Panel details

Panel organiser(s) will be presenting	In-Person / Online
Number of paper presentations	4
Location	Istanbul

Abstract

Recent years have revealed a growing fragility in the financial underpinnings of the humanitarian system. Humanitarian actors are struggling to maintain continuity due to economic shocks, shifting political priorities, and global crises of unprecedented scale. This panel explores how funding unpredictability is reshaping the governance of humanitarian aid and how actors are responding through the development of new financial models rooted in flexibility, legitimacy, and sustainability.

Crucially, funding is not a neutral input; it actively shapes humanitarian priorities, influences organizational independence, and affects how and where responses are delivered. Panelists will examine alternative approaches to financing—including community-based giving, partnerships, faith-linked support structures, and hybrid models—that allow for greater resilience in volatile contexts.

This session offers critical reflection on the humanitarian sector’s heavy reliance on a narrow set of funding streams, and invites discussion on how diverse, locally grounded models can redistribute power and create space for more ethical humanitarian governance. It aims to provoke not only institutional rethinking, but also a broader dialogue about what kind of financial ecosystem the humanitarian system needs to remain viable, just, and locally rooted in the face of future disruptions.

Paper presentations