Shifting the system

The humanitarian sector has its internal logics and dynamics, its underlying assumptions, and its power structures. Global shifts and funding shocks alongside mounting humanitarian needs push the sector to adapt under pressure. In response, reform agendas are underway, amidst ongoing calls for meaningful local humanitarian leadership. Prioritisation is key and forms a major challenge. This requires international humanitarian actors to reflect on their own positioning within the system and on how to organise their accountability. Also, humanitarian action overlaps with peace, stability and development agendas, which need to be understood in convergence. This includes moving beyond reactive crisis response by investing in anticipatory action and supporting community preparedness.  

By engaging with leading experts in interactive sessions, KUNO supports the deepening of understanding of how the system operates. It also encourages reflection on its limitations, to identify issues that require change. Across these discussions, the guiding question remains how humanitarian actors can improve their work to support affected communities in more effective and dignified manners, without causing further harm.