« International humanitarian action: stakeholders faced with the “emergency-development” contiguum »[Action humanitaire internationale, les parties prenantes face au contiguum « urgence-développement »]

While international humanitarian action is largely limited to its emergency relief role in crisis situations, it is also part of a broader approach to promote the long-term development of populations. As a result, two distinct aid systems–"emergency" and "development"–have coexisted for several decades, and a continuum approach was preferred to address them. However, the recent increase in the complexity of the intervention areas seems to be gradually forcing the actors to no longer separate these two systems, but rather to deal with them accordingly in order to strengthen both the effectiveness and efficiency of the actions carried out. According to this second approach (the contiguum approach), emergency and development actions can manifest themselves simultaneously. Such a phenomenon necessarily leads to questions about the place, role and modalities of intervention of the various stakeholders. This article seeks to highlight the shift from a continuum to a contiguum approach, while raising the question of which means to use in both the short and long term. The analysis is conducted around two axes showing the different relationships between emergency and development aid. This should make it possible to better select the strategies and actions of international solidarity stakeholders faced with this new reading.