• News
    • Latest news
    • News search
    • Health
    • Finance
    • Food
    • Career news
    • Content series
    • Try Devex Pro
  • Jobs
    • Job search
    • Post a job
    • Employer search
    • CV Writing
    • Upcoming career events
    • Try Career Account
  • Funding
    • Funding search
    • Funding news
  • Talent
    • Candidate search
    • Devex Talent Solutions
  • Events
    • Upcoming and past events
    • Partner on an event
  • Post a job
  • About
      • About us
      • Membership
      • Newsletters
      • Advertising partnerships
      • Devex Talent Solutions
      • Contact us
Join DevexSign in
Join DevexSign in

News

  • Latest news
  • News search
  • Health
  • Finance
  • Food
  • Career news
  • Content series
  • Try Devex Pro

Jobs

  • Job search
  • Post a job
  • Employer search
  • CV Writing
  • Upcoming career events
  • Try Career Account

Funding

  • Funding search
  • Funding news

Talent

  • Candidate search
  • Devex Talent Solutions

Events

  • Upcoming and past events
  • Partner on an event
Post a job

About

  • About us
  • Membership
  • Newsletters
  • Advertising partnerships
  • Devex Talent Solutions
  • Contact us
  • My Devex
  • Update my profile % complete
  • Account & privacy settings
  • My saved jobs
  • Manage newsletters
  • Support
  • Sign out
Latest newsNews searchHealthFinanceFoodCareer newsContent seriesTry Devex Pro
    • Opinion
    • World Humanitarian Day

    World Humanitarian Day: 3 challenges in the year ahead

    Given ongoing multiple emergencies, it is no wonder that the need for emergency aid is increasing. But one of the most important commodities in an emergency is less visible, but equally vital: information. A guest commentary from Marie Staunton, Crown Agents' new — and first female — chair.

    By Marie Staunton // 19 August 2015
    PAHO/WHO Haiti country office staff meet to discuss the coordination of humanitarian assistance and disaster relief efforts during the massive 2010 earthquake in Haiti. How can aid workers best share critical information in times of disaster or emergencies? Photo by: Pan American Health Organization / World Health Organization / CC BY-ND

    Today is World Humanitarian Day, and according to the United Nations, more people than ever are in need of emergency relief — 100 million, up from 30 million in 2006.

    This week, a column of ash 5 kilometers high erupted from the Cotopaxi volcano, causing a state of emergency in Ecuador; El Niño is behind a drought causing malnutrition in Guatemala; 1 million people are still flooded out of their homes in India; dengue fever is hitting Aden; farmers in Myanmar are scrambling to find rice seeds to replant their paddy fields after major floods; 200,000 Sudanese have fled since January because of poor harvests and continued fighting; and the conflict in eastern Ukraine continues to claim the lives of civilians.

    No wonder then that the need for emergency aid is increasing, as are media reports showing commodities — from food to seeds to shelter — being distributed. But one of the most important commodities in an emergency is less visible, but equally vital: information.

    Many disasters are inevitable, but with the right information at the right time, loss of life and livelihood can be avoided. Studies show that every pound spent on getting the right information to communities to secure families and livestock from floods or setting up firebreaks will save many more.

    Between now and the World Humanitarian Summit in May 2016, the global humanitarian system needs to be challenged to do better on getting lifesaving information to families, communities and aid workers.

    1. The household challenge.

    How can family members find each other in the immediate disruption of a sudden onset disaster, such as an earthquake or in conflict zones? The Haiti earthquake showed the potential of free SMS messages for family tracing, reporting individual need and increasing the impact of local radio.

    However, SMS is not a universal solution and in Haiti, techies and humanitarians often did not understand each other’s ways of working. Information systems can be robust and simple — in El Salvador, for example, organized youth groups have been trained to take a register after a disaster and trace missing family members.

    2. The community challenge.

    How can information get to and from communities? Communities are often best placed to know what type of help they need. Research on shelter, for example, shows that the local knowledge often trumps prepackaged tents. In 2012, Tuareg refugees from Mali soon dismantled the unbearably hot U.N. tents pitched in straight lines and incorporated the materials into their own traditional structures — waterproof, sunproof, safe from termites and organized by village.

    Communities also need to access information to find out where help or danger lies. ICT helped map election-related violence in Kenya, for example — but the data and those providing it need to be trusted.

    3. The aid workers’ challenge.

    How can aid workers best share information? Overwhelming disasters such as the April and May earthquakes in Nepal require a national and international response. But there is no reliable global system for the incoming aid worker to find the latest reliable map, local studies and the latest guidelines on what types of buildings, child protection, cash distribution, water points, medicines, emergency schooling and shelter are appropriate.

    The present system relies on high-level general information, formal meetings of clusters of organizations working on an issue, and individual aid workers emailing attachments to each other. A pilot scheme in Pakistan in 2014 showed a great desire by agencies to share information, for example, their own reports, inter-cluster issues, information in local languages and from local and national nongovernmental organizations. It concluded that a common humanitarian library using technologies popularized by online bookstores and search engines is a tool that would help that aid workers make the right response, fast, and do no harm. Innovation in this fast-moving area needs to be spread and tested faster. Practitioners are not short of ideas — from TED-type broadcasts on new approaches, to a common humanitarian library.

    A key test of the success of the World Humanitarian Summit will be whether on World Humanitarian Day 2016, we can innovate to get the right information, at the right time, to households, communities and relief workers.

    Join the Devex community and access more in-depth analysis, breaking news and business advice — and a host of other services — on international development, humanitarian aid and global health.

    • Humanitarian Aid
    • Worldwide
    Printing articles to share with others is a breach of our terms and conditions and copyright policy. Please use the sharing options on the left side of the article. Devex Pro members may share up to 10 articles per month using the Pro share tool ( ).
    The views in this opinion piece do not necessarily reflect Devex's editorial views.

    About the author

    • Marie Staunton

      Marie Staunton

      Marie Staunton is currently chair of strategic coherence for ODA Research Board, which is supported by the U.K. Collaborative on Development Research, and is on the board of Oxford Policy Management. She has worked on international development and human rights for over 35 years in the public, commercial, and NGO sectors. She has been CEO of NGOs including Plan UK, Plan Canada, and Amnesty UK; deputy director of UNICEF UK; and secretary general of the International Federation of Anti-Leprosy Associations.

    Search for articles

    Related Jobs

    • Community Mobilizer
      Lebanon | North Africa and Middle East
    • Migration Management Unit Design and Layout Consultant
      Metropolitan Manila, Philippines | Philippines | East Asia and Pacific
    • Water and Habitat (WatHab) Generalist Project Officer (Fixed-Term)
      Atbara, Sudan | Khartoum, Sudan | Sudan | North Africa and Middle East
    • See more

    Most Read

    • 1
      Opinion: Mobile credit, savings, and insurance can drive financial health
    • 2
      FCDO's top development contractors in 2024/25
    • 3
      Strengthening health systems by measuring what really matters
    • 4
      How AI-powered citizen science can be a catalyst for the SDGs
    • 5
      Opinion: India’s bold leadership in turning the tide for TB

    Trending

    Financing for Development Conference

    The Trump Effect

    Newsletters

    Related Stories

    Recruiter InsightsStaffing priorities for the Sudan humanitarian crisis

    Staffing priorities for the Sudan humanitarian crisis

    HumanitarianWhat lay behind the deaths of 7 World Central Kitchen staff in Gaza

    What lay behind the deaths of 7 World Central Kitchen staff in Gaza

    Devex NewswireDevex Newswire: The fight between USAID staff and Trump heats up

    Devex Newswire: The fight between USAID staff and Trump heats up

    The Trump EffectThe end of foreign aid as we know it

    The end of foreign aid as we know it

    • News
    • Jobs
    • Funding
    • Talent
    • Events

    Devex is the media platform for the global development community.

    A social enterprise, we connect and inform over 1.3 million development, health, humanitarian, and sustainability professionals through news, business intelligence, and funding & career opportunities so you can do more good for more people. We invite you to join us.

    • About us
    • Membership
    • Newsletters
    • Advertising partnerships
    • Devex Talent Solutions
    • Post a job
    • Careers at Devex
    • Contact us
    © Copyright 2000 - 2025 Devex|User Agreement|Privacy Statement