Paper details
| Paper authors | Dr Stephanie Rinaldi, Prof Bertrand Taithe |
| In panel on | The future of humanitarian research (Roundtable) |
| Paper presenter(s) will be presenting |
In-Person / |
Abstract
Recent developments, particularly funding cuts and politically motivated dismantling of US federal agencies, pose a significant threat to the preservation of records crucial to humanitarian operations and future research. USAID and other US health and aid institutions (CDC, NIH, FDA) have seen widespread layoffs including the dismissal of their archivists and historians. As a result, key databases and evidence have already been deleted, dismantled, or are at risk of permanent loss. This is part of a broader systemic campaign of erasure.
The impact extends globally. These US agencies have long supported the backbone of global humanitarian and health data infrastructures. The subsequent changes to UN operational budgets mean that offices are closing without sufficient infrastructure or funding to deposit or preserve records. Many NGOs that maintained vital datasets on famine monitoring, climate change, and more have ceased operations, with surviving archives housed on precarious and insecure platforms. Efforts like the current PEDP initiative to preserve US federal environmental data show that the need for intervention has been recognised in some sectors. Humanitarian data, however, remains unaddressed.
These recent developments are occurring in a context in which norm-setting humanitarian giant MSF already acknowledged its digital archiving challenges in the field. Fragmentation across missions and operational centres makes it nearly impossible to track decision-making processes which undermines institutional learning and future life-saving responses.
This paper presents a discussion of these matters based around two central questions:
1. What will happen to essential humanitarian datasets and archives if no coordinated intervention is made?
2. What are the long-term implications for humanitarian research and operations if these digital records are lost?
