International humanitarian aid provides relief to tens of millions of people each year. Unfortunately, it is often too little, too late, and unpredictable, or inappropriate to the needs of communities. Since 2005, UN-led reforms to humanitarian aid have begun to make a difference. The recent development of ‘pooled funds’, has been regarded by donor governments as being a promising mechanism to enforce coordination and joint planning and to ease their own administrative burdens. Oxfam argues however, that the overall added value of pooled funds has not been proved conclusively.
