Paper details
| Paper authors | Mario Behrens |
| In panel on | The politics of humanitarian negotiations |
| Paper presenter(s) will be presenting |
In-Person / |
Abstract
In early 2023, a number of humanitarian convoys transporting food aid from Bor to Pibor in South Sudan were ambushed, and several metric tons of aid were looted. Despite efforts by state authorities and humanitarian organizations, this road remains a dangerous passage for both humanitarian convoys and traders. Adopting a critical logistics perspective, this paper suggests that negotiations for humanitarian access, both before and after the ambushes, were primarily driven by concerns over supply chain security. In a context of protracted inter-communal conflict, fueled by the interests of elites, however, conflict parties did not view food aid deliveries as neutral, but as potential threats providing opponents with essential means of survival. Building on concepts of resilience, I demonstrate that in settings of inter-communal conflict, the motivation to ambush humanitarian convoys extends beyond mere criminal acts; it reflects an effort to ensure community survival amid ongoing violence and insecurity. Thus, the success of humanitarian access negotiations is not only contingent on knowledge of local power structures but also on the way an organization perceives and engages with the concerns of conflict-affected communities.
This paper is based on seven months of research conducted in South Sudan and Nairobi in 2023 and 2024.
