Making the Humanitarian System Fit for Purpose
Executive Summary
Declining donor funding, rising conflict and persistently
high levels of forced displacement are driving an
escalating crisis in the international humanitarian
system. Current responses that prioritize life-saving
aid, shift support to local partners and improve
efficiency are necessary, but they are insufficient for
protracted crises and do not address the structural
drivers of aid dependence. This report describes the
scale of the challenge, with a particular focus on
humanitarian responses for refugees and internally
displaced persons and argues that the system must be
rethought to make it more efficient, more effective and
better tailored to the contexts in which it operates. With
traditional leadership receding, middle powers must
step up. They cannot replace lost U.S. dollars, but they
can build the coalitions that make every dollar go
further. The launch of Partners for Multilateralism at
this year’s UN General Assembly shows the appetite is
there. Forced displacement is where that commitment
should be tested first. To that end, the World Refugee &
Migration Council (WRMC) will lead an 18-month
initiative with international partners—donor and
refugee-hosting governments, UN and development
institutions, global think tanks, local authorities and
displaced people themselves—to develop a practical
blueprint for a humanitarian system fit for a changing
world.
