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AbstractHumanitarian aid (HA) is needed in Yemen to cope with the worst humanitarian crisis in the world. However, current practices of distributing aid in the form of food have not had the desired effect; conflict has continued, and war economies are thriving as a result. Thus, this paper proposes the idea of cash assistance as an alternative form of HA. Our empirical analysis of HA in Yemen shows that cash assistance is a more effective and efficient way of distributing aid in comparison to food aid. This is due to food aid being vulnerable to looting by the conflicting factions, enabling funds to be inadvertently captured into the highly problematic war economy dynamic. In comparison, cash assistance targets a wider scope of peoples' necessities, in a more efficient and effective delivery approach that can be easily tracked by the donors. Cash aid can either be unrestricted, restricted, or conditional. The former allows cash transfer, the second enables vulnerable people to purchase items depending on their needs with vouchers, and the latter links the money distributed with performing a certain task. This allows communities to improve and develop, and it enables individuals to build up their skill sets and have a source of income. This is particularly important for NGOs who are unable to provide the conditions needed to bear their success. The Yemeni people have lost trust in the warring factions, as well as local and international NGOs, due to the lack of effectiveness of current methods of HA distributions due to looting and the risks associated with reaching vulnerable people. Therefore, it has become imperative to restore donor direct HA delivery by providing cash aid as a superior means of food aid in Yemen, to ensure the effectiveness of HA and to improve the lives of those who are suffering, in the long term (This article builds on previous scholarship; see Elayah, M., & Fenttiman, M. (2021). Humanitarian Aid and War Economies: The Case of Yemen. The Economics of Peace and Security Journal, 16(1). This article provides a nuanced and high-quality examination of the conduct of armed groups in Yemen. The analysis of HA in this article "supports the view that it is a significant source of funding for armed groups and consequently that it plays a huge part in allowing the war economy in Yemen to thrive". Warring groups are often looting HA to distribute it based on partisanship and to sell it on the black market to finance the war effort. They have also attempted to block HA to try and gain control over the humanitarian campaign and receive a cut of the billions of dollars given in foreign assistance. In many cases, HA is distributed through local NGOs that were established by the groups to attract international funds. Others were pre-politicized NGOs that channeled funds to specific regions or particular groups for political and military advantage. It is clear from our analysis that the ability of NGOs to use HA effectively and deliver it to those who deserve it is very limited. NGO's actions can end up expanding the war economy rather than reducing the effects of war on the poor. Distrust in international bodies and in local and international NGOs has become extremely high among those affected by the war" (Elayah, M., & Fenttiman, M. (2021: p 59)).

"Palestinian refugees' experience of protracted displacement is among the lengthiest in history. In her breathtaking new book, Ilana Feldman explores this community's engagement with humanitarian assistance over a seventy-year period and their persistent efforts to alter their present and future conditions. Based on extensive archival and ethnographic field research, Life Lived in Relief offers a comprehensive account of the Palestinian refugee experience living with humanitarian assistance in many spaces and across multiple generations. By exploring the complex world constituted through humanitarianism, and how that world is experienced by the many people who inhabit it, Feldman asks pressing questions about what it means for a temporary status to become chronic. How do people in these conditions assert the value of their lives? What does the Palestinian situation tell us about the world? Life Lived in Relief is essential reading for anyone interested in the history and practice of humanitarianism today"--Provided by publisher

This book provides a historical inquiry into the quantification of needs in humanitarian assistance. Needs are increasingly seen as the lowest common denominator of humanity. Standard definitions of basic needs, however, set a minimalist version of humanity – both in the sense that they are narrow in what they compare, and that they set a low bar for satisfaction. The book argues that we cannot understand humanitarian governance if we do not understand how humanitarian agencies made human suffering commensurable across borders in the first place. The book identifies four basic elements of needs: As a concept, as a system of classification and triage, as a material apparatus, and as a set of standards. Drawing on a range of archival sources, including the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR), Médecins sans Frontières (MSF), and the Sphere Project, the book traces the concept of needs from its emergence in the 1960s right through to the present day, and United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon's call for "evidence-based humanitarianism." Finally, the book assesses how the international governmentality of needs has played out in a recent humanitarian crisis, drawing on field research on Central African refugees in the Cameroonian borderland in 2014–2016. This important historical inquiry into the universal nature of human suffering will be an important read for humanitarian researchers and practitioners, as well as readers with an interest in international history and development.

How Climate, Gender and Insecurity Are Driving Food Insecurity and Humanitarian Need --Humanitarianism and the Public Intellectual in Times of Crisis --The Trust Deficit in Humanitarian Action --The Sustainable Development Goals and Common Values: A Vital Framework for Humanitarian Action --Humanitarian Access --Conflict and Hunger --The Conflict of Hunger --Concluding Lecture

This is the first volume of Humanitarian Technology Survey, which draws on the discussions and presentations at the 1-day workshop on "Assessing the Technological Turn in Humanitarian Action." The workshop took place on the 15th of February 2017 at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS), Nanyang Technological University in Singapore. It was organized by the Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR) Programme at Centre for Non-Traditional Security Studies (NTS Centre) in RSIS. The workshop brought together 30 practitioners, experts and researchers in the field of humanitarian affairs. With nine speakers from different countries, the workshop aimed to create a better understanding about past, current and future initiatives and ways in which technology was deployed in humanitarian settings with a focus on the Asia-Pacific region. The workshop was split into three sessions on (1) global developments in humanitarian technology; (2) humanitarian technology in the Asia-Pacific; and (3) the future directions in humanitarian technology.

Cover -- Chapter 1: Introduction -- 1.1. Problem Diagnosis -- 1.2. Relevance of the Theme and Aim of Research -- 1.3. State of Research -- 1.3.1. Research on the theme of "Humanitarian Assistance" -- 1.3.2. Relevance of Cosmopolitanism as Reference Theory -- 1.4. Justification of the Choice of Authors -- 1.5. Methodology -- 1.6. Outline of Chapters -- Part I: Contested Humanitarianisms -- Chapter 2: Traditional Humanitarian Theory and Practice -- 2.0. Introduction -- 2.1. Conceptual Clarifications: Humanitarian Assistance, Development Assistance and Humanitarian Intervention -- 2.2. Principles of Humanitarian Assistance -- 2.2.1. Fundamental Principles of Humanitarian Assistance -- 2.2.1.1. Humanity -- 2.2.1.2. Impartiality -- 2.2.1.3. Neutrality -- 2.2.1.4. Independence -- 2.3. The International Humanitarian System and Humanitarian Actors -- 2.3.1. The Humanitarian System -- 2.3.2. National and Local Actors -- 2.3.2.1. Affected Communities and Populations -- 2.3.2.2. Governments of Affected Countries -- 2.3.2.3. Non-State Armed Groups -- 2.3.2.4. National and Local Non-Governmental Organisations -- 2.3.3. International Actors -- 2.3.3.1. Donors: Governments and Private -- 2.3.3.2. Private Security -- 2.3.3.3. The United Nations Agencies and International NGO -- 2.4. The Needs-based Approach of Traditional humanitarian Assistance -- 2.5. Humanitarian Financing -- 2.6. Humanitarian Dilemmas -- 2.6.1. Dilemma related to Principles: Between Apolitical and Political Assistance -- 2.6.2. Between Atomisation and Coordination: Dilemma Related to Humanitarian Actors -- 2.6.3. Worthy and unworthy Victims? Dilemma Concerning Financing -- 2.6.4. Violence in the Name of Humanity? Dilemma Concerning Protection of Human rights -- 2.7. Conclusion -- Chapter 3: The New Humanitarianism -- 3.0. Introduction -- 3.1. The Emergence of the New Humanitarianism.

Published to coincide with the 40th Anniversary of Médecin Sans Frontèires (MSF), this book reveals the realpolitik behind NGO work.

Adapted from Keynote Address at the Association for Anthropology and Gerontology conference, Florida International University, Miami. February 7, 2015. An earlier version of this paper titled "Humanitarian assistance for older people: does it matter?" (June 2012) was presented to Doctors Without Borders for discussion, and later published in PLoS Medicine (December 2012; 9(12):e1001357) as "Ending Neglect of Older People in the Response to Humanitarian Emergencies."1

This contributed volume combines conceptual and strategic research articles dealing with the "why" and "to what end" of sustainable operations in humanitarian logistics, as well as operational research contributions regarding the "how" from the United Nations as well as from researchers and organizations from different countries (Germany, Australia, Singapore, Italy, Denmark, Jordan). The target audience primarily comprises research experts, decision makers℗ℓ and practitioners in the field, but the book may also be beneficial for graduate students.

Background: International humanitarian assistance is essential for disaster-affected populations, particularly in resource scarce settings. To target such assistance, needs assessments are required. According to internationally endorsed principles, donor governments should provide funding for humanitarian assistance based on need. Aim: The aim of this study is to explore a major donor's use of needs assessment data in decision-making for allocations of funds for health-related humanitarian assistance contributions. Setting: This is a case study of the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida), a major and respected international donor of humanitarian assistance. Methods: To explore Sida's use of needs assessment data in practice for needs-based allocations, we reviewed all decision documents and assessment memoranda for humanitarian assistance contributions for 2012 using content analysis; this was followed by interviews with key personnel at Sida. Results: Our document analysis found that needs assessment data was not systematically included in Sida's assessment memoranda and decision documents. In the interviews, we observed various descriptions of the concept of needs assessments, the importance of contextual influences as well as previous collaborations with implementing humanitarian assistance organizations. Our findings indicate that policies guiding funding decisions on humanitarian assistance need to be matched with available needs assessment data and that terminologies and concepts have to be clearly defined. Conclusion: Based on the document analysis and the interviews, it is unclear how well Sida used needs assessment data for decisions to allocate funds. However, although our observations show that needs assessments are seldom used in decision making, Sida's use of needs assessments has improved compared to a previous study. To improve project funds allocations based on needs assessment data, it will be critical to develop distinct frameworks for allocation distributions based on ...

Increasingly a number of non-governmental organisations (NGOs) appear to be demanding the right to provide humanitarian assistance and at the same time the right to denounce any violations of human rights. Whereas these are fine and understandable aspirations, they do not coincide with accepted principles of relief law and practice. This short article will explore certain aspects of this subject, primarily in relation to the treaty law applicable to circumstances of armed conflict and in occupied territories (International Humanitarian Law).