FMR 29

Issue 29 of Forced Migration Review (http://www.fmreview.org) – to be published
in October 2007 – will include a feature section on

The implications of humanitarian reform

There is currently much debate within the international community about the
proposed reforms to the humanitarian architecture (see
http://www.humanitarianreform.org) and the proposed introduction of the ‘One
UN’ approach. To what extent will these reforms help ensure more effective
international responses to forced migration? The FMR editors would welcome
practice-oriented submissions, reflecting a diverse range of opinions, which
address questions such as the following:

- Is the objective of improving humanitarian response enhanced or endangered by
the ‘One UN’ proposal?
- What are the implications for principles of impartiality and neutrality?
- What does partnership between UN and non-UN humanitarian agencies mean in
practice for refugees and IDPs?
- What are the potential implications of the 'One UN' pilots on humanitarian
space?
- To what extent will the proposed reforms help plug the gap in terms of
protection of and assistance to IDPs?
- Is the pooling of humanitarian funds under the Central Emergency Response
Fund (CERF) proving effective?
- Do newly prominent, non-traditional donors - those outside OECD/DAC - have a
sufficient voice in humanitarian decision-making processes?
- What lessons are being learned from the Good Humanitarian Donorship (GHD)
initiative pilots?
- Given that GHD's Principle 6 stresses allocation of funding on the basis of
need, how can humanitarian organisations and donors work together to ensure
this Principle is realised and better humanitarian outcomes are achieved?
- What is the likely impact of the Global Humanitarian Platform (GHP) and
proposed Principles of Partnership (PoP)?
- Given that some UN agencies have shown greater willingness and/or capacity
than others to cooperate with NGOs, can there be consistency in approaches to
partnership?
- How can humanitarian organisations ensure that their responses are motivated
by the humanitarian imperative and that humanitarian principles guide their
work?
- How far can humanitarian organisations cooperate and coordinate with
political and/or military actors without their motivations being called into
question?
- How can organisations ensure they are viewed as independent and impartial,
particularly in situations like Iraq and Afghanistan?
- How can we avoid the ‘command and control’ approach to coordination,
especially when there is a large number of local, national and international
humanitarian actors?
- To what extent have the views of civil society and refugees/IDPs themselves
been taken into account in developing proposals for humanitarian reform? Do the
proposals reflect their needs and wishes?
- What role should the private sector play in contributing to humanitarian
responses?
- What is the impact of recent reforms on the selection and training of UN
humanitarian personnel?

Deadline for final submission of articles: 1st September 2007.

Information for FMR authors is at: http://www.fmreview.org/writing.htm. Please
write to us at fmr@qeh.ox.ac.uk as soon as possible if you are interested in
contributing or have suggestions of colleagues who may be able to.