Current Thinking

Many relief organizations view complex emergencies as mainly problems with the political and social order during and after a disaster event. This is supported by the United Nations (UN) Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) handbook, which states that major challenges include coordination of response between all actors. The coordination is made difficult as the number of actors increase and as their political and social ambitions conflict. For example, existing governments conflict with rebel groups, leaving the relief efforts either waiting for permissions that never come, ...