January 2002 Insights Issue #39

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Politics vs aid: is coherence the answer?

Humanitarian action has always been highly political. The provision of humanitarian assistance and protection has relied upon engaging with political authorities in conflict-affected countries and has thus influenced the political economy of war. At the same time, the provision of humanitarian assistance has always been influenced by the domestic public policy interests of donor countries. The issue is not whether humanitarian aid is politicised, but how.

Because of the inherently political character of political action, humanitarian actors have sought to define a set of rules to guide their relationship with warring parties (and by implication, donor governments). Embodied in international humanitarian law (IHL), the rules of impartiality and neutrality, implied a separation of 'humanitarian politics' from the partisan politics and the foreign policy interests of other states. In donor countries, this separation was marked by institutional and funding arrangements that underscored the independent and unconditional character of emergency assistance.

During the 1990s donor governments, the UN and some NGOs argued that this separation of aid and politics was no longer useful. A coherent response integrating humanitarian, political and military responses to conflict management would surely be a better approach.

The Overseas Development Institute (ODI) recently completed a study that sought to analyse the origins and impact of the coherence agenda on humanitarian principles and practice. The study combined analysis of the evolution of official donor policy in the UK, the Netherlands and the UN, with fieldwork in the Balkans and Afghanistan. The study concluded that:

• The objectives of humanitarian assistance appear to be shifting from providing a palliative to the most vulnerable to embracing conflict reduction and developmental goals. This threatens humanitarian principles: humanitarian decisions are based less on need and more on political and developmental criteria.
• The broadening of humanitarian objectives has not been matched by revitalised international political engagement in conflicts in the poorest countries. Instead, humanitarian aid is now the primary form of political engagement.
• This approach is neither effective nor ethical. Humanitarian aid is a limited instrument that can be used to prevent excess mortality and morbidity, but is not designed to resolve wars. The compromise of humanitarian principles implied by the current approach to coherence is well understood by belligerents. There is mounting evidence that relief is associated with western foreign policy, compromising security and access.

The study therefore recommends that:

• Donor governments commit themselves in law to maintaining the impartial and neutral character of humanitarian assistance.
• Political analysis and engagement be enhanced internationally, rather than relying on aid initiatives.
• NGOs and the UN also acknowledge the potential contradictions between humanitarian objectives and developmental and peace-building objectives.

Joanna Macrae
Humanitarian Policy Group
Overseas Development Institute (ODI)
111 Westminster Bridge Road
London SE1 7JD, UK

T +44 (0)20 7922 0350
j.macrae@odi.org.uk

Source
'Shifting sands: the search for 'coherence' between political and humanitarian responses to complex political emergencies', HPG Report #8, ODI, London by J. Macrae and N Leader (2000) (www.odi.org.uk/publications/humanitarian.html#hpgreports);

'The politics of coherence: humanitarianism and foreign policy in the post-Cold War era', HPG Briefing #1, ODI, London by J. Macrae and N. Leader (July 2000)
(www.odi.org.uk/publications/humanitarian.html#hpgbriefings)

'The politics of coherence: The UK government's approach to linking political and humanitarian responses to complex political emergencies' Research In Focus #1, ODI, London by J. Macrae and N. Leader (2000) (www.odi.org.uk/hpg/publications.html)

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