Archive / Project Report
Direct aid vs. humanitarian assistance
26/01/2010 By Velina G. Stoianova
Direct interventions constitute one of the trends of the Spanish humanitarian action and media coverage often makes them the most visible and notorious mechanism in the eyes of the general public. In kind assistance is not uncommon to other DAC donors but unlike Spain very few resort to it as a systematic mechanism for emergency response.
FRIDE research has shown that the recurrent use of direct interventions serves the purpose of compensating some of the structural shortcomings of the Spanish official humanitarian action; amongst those are the still limited capacity to manage the ever-increasing Official Development Assistance funds, the lack of sufficient qualified resources both in headquarters and in the field offices, the untimely disbursements and the general inflexibility of the funding mechanisms.
The Spanish Cooperation has the potential to further develop its direct aid in a more strategic way through sectorial or geographic especialisation or, furthermore, incorporating technical assistance, consolidated participation in disaster assessment and needs analysis, and active participation in the clusters or working groups in the field.
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Keywords
Aid effectiveness Aid policyBio author: Velina G. Stoianova
Holds a BA in Political Science and Public Administration, with a specialisation in International Relations, from the Universidad Autónoma of Barcelona. She has done studies on the analysis and management of conflicts in the Balkans, the Near East and the Maghreb.
