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What is a "Complex Humanitarian Emergency"? An Analytical Essay

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  • Jose Miguel Albala-Bertrand

    (Queen Mary, University of London)

Abstract

The prevailing usage of the concept of complex humanitarian emergency, even if valuable, is often fuzzy and misleading, and rarely articulated in a consistent framework, which could be used advantageously for research, interdisciplinary exchange, and policy making and analysis. We analyse critically the prevailing usage of the concept, and end up by setting up a more consistent and all embracing definition. Both the analysis and the proposed definition are based on a general analytical framework, coined disaster situation, we proposed a few years back in connection to natural disasters. The main conclusion is that the mostly implicit conceptual usage of the term, rather than the term itself, is akin to that of a disaster situation. As such, it can be used flexibly enough by various disciplines, especially from a political economy perspective, to design research, advance knowledge and propose policies within an analytical framework which is more consistent and systematic than that currently used.

Suggested Citation

  • Jose Miguel Albala-Bertrand, 2000. "What is a "Complex Humanitarian Emergency"? An Analytical Essay," Working Papers 420, Queen Mary University of London, School of Economics and Finance.
    • Handle: RePEc:qmw:qmwecw:420
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Wayne Nafziger, 1996. "The Economics Of Complex Humanitarian Emergencies: Preliminary Approaches And Findings," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-1996-119, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    2. Wayne Nafziger & Juha Auvinen, 1997. "War, Hunger, and Displacement: An Econometric Investigation into the Sources of Humanitarian Emergencies," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-1997-142, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    3. Vayrynen, R., 1996. "The Age of Humanitarian Emergencies," Research Paper 25, World Institute for Development Economics Research.
    4. Nafziger, E.W., 1996. "The Economics of Complex Humanitarian Emergencies: Preliminary Approaches and Findings," Research Paper 119, World Institute for Development Economics Research.
    5. J. M. Albala-Bertrand, 2000. "Complex Emergencies versus Natural Disasters: An Analytical Comparison of Causes and Effects," Oxford Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 28(2), pages 187-204.
    6. Nafziger, E.W. & Auvinen, J., 1997. "War, Hunger, and Displacement: An Econometric Investigation into the Sources of Humanitarian Emergencies," Research Paper 142, World Institute for Development Economics Research.
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    Cited by:

    1. J. M. Albala-Bertrand, 2000. "Complex Emergencies versus Natural Disasters: An Analytical Comparison of Causes and Effects," Oxford Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 28(2), pages 187-204.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Disaster situation; Complexity; Emergency; Institutional setting;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • H56 - Public Economics - - National Government Expenditures and Related Policies - - - National Security and War
    • O00 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - General - - - General
    • O17 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Formal and Informal Sectors; Shadow Economy; Institutional Arrangements
    • J15 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Minorities, Races, Indigenous Peoples, and Immigrants; Non-labor Discrimination
    • Z10 - Other Special Topics - - Cultural Economics - - - General

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