GPPi contributes to roundtable on the Good Humanitarian Donorship Initiative

In London on November 29, GPPi Associate Director Andrea Binder participated in a roundtable discussion on the Good Humanitarian Donorship Initiative (GHD), an informal donor forum and network. Jointly hosted by the Norwegian Refugee Council and ODI’s Humanitarian Policy Group, the event brought together donors, humanitarian practitioners and experts to take stock of humanitarian donorship in the wake of the upcoming 10-year anniversary of the GHD.

Binder contributed to a panel titled ​“What Constitutes Good humanitarian Donorship in Today’s World?” Joining Binder on the panel was Miguel Garcia-Zamudio from the Mexican embassy in the UK and Robert Smith from the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.

In her presentation, Binder argued that in today’s multipolar world, the GHD – an exclusively Western donor club – is at a crossroads. Over the past 10 years, the GHD’s main value-added was its international agreement on 23 principles and good practices of humanitarian donors, such as needs-based funding. These principles helped participating humanitarian departments to maintain a certain level of independence vis-à-vis the political interests of their government. Upholding and disseminating these 23 principles and good practices was the GHD’s raison d’être.

Looking forward 10 years, the GHD can either continue to advocate the same Western-centric humanitarianism norms or it can open up to emerging donors such as Turkey, China or India. These donors, however, are unlikely to officially subscribe to the same norms, every country for a different reason.

Opening up the GHD would keep the initiative relevant in a world where the tectonic plates of global power are shifting. At the same time, making the humanitarian principles and good practices secondary priorities will most likely undermine the GHD’s role as an international benchmark for what constitutes good humanitarian donorship. In light of this dilemma, the GHD should decentralize its activities in Geneva to coordinate with rising powers at the country level, for example in Somalia or the Palestinian territories, where many emerging donors are active.