Paper details
| Paper authors | Qundeel Khattak, Flor Correa |
| In panel on | Ethical Exits and Future Trajectories: Reimagining Closure, Localisation and Humanitarian Practice |
| Paper presenter(s) will be presenting |
In-Person / |
Abstract
Humanitarian interventions are often designed with clear entry points but ambiguous exits—especially in contexts of forced displacement. Drawing on a randomized controlled trial of a seed capital and entrepreneurship training program for Venezuelan migrants in Peru, this paper explores what it means to exit responsibly. The intervention, implemented by Save the Children and evaluated by researchers from Innovations for Poverty Action (IPA), Northwestern University, and GRADE aimed to foster economic self-reliance among migrants through business creation.
The intervention not only demonstrated rapid and substantial gains in business ownership, household income, and financial resilience within six months of implementation, but also revealed promising signs of long-term success among a subset of high-performing entrepreneurs, who sustained elevated profits and income levels nearly 18 months after intervention period. These findings underscores the potential of linking humanitarian assistance to broader social protection systems and livelihoods programs, which offer more sustainable and ethical pathways for exit. Rather than abrupt withdrawal, embedding humanitarian interventions within national safety nets and economic inclusion strategies can foster continuity, resilience, and dignity for affected populations.
This paper argues that humanitarian exit should be seen not just as an end, but as a transition. It calls for more ethical foresight, longer-term support, and a deeper understanding of how people experience the end of aid.
