What is a Humanitarian Observatory?
Humanitarian Observatories are organised spaces where participants, representing multiple actors, discuss a variety of topics in relation to humanitarian governance. Actors can include, for example, national aid providers, civil society actors, research institutions, independent researchers, academics, think tanks and government representatives. These networks of actors observe trends and processes in humanitarian governance and propose changes when needed.
Whilst most discussions about humanitarian action and governance occur at the international level and are not context specific, most of the actual activities within humanitarian action occur at a local or regional, and contextualised level. This creates a disconnect, and negatively impacts both people affected by and involved in humanitarian activities. The Humanitarian Observatories initiative seeks to address this need, by creating locally rooted spaces for learning, exchange, strategic thinking, and action.
Humanitarian Observatories are intended to be complementary to humanitarian coordination (at a local/regional/national level), and venues for exchange and feedback. Whilst Observatories can choose to focus on specific issues or themes, the Observatories are intended to bring together a diversity of actors and are not concerned with the immediacy of specific projects (unless the Observatory members themselves find this relevant).
However, the Humanitarian Observatories do not exist within these country/contextual silos and have expanded to a knowledge and learning exchange now known as the Humanitarian Observatory Network. This inter-Observatory network meets often to take stock of the humanitarian systems in which they operate and further create spaces where local and contextual knowledge can be brought to the fore in a manner that furthers co-created knowledge creation and sharing, and advocacy thereof.
Latest Humanitarian Observatories Updates:
Hilhorst, D. (2023). Humanitarian observatories – seeking change from below.
Active Observatories
Observatories founded as part of the ERC-funded ‘Humanitarian Governance: Accountability, Advocacy, Alternatives’ project:
Latin America & The Caribbean, based in Colombia
Hosted at the Universidad de Los Andes
Publications
Mena, R., Aparicio, J.R. and Villacis, G. Humanitarian action in Latin America: Same but different?
Observatory newsletter [Spanish and English]
Democratic Republic of the Congo
Publications
Kyamusugulwa, P. M. and Mwenebyake, D. L. (2023). Creating a space for Congolese to talk about issues including how widespread sexual abuse is ravaging the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s humanitarian sector.
Kyamusugulwa, P. M. and Mwenebyake, D. L. (2023). Adapting codes of conduct for humanitarian workers to the DRC context can prevent and combat sexual abuse.
Ethiopia
Hosted by Addis Ababa University
Publications
Hordofa, A.B. (2023). Why it’s crucial for internally displaced persons to participate in the peace process following Ethiopia’s Oromia Conflict.
This project has received funding from the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No. 884139
Observatories founded as part of the Humanitarian Studies Centre:
Humanitarian Observatory Initiative South Asia (HOISA), based in India
Hosted by the All India Disaster Mitigation Institute
Publications
Trivedi, K., Bhatt, M., Pathak, V., Chakrabarti, P. and Chaudhary, K.S. (2023). A humanitarian observatory for discussing heatwaves in South Asia was recently launched — here’s how it wants to improve responses to heatwaves.
Observatories regularly contribute blogs, reports and outputs: check out BLISS, the ISS Blog for more information
Would you like to host an Observatory?
Get in contact by emailing humanitarianstudiescentre@iss.nl
Humanitarian Observatories Flyer in English