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PHAP publishes articles by selected member contributors on current challenges related to humanitarian action. All opinions expressed are the authors' own.

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Violence in urban settings: A call for action to humanitarian organizations
Elena Lucchi
13 January 2014
Military and political strategists are becoming more aware of the role that fragile cities play in low- and medium-intensity violence and humanitarian emergencies,1 yet the response of humanitarian actors in programmatic terms remains gradual and incremental.2 This article presents some key issues...
Humanitarian actors' struggle for access, impartiality, and engagement with armed non-state actors in Somalia
Marco Rotelli
5 January 2014
While being denied or granted only limited access in most of Somalia remains a reality, the UN integrated missions’ approach risks compromising the principle of impartiality of humanitarian action. Within this framework, humanitarian organizations are also confronted with dilemmas of engagement...
On the use of certain words or phrases
Martin Damary
6 November 2013
We all know that humanitarian workers are meant to be neutral and impartial. But this is not so easy as it would appear: we all carry around our philosophical, our ethical, our sociological, and our linguistic baggage. In addition, what we witness in the field will necessarily impact us. And so it...
When are states and armed groups obliged to accept humanitarian assistance?
Marco Sassòli
5 November 2013
Recent refusals (or restrictions for all practical purposes equivalent to refusals) in Syria and Sudan have reminded us of a problem humanitarian actors are often confronted with: they want to deliver humanitarian assistance, persons are in desperate need of humanitarian assistance, but the...
Aid delivery in Afghanistan: Are military forces really responsible for the deterioration of humanitarian space?
Laurent Saillard
4 November 2013
Much has been written about aid delivery in conflict-affected environments, with particular areas of concern being the shrinking humanitarian space, civil-military interaction, and the blurring of lines between humanitarian and military interventions. In 2009 and 2010 I was the director of ACBAR, a...