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10 years of Humanitarian Alternatives: A common good for thinking about action

Ten years ago, the inaugural issue of Humanitarian Alternatives was published! The review was created in 2016 out of a collective desire among French-speaking NGOs and foundations to create a forum for discussion between humanitarian practitioners and the academic world. It wasn’t a foregone...

Forum

violences sexuelles congo sexual violence

Sexual violence against women in the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of the Congo: when men’s “empathy of possession” ultimately takes precedence over the victims’ own feelings

Sylvie Bashizi Nabintu

Editorial

social action action sociale humanitaire humanitarian

Social action and humanitarian action: a much-needed broadening of the scope of solidarity

Frédéric Meunier - Vincent Léger

Focus

Social urgency, local resilience and resistance: when humanitarian players get involved in France

Johanna Baché - Véronique de Geoffroy

Focus

Bridging humanitarian and social action through mental health and psychosocial support: towards ethical and context-sensitive responses in a polarised world

Lourdes Carrasco Colom - Maria Bray

Focus

pays intervention action contre la faim domestic action against hunger

How operating in a domestic context fast-tracks a humanitarian organisation’s existing concerns

Arthur Maurus - Hélène Quéau - Mathilde Fassolette

The review

Our publications

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Articles

Aid in danger

Building tomorrow’s INGOs – towards a more collaborative sector

Published on 27 November 2025 This article is an extension of our special issue “Aid in danger: After the shock of 2025, the consequences and the response” published in November 2025. According to the author, as bilateral donors slash budgets and autocrats weaponise localisation, INGOs face an existential moment. Collaboration, not competition, offers the only […]

Aid in danger

Aid interrupted: what Myanmar’s crisis reveals about humanitarian system’s fragility

Published on 13 November 2025 This article is an extension of our special issue “Aid in danger: after the shock of 2025, the consequences and the response” published in November 2025. According to the author, forty years after their creation, refugee camps on the Thai-Burmese border reveal their Achilles heel: a deadly dependence on external […]

Aid in danger

After the funding stops: the human cost of aid dependency in Côte d’Ivoire

Published on 13 November 2025 This article is an extension of our special issue “Aid in danger: after the shock of 2025, the consequences and the response” published in November 2025. According to the two authors, Côte d’Ivoire’s HIV success story masks a dangerous vulnerability. When PEPFAR funding vanished, community workers kept showing up unpaid […]

Aid in danger

A new era for aid: prioritising people and protecting progress

Published on 4 November 2025 As donor budgets shrink and crisis-hit populations face abandonment, IRC charts a data-driven path forward. Through evidence-based targeting, proven innovations, and local partnerships, the organisation demonstrates how strategic action can maximise impact even amid unprecedented cuts. Humanitarian aid is facing a make-or-break moment. While global needs and extreme poverty are […]

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Articles

Our current selection

Focus

Population displacement: civilians on the move in Ukraine and Gaza

Thanks to our partner CartONG, in particular Fabien Lezeau, we are able to present the scale of the displacement to which civilians are subjected in Gaza, Ukraine and, for Ukrainians, outside their country. In Ukraine The conflict in Ukraine has led to one of the largest displacement crises in recent history, with millions forced to […]

CartONG

Focus

locally led humanitarian workforce main-d'œuvre humanitaire local

What can be done to implement a stronger, locally led humanitarian workforce?

Will a blend of different capacity-sharing approaches, based on professional development and activism principles, translate into a stronger, locally led humanitarian workforce? This is at least the solution the author champions in this article. Localisation and decolonisation Localisation and decolonisation are interconnected concepts in the humanitarian sector, that aim to bring about change as to […]

Lucy Hall

Focus

amérique centrale nord central america northern

Responding to a non-traditional humanitarian crisis: the case of Northern Central America

The “Northern Triangle” of Central America might seem a good place to put the famous nexus into practice. However, the author feels that, for too long, the favour given to development programmes has hampered the potential benefits of humanitarian actions, recognised and financed as such. The first mistake the international community makes when speaking about […]

Julio E. Rank Wright

Forum

Putting humans first in humanitarianism during the digital age

Published on November 4, 2018 As a follow-up to our eight issue on new technologies, Anastasia Kyriacou offers us a reflection on the place of the human being in humanitarian 2.0. Even if the article praises the potential of digital technology, it reveals a healthy questioning.

Anastasia Kyriacou

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Interviews

Culture

Interview with Bertrand Bréqueville: “At no time in its history has institutionalised humanitarianism been built in opposition to capitalism”

In his third essay, Contre-histoire de l’humanitaire, Bertrand Bréqueville continues the critical reflection begun in L’Humanitaire sous l’emprise du néolibéralisme (2021) and L’Humanitaire à l’épreuve de l’impérialisme (2024 [all published in French]). Interviewed on 25 November at a presentation of his book at Médecins du Monde – France, he defends a radical thesis: institutionalised humanitarianism […]

Interviews

Ukraine-Gaza: Exchange of views

Published on 29 April 2024. The discussion took place on 4 April 2024, as an introduction to the Alternatives Humanitaires General Assembly. The reason why these two conflicts are attracting so much international attention is because they undeniably mark a turning point that Humanitarian Alternatives felt duty-bound to analyse. A complex and ambitious issue of […]

Culture

The Ukraine war as seen by press cartoonists

On the publication of Fichez-nous la paix ! (Leave us in peace!) in the Cartooning for Peace collection, published by Gallimard and in partnership with Amnesty International, Kak and Vladimir Kazanevsky explain the importance of their profession: press cartoonists. Joint interview by Nicolas Foucher of Amnesty International. The president of Cartooning for Peace, Kak is […]

Culture

Interview with Plantu and Reza: “Infuriating doves of peace”

The renowned photographer Reza and Le Monde’s iconic cartoonist Plantu have just published a book in which they revisit eighty or so of their respective photos and cartoons. The publication, which covers a vast range of historical events and global issues – from the Islamic revolution in Iran in 1979 to the genocide of the Tutsis […]

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10 years of Humanitarian Alternatives: A common good for thinking about action

Sexual violence against women in the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of the Congo: when men’s “empathy of possession” ultimately takes precedence over the victims’ own feelings

Social action and humanitarian action: a much-needed broadening of the scope of solidarity

Social urgency, local resilience and resistance: when humanitarian players get involved in France

Bridging humanitarian and social action through mental health and psychosocial support: towards ethical and context-sensitive responses in a polarised world

How operating in a domestic context fast-tracks a humanitarian organisation’s existing concerns

Our publications

Aid in danger

Building tomorrow’s INGOs – towards a more collaborative sector

Aid interrupted: what Myanmar’s crisis reveals about humanitarian system’s fragility

After the funding stops: the human cost of aid dependency in Côte d’Ivoire

A new era for aid: prioritising people and protecting progress

Our current selection

Population displacement: civilians on the move in Ukraine and Gaza

What can be done to implement a stronger, locally led humanitarian workforce?

Responding to a non-traditional humanitarian crisis: the case of Northern Central America

Putting humans first in humanitarianism during the digital age

Interviews

Interview with Bertrand Bréqueville: “At no time in its history has institutionalised humanitarianism been built in opposition to capitalism”

Ukraine-Gaza: Exchange of views

The Ukraine war as seen by press cartoonists

Interview with Plantu and Reza: “Infuriating doves of peace”

Join the HA community

Create your account

CREATE A FAVOURITES LIST

GET ACCESS TO BIBLIOGRAPHIC RESOURCES

MANAGE YOUR SUBSCRIPTION AND PURCHASES

DOWNLOAD THE ARTICLES IN PDF

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