Background paper - 2021 ALNAP Meeting

This Background Paper to the 2021 ALNAP Meeting uses the lens of ‘learning from disruption’ to help inform meeting discussions. An exploration of all potential disruptors would be vast; instead, this study looks specifically at the disruptive potential of COVID-19 and the decolonising aid debate, which have emerged as key issues affecting policy and practice for ALNAP Members since 2020.

• Where and to what extent have COVID-19 and the ‘decolonisation of aid’ debate driven change – both positive and negative – within the humanitarian system?
• What can the humanitarian system learn from these external disruptors and the ways in which they do or do not effect change in humanitarian policy and practice?