executive summary The number of people affected by humanitarian crises has almost doubled over the past decade and is expected to keep rising. In early 2014, international aid organizations aimed to assist 52 million people in crisis, and millions more people sought help from their communities, local organizations and Governments. The cost of international humanitarian aid has more than trebled in the last 10 years, and responders are being asked to do more, at a greater cost, than ever before. Global challenges—such as climate change, population growth, food- and energy-price volatility, water scarcity and environmental degradation—are increasing risks for vulnerable people. They are eroding people’s ability to cope with shocks, making crises more protracted and recurrent, and undermining sustainable development. These trends have become as likely to cause humanitarian crises as disasters and conflicts. A shift towards a more anticipatory and preventative approach to humanitarian crises is needed. Most crises can be predicted and, while they cannot always be prevented, the suffering they cause can often be greatly reduced. But humanitarian aid today is overwhelmingly focused on responding after crises occur. Governments and their partners have failed substantially to reduce risks to the world’s most vulnerable people. It is time for a fundamental change in approach.
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Crisis-risk management needs to be embedded in the humanitarian aid system. This includes systematically identifying risks, reducing their impact and coping with the residual effects. Currently, action following the warning signs of crises is often late or insufficient, and funding is too focused on response. Long-term aid is not helping the most vulnerable people to build resilience. Every humanitarian crisis is different, but a risk-management approach can and should be applied universally. It should go hand in hand with responding to need. Humanitarian organizations cannot do this alone. Preventing and mitigating crises requires the commitment of Governments, development organizations and many others. When Governments take the lead, they save more lives, avert economic losses and foster sustainable development. Government leadership encourages humanitarian and development organizations to work more effectively together and multiplies their impact. Humanitarian and development organizations need to transcend the institutional divide that separates them. This divide inhibits programmes that can help people manage risk, such as preparedness and livelihoods support. They need to agree common risk-management and resilience objectives, and to achieve them through joint analysis, planning, programming and funding.