The militarization of aid refers to the use of humanitarian assistance to support military strategic goals and can take one of the following forms:
Military actors directly delivering aid.
Military actors collaborating with civil society to deliver aid (also known as Civ-Mil operations).
Military actors providing protection to humanitarian actors delivering aid.
Key insights
Militaries delivering aid
Drawing the battle lines
The bulk of funding for global humanitarian action has been provided by the governments of Western countries or, more precisely, by the members of the Development Assistance Committee (DAC) of the OECD, who accounted for over 94% ($20.6 bn) of reported international humanitarian assistance from governments in 2017.
Driven by their growing contribution to the sector, the total financial inflow for humanitarian assistance has significantly increased over time, reaching a record high of US$28.9 billion in 2018. Despite this increase, there is a widening gap between available resources and humanitarian requirements,which are rising at an even faster pace. Indeed, humanitarian requirements in 2018 reached a record high of $28.1 billion. In contrast, in the last decade, on average, the international community met only two-thirds of the reported needs. Decisions on funding are highly political.
Key insights
Reflecting multi-polarity
Increasing proportion of private donors
Competition fosters creativity
How Dunantist humanitarian principles are evolving, being applied and being negotiated?
Key insights
Humanitarian principles will be altered by the integration of non-Dunantist cultures and different perspectives on humanitarianism.
Private sector actors and the militarization of humanitarian action will challenge the application of humanitarian principles.
Country and regional programming and advocacy will no longer be directed from Europe/North America; there will be a decentralization of INGOs toward more federated structures organized through alliances.