Humanitarian Policy Group

05/11/2025

🇵🇭 We're delighted to release this new research about the , and how it has led responses to humanitarian crises in recent decades.

A collaborative approach between national and local governments and civil society in the country has resulted in more effective, inclusive and representative disaster responses. As the international aid system grapples with questions about its role going forward, does the Philippines offer lessons in how to redefine humanitarian responses globally? Arbie Baguios and HPG explore in detail in this brand-new case study → https://buff.ly/IeW9GyQ

20/10/2025

🏳️‍🌈 How do gender norms shape protection risks for people with diverse SOGIESC (S*xual Orientation, Gender Identity, Gender Expression and S*x Characteristics) in crisis settings in Syria and Haiti?

Humanitarian responses too often overlook the unique vulnerabilities faced by people with diverse SOGIESC, leaving significant gaps in protection analysis and programming. Our upcoming research – featuring case studies from Syria and Haiti – seeks to challenge these gaps and rethink how protection work can become more inclusive and gender- and conflict-sensitive.
We're seeking research partners to join this project – and we're especially keen to hear from people who are from/in Haiti or Syria.

Visit our website for further details: https://odi.org/en/careers/consultancies/, and submit your application by 31 October.

16/10/2025

⚠️ Early-warning and early-response (EWER) systems have become vital tools for preventing and mitigating violence – but is enough being done to ensure they truly protect civilians?

Despite growing adoption, there’s still no dedicated guidance on best practice for EWER systems focused on protection outcomes. This has led to fragmented efforts and a lack of evidence on what works. Instead, what is needed are stronger links between warning and response, and more investment in learning and community leadership – particularly in an era of devastating funding cuts.

Find out more about the criticality of EWER systems in this brand-new briefing from HPG's Véronique Barbelet and ODI Global's Leigh Mayhew ⤵️

This briefing note explores how early-warning and early-response (EWER) systems have been implemented in response to violence and conflict, and for the purpose of reducing harm and increasing the safety and security of civilians.

15/10/2025

🗣️ "How can we survive? I use my personal money but this is not sustainable."

These are the words of a leader of a local women’s organisation. Despite years of commitments, the humanitarian system is still failing to deliver fair, consistent humanitarian financing – and local and national humanitarian actors are bearing the brunt.

In our latest article, HPG Research Associate Nora Hassanien explains how Indirect Cost Recovery (ICR) has been proven to be the foundation for resilient humanitarian programming, yet faces chronic underfunding. Adequately resourcing local actors is not optional charity, but an essential investment. The evidence is clear, the commitments are written, and the tools exist – says Nora. What is missing is the courage to act. Read on for the full facts ⤵️

Honest self-reflection is needed as to why, despite all the commitments and guidelines and working groups, we are still far from seeing consistent, fairer humanitarian financing.

08/10/2025

❓ Why are women-led organisations still being overlooked – and what can we do about it?

Despite years of calls for more accessible and equitable funding for organisations led by crisis-affected people – especially women, girls and gender-diverse communities – the funding ecosystem remains full of barriers. Women-led organisations (WLOs) continue to face significant challenges to carrying out their work, even more so those led by women with disabilities, displaced women, girls and older women, or LGBTQ+ women.

The humanitarian system can be reimagined, but only if we commit to dismantling exclusionary practices and centring the leadership and expertise of women in crisis-affected communities. Our latest paper unpacks how funders can work better within the current funding landscape as well as strategies for transforming that landscape to be more effective, inclusive, accessible and sustainable.

🔗 More from HPG researchers Megan Daigle, Manny Maung and Caterina Mazzilli: buff.ly/ILQa6DQ

07/10/2025

Amid junta violence, local resistance groups are building new systems of governance and security in – and the international humanitarian system is failing to adapt. Get up to speed with our latest research, which gets to the heart of Myanmar’s post-2021 coup transformation...

📖 READ our recent report: "Making Myanmar: humanitarianism amid revolutionary state-building" → buff.ly/W8VSnxL [with summary now available in Burmese]

📺 WATCH our LinkedIn Live with experts Dustin Barter & Stella Naw → buff.ly/QVzUckh

🎧 LISTEN to the What's Happening in Myanmar podcast, via Frontier Myanmar → buff.ly/PPrVg0t

[Photo: Displaced mother and baby in Kachin, Myanmar. Credit: Dustin Barter]

29/09/2025

💡 WEBINAR: Years of chronic underfunding for marginalised groups are now being compounded by brutal cuts, shifting donor priorities and structural reforms. Within this challenging context, the centrality of protection is being sidelined. As the humanitarian sector undergoes a fundamental reset, there is growing concern that age, gender, disability and other cross-cutting issues are being deprioritised or excluded altogether.

In collaboration with HelpAge International, we are hosting an online, cross-sector panel discussion on what current funding and policy trends mean for the inclusion of marginalised and at-risk groups, and how we can safeguard the centrality of protection. Together, we will explore the sector’s continued ability to respond to intersecting and cumulative forms of marginalisation and discrimination.

📅 Tuesday 7 October, 2:00-3:30PM (BST)
🗣️ Featuring speakers from: Somalia NGO Consortium/ICVA Network, Network of Women with Disabilities/Cedar Seed Foundation, United Nations OCHA, Sida - Styrelsen för Internationellt Utvecklingssamarbete, HelpAge International and HPG/ODI Global
🔉 Interpretation will be available in Arabic, French, Spanish and International Sign

🔗 More info and RSVP → buff.ly/uWByt2M

24/09/2025

With the 80th UN General Assembly under way, HPG Director Freddie Carver highlights the urgent need for challenging conversations about legitimacy and the role of different actors within the humanitarian sector.

🎧 Listen in full now: https://buff.ly/RaxGL17

23/09/2025

💸 In a humanitarian crisis, cash assistance is a hugely effective tool to supporting economic growth. Our latest research urges donors, governments and the humanitarian sector to make aid go further by giving cash first in a crisis, highlighting that:

✅ Cash has consistently proven to be the most effective modality of assistance
✅ Giving cash first as the default response helps support and accelerate community recovery and is an investment in longer-term economic growth and livelihoods
✅ The humanitarian reset provides an opportunity to modernise the aid sector and make it fit for cash-first responses

Read the paper in full now: buff.ly/xDT8Gfm

Attending ? HPG Director Freddie Carver will be speaking at a side event tomorrow (Wednesday 24 September, 11AM-1PM EDT), organised by GiveDirectly and the Government of Uganda, to share findings from this research – email [email protected] to RSVP!

In the face of difficult trade-offs and funding cuts, cash provides a cost-efficient option that cuts across outcomes, mandates and timeframes. In the current climate, the temptation to return to providing humanitarian assistance the way it was provided decades ago should be resisted, in favour of t...

22/09/2025

🗓️ Interested in finding out more about this critical research? We will be hosting a LinkedIn Live discussion on Wednesday 1 October, where we will hear from two of the report's authors, Dustin and Stella, as they explore the ongoing situation in . Join them: https://lnkd.in/ehqWgTME

16/09/2025

📣 NEW RESEARCH: Amid junta violence, local resistance groups are building new systems of governance and security in Myanmar – and the international humanitarian system is failing to adapt.

Our new report, written in collaboration with activist Stella Naw, gets to the heart of Myanmar’s transformation. Read now ➡️ buff.ly/wnJK94P