This set of products is itself flexible to the user’s interests and needs: they can be read in conjunction with one another, or separately on their own. The entire study and three standalone sections are available for download on the sidebar.
We have also produced a set of short audio companions for the papers (see below), which describe the key points, and feature interviews with experts on these issues.
Why is it that many humanitarian organisations, once considered highly flexible, are now unable to quickly shift their strategies and programmes in response to situational changes, such as new outbreaks of conflict, changing markets, rising drought conditions or population movements? How did humanitarian organisations end up with approaches that inhibit learning and adaptation, when the complexity of protracted crises requires the opposite? Why is it that individual aid workers often have to work outside their organisation’s systems in an effort to do things differently? And what can decision-makers in humanitarian organisations do about this?
Over a two-year period, ALNAP spent time with our Members to understand the challenges they were facing in their operational flexibility in different crisis contexts. We looked at the opportunities and challenges to adapting humanitarian assistance in DRC, and learned from Members trying to flex between longer-term development, crisis mitigation and humanitarian drought response in Kenya. We also brought together a cross-section of the humanitarian sector to share their experiences in experimenting with different models for flexibility.
The result of all this is a set of papers and learning products which aim to support the shift in mindset that is required to support a more flexible, nimble humanitarian response.
Shifting Mindsets Audio Companion playlist