Editorial
François Grünewald
Syria, Iraq, Ebola, Gaza, Mali – there has been a huge increase in the number of tragic crises in recent months… The humanitarian sector is under enormous pressure. This litany of tragedies is further cause for us to focus on the quality of assistance and protection operations for civilians. It also raises questions about the capacity and role of a sector which remains vital, but is increasingly in danger.
This situation has led to a relatively eclectic issue of Humanitarian Aid on the Move, which covers a broad range of issues. Understanding the importance of IHL, the complexity of situations, and the “turbulence to come” all depends on collective intelligence. Major health risks have emerged in the last ten years. The Ebola crisis shows how our societies have become more vulnerable, but also more reactive. Faced with the risk that it will spread to the rest of the world, our collective capacities will be put to the test.
How do we control this turbulence and violence which seem to be key factors of the future?
How do we make societies more resilient, with the redefinition of the Hyogo Framework for Action (Sendai, March 2015) and the COP21 (Paris 2015), where we hope to see a global agreement on the climate? How do we rethink the humanitarian sector of the future, as the World Humanitarian Summit of 2016 invites us to do? The following articles, written by humanitarians and operational researchers, aim to contribute to these global discussions based on field practices and analysis.
