014...
Standards and finances: analysis of the report of Ban Ki-moon
The financing for implementing humanitarian action, and the regulatory standards that govern it, no doubt represent the two stumbling blocks on which the participants in the Istanbul Summit will focus...