Discussion: What are the future challenges for humanitarian action?

This edition of the Review is introduced by the reflections of two of the leading humanitarian action policy makers. In 2010, Kristalina Georgieva was named the first Commissioner of the European Union specifically appointed for humanitarian aid and crisis response. In this capacity she heads the Directorate-General for Humanitarian Aid and Civil Protection of the European Commission (ECHO), a major donor of international aid. Dr Jakob Kellenberger’s second term as President of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) is drawing to a close, following a decade during which the principles defended by the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement and international humanitarian law have been severely tested. Commissioner Georgieva and President Kellenberger have met regularly to exchange views on the working files common to both organizations. The Review asked them to extend one of their interviews in order to discuss the threats and challenges facing humanitarian action. They give their respective positions on several questions of current importance, such as that of the continuum between crisis and development or the problem of coordination among humanitarian actors. Commissioner Georgieva also gives her view of humanitarian principles, including the independent financing of humanitarian action vis-á-vis the states since the adoption of the EU Lisbon Treaty and the creation of an External Action Service responsible for conducting the new European Union Common Foreign and Security Policy.