GPPi publishes commentary on non-Western powers in humanitarian action

GPPi research associate András Horváth has written an op-ed for Reuters AlertNet titled Piggy Banks and Unequal partners: Non-Western Powers in Humanitarian Action. Published 11 February 2013, the commentary is a reaction to a recent donor conference where non-Western powers pledged to cover more than two-thirds of the $1.5 billion United Nations appeal for Syria, the largest short-term humanitarian appeal ever.

According to Horváth, non-Western powers such as China, India and Saudi Arabia are heavily involved in humanitarian operations, but often channel aid through intransparent mechanisms and only on occasion report their humanitarian donations to the United Nations. So far, most of these donors have been reluctant to commit to multilateral funding mechanisms and opted to act outside the Western-dominated humanitarian system. 

Horváth argues that non-Western powers will continue to operate in parallel to the current humanitarian system if their interests are not better represented. If left unaddressed, this new fragmentation risks undoing improvements to the humanitarian system aimed to produce a globally concerted response to humanitarian crises. The need for more coordination was, after all, one of the hard lessons learned from the tragic mishaps following the Rwandan genocide and the Indian Ocean tsunami. 

The ostensible success of the donor conference for Syria should therefore not fool Western powers into inaction. Non-Western powers are not keen on becoming piggy banks of a Western dominated humanitarian system. Specialized offices of foreign ministries and development agencies need to extend their engagement with non-Western powers beyond the UN to mold a truly global humanitarian system.