Humanitarian Policy

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Every year, the number of people who need humanitarian assistance and protection increases. In 2022, there were 274 million people in need, the highest figure in decades, requiring $41 billion in assistance. Yet the humanitarian system allocates its resources inefficiently, reaches too few people, and fails to provide what vulnerable populations say they need the most. 

Most of CGD’s work on humanitarian policy aims to understand the incentives behind the system and shift them to better prioritize the needs of affected populations. Over the last five years, we have published numerous pieces and engaged with policymakers in donors and aid agencies to realize our ambitious vision for the system: 

  • Coordination: field delivery coordination models that put affected people first and strengthen frontline response. 

  • Financing: alternative approaches to humanitarian financing that lower entry barriers for local and national actors. 

  • Governance: humanitarian governance that prioritizes efficiency and performance, and accountability to affected people. 

Read more here.

We also continue to engage on pressing humanitarian crises, such as Ethiopia and Afghanistan. We lend our voice to encourage donors to support affected people through humanitarian and development interventions that respond to the needs of vulnerable people.