Paper details
| Paper authors | Ralf Südhoff |
| In panel on | ‘Real’ Humanitarian Governance: Accountability, Advocacy, and Alternatives |
| Paper presenter(s) will be presenting |
In-Person / |
Abstract
With the dismantlement of USAID and the US as dominant humanitarian donor, Europe plays an even more relevant role with respect to humanitarian governance and reform, including in the so-called "humanitarian reset" process. At the same time Europe is also in the humanitarian arena a fragmented actor which turns its internal humanitarian governance and coordination and its respective external accountability into an essentiel issue.
Against this backdrop this paper examines the status quo of European coordination of humanitarian policies between its top 10 donors and evaluates relevant formal and informal coordination fora and their regional dimensions in Europe and in crisis contexts. Building on the concepts of political coordination by Braun (2008) and MacCarthaigh/Molenveld (2018), the paper assesses the level of successful coordination in formal bodies such as COHAFA, DG Group, and the HAC, in informal bodies such as the Stockholm Group, the E6 Group and the Group of Nordics as well as in local networks in crisis contexts across three analytical coordination levels: informative, thematic, and strategic coordination.
The analysis identifies structural weaknesses in European coordination, indicating an unsolved trade off in existing coordination fora being either effective or inclusive (or neither nor). It identifies strategic political motives for state actors to prioritise profiling, visibility and autonomy over cooperation in certain areas. Building on this, it identifies areas such as humanitarian diplomacy and institutional nexus issues, where achieving significantly improved coordination will be challenging due to political interests and hard power considerations.
Concluding the paper offers ten recommendations for enhancing European coordination processes and five pragmatic proposals for thematic policy fields in which substantial progress for humanitarian action could be achieved also in times of contested and politicized humanitarian aid. These proposed changes could lay the groundwork and generate momentum for Europe to transition from a polyphonic choir to a significant influencer in humanitarian policies and major reforms in a crucial era of humanitarian transition.
