Short pieces:
The aid system is doing less with less, yet grading itself far too kindly (The Interpreter Blog, Oct. 2026) [text]
"Beyond the humanitarian reset: Learning from pastoralists to rethink aid," The New Humanitarian, 14 Oct. 2026 [text]
Drones are breaking the deal that once kept aid workers safe (The Interpreter Blog, Oct. 2026) [text]
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New open access book:
Cold War Humanitarians: NGOs as National Political Actors in the Global South (Manchester Univ. Press, Sept. 2026) [open access]
- "Humanitarian NGOs often disagree on the boundaries of their role and take vastly different views about what constitutes an ethical response to distant suffering. ...Informed by the conviction that humanitarian NGOs must be examined as products of their national political cultures, this book compares the opposing decision-making patterns of two globally influential European NGOs – the French Médecins Sans Frontières and the British Oxfam – across three Cold War crises, namely the Cambodian refugee settlements and situation within post-Khmer Rouge Cambodia, the Ethiopian famine, and displacement from the Salvadoran civil war. While MSF’s work in this decade was animated by anti-communism and a commitment to advocating for the rights of individuals against state oppression, Oxfam’s was fuelled by a moral opposition to the excesses of Western foreign policy and a developmentalist orientation that emphasised the rights of people to have their basic needs met, leading the NGO to partner with states in pursuit of poverty reduction in the Global South. By excavating the social structures within which the NGOs’ identities were formed, this book shows that humanitarian actions (and silences) were political acts that influenced post-Cold War rights discourses in distinct ways."
Reports:
Delivering on localisation: Why overheads for local partners must be additional, not split (Norwegian Refugee Council, Oct. 2026) [text]
Grand Bargain Annual Meeting 2026, Geneva, 19-20 Oct. 2026 [access]
- This meeting "marks a milestone: the tenth anniversary of the Grand Bargain and the formal launch of the platform that will carry its work forward from January 2027." Follow link for the concept note, background documents (including the Grand Bargain Independent Report 2023-2026) and statements. See also related TNH article.
How to reform the Humanitarian Programme Cycle (ODI, Oct. 2026) [text]
Rising Military Spending in the Context of Falling Development Assistance, SIPRI Insights on Peace and Security, no. 2 (SIPRI, Oct. 2026) [access]
Journal articles:
"Innovative humanitarian finance: examining the promises and realities of impact bonds in humanitarian and refugee response," Disasters, vol. 51, no. 1 (Jan. 2027) [open access]
"Moral injury in humanitarian aid workers: exploring the perspectives and experiences of mental health professionals," Journal of International Humanitarian Action, 11:27 (Oct. 2026) [open access]
"States, humanitarian advocacy, and crisis: persuasion, mobilization, and denunciation," Journal of International Humanitarian Action, 11:28 (Oct. 2026) [open access]
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