Whilst the provision of psychosocial activities is regularly mentioned in documents referring to the humanitarian response to education, there is a dearth of literature that refers to exactly what these programmes consist of, and how effective they are. There is, however, widespread recognition of the importance of providing psycho-social interventions to counter the impact of ...» more
Humanitarian Issues
International humanitarian law and human rights violations in Syria
All parties involved in the Syrian conflict have carried out extensive violations of international humanitarian law and human rights. In particular, all parties are guilty of targeting civilians. Rape and sexual violence have been widely used as a weapon of war, notably by the government, ISIL and extremist groups. Reports by the International Independent Commission of Inquiry ...» more
Myanmar’s stabilisation challenges
The communities currently most at risk of, and affected by, conflict and violence are those living in the Kokang Self-Administered Zone and in other parts of northern Shan State. Other affected communities include those in Kachin, Rakhine, Chin and Kayin States. The community most affected by the threat of forced displacement is the Rohingya, a Muslim ethnic group, in Rakhine ...» more
Humanitarian results indicators and how they relate to the SDGs
Donor agencies use a number of indicators for humanitarian action. In June 2016, ECHO reduced the number of KRIs (Key Results Indicators) it uses from 113 to 35 (ECHO also permits partners to combine pre-defined key results indicators with additional custom indicators). In addition to the sectors covered in this report ECHO also has humanitarian indicators for mine action and ...» more
Syrian refugee onward migration from Jordan to Europe
There has been a massive influx of Syrian refugees into Jordan since the Syrian conflict began: the official figure is over 650,000 but the actual number is likely to be much higher (ACAPS, 2016: 1). Only 21.5 per cent of registered Syrian refugees are living in camps; 78.5 per cent are in urban areas, distributed as follows: Amman (26.4 per cent), Mafraq (23.9 per cent), Irbid ...» more
Refugees and encampment
This helpdesk report discusses the important question of shifting policy on refugees from encampment to other models. It particularly focuses on what contexts, and in response to what drivers and arguments, have host countries shifted from an encampment to a more relaxed refugee policy regime. Several examples of governments moving from encampment to other methods are included ...» more
Sustainable livelihoods in Ugandan refugee settings
Uganda has hosted refugees from neighbouring conflict-affect countries for several decades. Some research suggests that self-employed refugees are somewhat more successful than employed refugees, but there is little concrete evidence from Uganda that current refugee livelihood strategies are successfully fostering self-reliance and sustainable solutions. Most of the available ...» more
Effects of respect for international humanitarian law on displacement
Much of the literature agrees that violence against civilians is the primary driver of displacement. However, while a few causalities can be considered established, authors frequently note that findings are either correlations (rather than causalities), or that the causalities need clarification. High-quality literature on population movements has long demonstrated that, even ...» more
Humanitarian learning resource guide
This 12-page guide is designed to provide DFID staff and other interested parties with information about free online courses and materials they can use to develop or refresh their humanitarian technical competencies. It is not an exhaustive list, but provides a starting point for those working to support DFID’s humanitarian objectives. Further resources may be…» more
International humanitarian law and peace processes
There is limited research and no empirical evidence exploring links between the degree to which IHL is respected (or ignored) and the success (or failure) of peace processes. The literature focuses on various related issues, including negotiating with non-state armed groups, the question of why conflict groups may comply with international humanitarian norms, and the need to ...» more
Primary and secondary prevention of child protection violations
While the knowledge base on the prevention of child protection violations in low- or middle-income countries (LMICs) is limited, there are robust, promising findings. The majority of findings suggest that if the core elements of interventions are preserved, the translation of interventions from high-income countries (HICs) to LMICs can be effective. For instance, parenting ...» more
Humanitarian contingency plans for military operations
The majority of the literature seems to focus on humanitarian contingency planning for the invasion of Iraq in 2003, and other older cases such as Kosovo. It is difficult to identify what pre-planning may or may not have been undertaken, as political sensitivities and the tendency for military secrecy around large-scale military operations means that few specific details are ...» more
Transitional shelter in post-disaster contexts
Literature on approaches to transitional shelter in post-natural disaster contexts reflects the variety of different approaches and definitions, which complicate understandings of transitional shelter and lessons learned. There are three main approaches to transitional shelter, all of which incorporate disaster risk reduction measures to reduce household ...» more
Libyan political economy
Much has changed in Libya since April 2014. However, Libya remains highly unstable and divided along multiple fracture lines, with a multitude of armed and non-armed groups. Given the fluidity of relations between these groups, literature on the country situation becomes quickly outdated. Libya has three rival claimants to power: a reconvened General National Congress (GNC) ...» more
Stabilisation
What is stabilisation? Stabilisation efforts have become a common policy component of intervention in conflict response throughout the world. In recent years, there have been significant stabilisation interventions in places such as the Western Balkans, Haiti and Mali, among others. The concept of stabilisation, understood as the requirement to meet basic humanitarian and development needs…» more
Humanitarian response in middle-income countries
The literature uncovered by this rapid review indicates that there is very little evidence available about the way in which humanitarian response is carried out in middle income countries in comparison to low income contexts (or an amalgamation of the two). Where there have been evaluations of humanitarian response in middle income countries, they have not really focused on ...» more
Women and girls in forced and protracted displacement
There is general consensus in this grey and academic literature on the vulnerabilities faced by women and girls in forced and protracted displacement, although less is known about the opportunities they may have and the long-term impacts. Much of the recent evidence available focuses on displaced populations in Europe and countries neighbouring Syria. There is more of a focus ...» more
Seasonal vulnerability and risk calendar in Nepal
Nepal faces many seasonal disasters, including floods, landslides, fires, droughts and diseases. Findings of this rapid review indicates that: Most people are killed and injured during July–September which is in the monsoon period. Preparedness activities could take place in anticipation of seasonal disasters. The Tarai is vulnerable to floods, lightening, epidemics and ...» more
National Disaster Management Authorities
This review has found, as did a Brookings literature review by Ferris (2014: 6), that there are few published comparative analyses of NDMAs, either on South Asia or worldwide. This review focuses on three cases from South Asia: Bangladesh, Pakistan and India, while it also includes brief information on Afghanistan and Sri Lanka. The key findings on the DRM institutional ...» more
Economic impacts of humanitarian aid
This review argues that few studies look at all aspects of economic impact of humanitarian aid. Individual studies tend to focus on one or two specific effects (e.g. on food inflation) rather than give an overall perspective of economic impact. The exception is humanitarian aid given in response to the recent Syria crisis, for which a number of studies look at a wide range of ...» more
