HPG Background Paper: Business engagement in humanitarian relief: key trends and policy implications

A slightly belated link to a paper published in June by Andrea Binder and Jan Martin Witte of the Global Public Policy Institute, funded by HPG.

For decades, companies have occupied a secondary presence in humanitarian relief, providing goods and services to dominant humanitarian actors contracting their assistance. However, recently, the business community has started to respond unconventionally to needs arising from humanitarian emergencies, offering more than just logistical support or the delivery of construction materials on a fee-basis. While most donors expend humanitarian funds only to non-profit organisations, certain key donors have started to contract commercial providers directly for planning and implementation of humanitarian projects.

These developments have given rise to much discussion within the humanitarian community regarding the role of the private sector in humanitarian relief. Critics and supporters alike argue that the two trends depicted above, if significant and persistent, have the potential to transform the humanitarian domain and will affect humanitarian principles.

Download the paper from the HPG website; full details of the GPPI project are available from the GPPI website.

Thanks to Jutta for sending this in.