Centre for Humanitarian Action

Are we still serving the “most in need”? Has aid ever been non-political? Right now at #HCBerlin: CHA director Ralf Südhoff with Marta Lorenzo Rodriguez (UNRWA Europe), Deike Potzel (GFFO), Thea Hilhorst (The Hague Humanitarian Studies Centre), Olivier Vandecasteele (Protect Humanitarians) and @Wafa’a Al Saidy (Médecins du Monde). Watch the livestream here: https://lnkd.in/dTGcBkiq

What is the most pressing topic for you as a humanitarian? Tell us! Meet us today or tomorrow at our stand at #HCBerlin

#COP29 is nigh—what should #humanitarians do? Climate change is expected to cause rapid rise in humanitarian needs around the world. It will strain the finances of aid organisations and widen the global humanitarian needs and funding gap (currently estimated around 60%) 💸 Climate finance is essential for curbing the negative humanitarian impacts of global warming 🛑 Yet it has fallen short of its promise. Vulnerability to climate risks plays a minor role in the distribution of resources, with major funding and knowledge gaps in fragile and conflict-affected areas 🌍 ⁉️ What to do? To address these issues, I make four recommendations in my new research paper "More than Money: Why Climate Finance Matters for Humanitarian Organisations" 🌊 🌪️ 📣 Promote accountable climate donorship. Humanitarian organisations should demand fair, targeted, and transparent allocation of climate funds at COP29. Funding must be new and additional to #ODA, and it must meet the needs of climate-vulnerable developing countries. ⚖️ Equitable distribution of resources. Fragile and conflict-affected countries urgently need improved access to climate adaptation funding. Humanitarian organisations should use their expertise and knowhow to challenge risk-averse donor policies and support climate adaptation in fragile settings. 🔝 Justice-based approach to climate finance. The provision of climate finance rests of the 'polluter pays principle' and other ethical concepts. Humanitarian organisations should support climate justice demands of affected communities and seek to establish common policy positions. 🏚️ Balanced approach to short- and long-term needs. Sufficient funding must be available to address needs beyond immediate aftermath of climate-related disasters, including non-economic loss and damage and development needs. 💡 Interested? Download the paper and its executive summary from the Centre for Humanitarian Action website.

Why does climate finance matter for humanitarian organisations? Ahead of COP29, CHA Research Fellow Iida-Maria Tammi analyses policy gaps that inhibit climate finance from reaching its full humanitarian potential. 👉https://lnkd.in/dF7Jnbnm

Great contributions, lively discussions at the jury meeting for the Aktion Deutschland Hilft e.V. Journalism Award today. CHA director Ralf Südhoff as well as Marion Dilg, Andrea Kümpfbeck, Oliver Mayer-Rüth and Jörg Sadrozinski are looking forward to the award ceremony in November! #stories4aid

Registrations are now open for the Institut für Friedenssicherungsrecht und Humanitäres Völkerrecht (IFHV) and Aktion Deutschland Hilft e.V. course "#HumanitarianAction All-Round: Foundations, Challenges, Trends" via our website. The introductory course, facilitated by a team of experts from the Centre for Humanitarian Action, aims to complement theory with practical examples provided by guest speakers who have relevant work experience (shared, for instance, in the “deep dive” format). Furthermore, the course offers you a critical perspective and includes a variety of interactive and #participatory methods, including #casestudies, group discussions, quizzes, and roleplays. In addition to dedicated sessions, the course aims to consider #powerdynamics with respect to all its content and this way seeks to avoid reproducing power #imbalances and the problematic knowledge gaps within the sector. The online training spans over 6 training days between 25th November until 5th December 2024 from 10 am to 2:30 pm CET each day and includes regular breaks. The course is part of aha's #certification scheme: It can be credited towards a Certificate of Advanced Studies in "#Foundations of Humanitarian Action". New employees or junior practitioners with little previous experience from international and national/local/diaspora humanitarian NGOs, UN agencies, and government institutions; humanitarian volunteers; as well as career changers from other professions are part of the target group. You can #register here for a fee of 350€: https://lnkd.in/eP4mG7Pq

Germany has launched a new #humanitarian #strategy - On the #HumanitarianBlog with Institute for International Law of Peace and Armed Conflict (IFHV) CHA Director @Ralf Südhoff analyses what the 40 pages stand for in times of a drastically cut budget and if Germany's reputated aid might be heavily politicized anytime soon. Now also in English👉 https://lnkd.in/dUkwySXa

The budget for #humanitarian assistance worldwide will be halved - Germany will no longer be a leading donor. The German daily newspaper SZ on the new German humanitarian #strategy, including CHA Director Ralf Südhoff [German]: https://lnkd.in/d8d3FWNS

There is a lack of clarity as to what can really be achieved with limited financial and, by comparison, minimal humanitarian human resources in the GFFO - CHA director Ralf Südhoff in an FR interview on the new German #humanitarian #strategy [German]: https://lnkd.in/dqf--etG

Today Germany has launched a new #humanitarian strategy - please see my blog and analysis what is in the 40 pages, what it stands for in times of a drastically cut budget and if Germany's reputated aid might be heavily politicized anytime soon. All feedback most welcome! https://lnkd.in/eGra8HDg