Flaws in humanitarian protection: the case of displaced people

The French Institute for International and Strategic Affairs (IRIS) is one of the main independent European Think Tanks on geopolitical and strategic issues.

IRIS, a public-interest association created in 1991, is a French think tank on geopolitical and strategic issues. It is the only international think tank to have been set up as a totally private initiative in an independent approach. IRIS activities can be divided into four fields: research, organisation of events and meetings, publishing and training.

Under the direction of Michel Maietta, Senior Research Fellow at IRIS and Head of the Strategy and Analysis Unit at Action Against Hunger France. This space of reflection aims to be an open forum for dialogue and research on humanitarian space’s evolution and the role of its stakeholders.

The humanitarian sector is going through an identity crisis; discussions about its west centric orientation, interventionist nature and more recently the resilience agenda have stirred new thinking but not revolutionary change. This is perhaps because serious consideration of these issues could radically challenge the established models, question our set of values and redefine the balance of power between the humanitarian actors.

This observatory aims to facilitate discussions which will bring together the perspective of actors in the humanitarian field and contribute to the thinking around a new generation of humanitarian organisations.Abstract:

This report focuses on some of the questions that go unnoticed by humanitarian actors who are generally wrapped up in the emergency response:
Should we always wait until the population is displaced before we launch protection programmes?
Does post‐emergency protection, taking place after people have been displaced, really ease their suffering?
What do we seek to protect them from, once they have fled their homes and abandoned their belongings?
Also, can we maintain that fundamental rights are still safeguarded in such circumstances?