GPPi discusses India’s humanitarian action at conference in Leeds, UK
GPPi research associate András Horváth presented a paper on India’s humanitarian action in the 21st century at the 27th British Association for South Asian Studies Annual Conference held at the University of Leeds from 3 – 5 April 2013. The panel, titled “India as Humanitarian Actor: Newbie or Old Hand,” contrasted India’s pre-independence humanitarian engagement with its more recent humanitarian action.
Horváth presented a previously unpublished dataset on India’s humanitarian action in the 21st century. He also described the current institutional infrastructure servicing foreign aid projects. Contrary to India’s emergence in development cooperation, the country has not matched its potential in humanitarian action, Horváth argued.
India’s humanitarian budget corresponds roughly to that of Luxembourg and falls significantly short of Gulf and “Northern” donors’. The country’s humanitarian engagement is strongly focused on its immediate neighborhood and mostly involves in-kind aid, such as food and medicines. Decentralized and lacking clear policies, humanitarian decision-making remains fragmented and spontaneous.
Horváth posited that current investments in human resources and growing participation in international policy fora are but the seeds for India’s adoption of a better fitting, global role in humanitarian action. By failing to accord decision-making and increase its puny humanitarian budget, India is missing out on becoming a relevant player to shape the future of the humanitarian system.
A draft version of the paper that Horváth presented is available here. Comments are welcome.