GPPi and Oxfam host discussion on emerging humanitarian donors at 2013 ECOSOC Humanitarian Affairs Segment

GPPi and Oxfam Geneva organized a panel discussion on 16 July 2013 called ​“Shifting the Balance of Humanitarian Aid: New Government Partners – Expectations, Trends and Perspectives.” The panel was a side event of the 2013 ECOSOC Humanitarian Affairs Segment, an annual platform for discussing the activities and issues related to strengthening the coordination of the humanitarian assistance of the United Nations.

Over 90 representatives from international organizations, member states, the Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement and civil society organizations attended the event.

Panelists included Ambassador Ulises Canchola, Deputy Permanent Representative of Mexico to the International Organizations in Geneva; Oxfam Russia Country Director Dmitry Medlev; and GPPi Research Associate Andras Horvath.
Leading the panel was GPPi Associate Director Andrea Binder, who posed the following questions:

• Language matters: How do you see yourself? As emerging donor, new partner or something completely different?
• The state of the humanitarian system from your perspective: What are currently the system’s greatest assets and where do we have to improve it? How can we ensure interoperability?
• Food aid: In-kind or cash? Why? 

In his presentation, Canchola argued for distinguishing humanitarian actors based on what they do, not what they call themselves. He presented Mexico’s humanitarian infrastructure and called for the donor community’s growing commitment to disaster preparedness and risk reduction. He also underlined the need for better coordination and more accountability in humanitarian action.

For his part, Medlev outlined the results of a new discussion paper on Russia as a humanitarian donor. Medlev argued that G8 member Russia sees itself as part of the developed world and aims to join the OECD. Russia has re-emerged as an international donor since the mid-2000s and its humanitarian assistance today – as percentage of its official development assistance – is the largest among the BRICS. On the other hand, Russian humanitarian assistance in absolute terms still falls behind most middle and large OECD member economies. More than half of the country’s humanitarian assistance over the last decade has been distributed in the Caucasus and Central Asia.

GPPi’s Horvath presented the findings of the project ​“Humanitarian Assistance: Truly Universal?” He contended that the fault line is not necessarily between so-called traditional and emerging donors; rather, it is between strongly principled and long-term, development oriented donors. He also argued that emerging donors are not homogenous, and that history – specifically the country’s colonial past or lack thereof – greatly impacts self-perception. Despite their very active foreign policy engagement, countries like Turkey and Brazil cannot yet play a bigger role in the humanitarian system for they lack sufficiently large dedicated budget lines and are still in the process of building up a cadre of humanitarian experts in the capitals.

In the Q&A following the presentations, representatives from the Turkish Mission to the International Organizations in Geneva and the Russian Ministry of Emergency Situations (EMERCOM) commented on the discussion.

Click here to read a PDF version of the full conference summary.