Humanitarian action has never been a “long calm river”. It has always encountered multiple obstacles in accomplishing its mission of aiding vulnerable populations, victims of armed conflicts (particularly civilians), as well as natural, climatic and ecological disasters. Or again, in the design and implementation of specific assistance programs (maternal and child health, shelter, access to water, livelihoods…). Without forgetting the functions of testimony, documentation and intervention in “forgotten” crises.
At certain moments in time when it deploys itself without too many hindrances (there are always some and they never disappear completely), others follow that see the degree of acceptance diminish considerably. When it does not turn into pure and simple refusal, into bans, expulsions or direct attacks against personnel.
Thus, if during the last decade of the twentieth century and the first of the twenty-first humanitarian aid benefited from a recognition never reached in history, from peaks of intense activity and from a continuous growth of its funding, a decline began from the 2010s. This has taken on considerable magnitude since the beginning of the present decade, the middle of which marks a shift of an unprecedented dimension in 80 years. With the closure of USAID, the limitations, bans, threats, expulsions in Gaza or in the West Bank. Or again the access limitations in the Russo-Ukrainian conflict or the extreme precariousness of relief and assistance mechanisms in the worst current humanitarian crisis, that of Sudan. Not to mention the deliberate violations that have become legion of International Humanitarian Law, the contraction of humanitarian space and finally a major financial shock, affecting – whatever the degree – all its actors due to the drastic reductions in funding from the main public donors.
Some see in this an existential crisis and go so far as to predict the end of Humanitarian action. This pessimism – if it can be understood in this particularly difficult context – stems from an erroneous analysis. With the upheavals that the international aid system is now experiencing and the questioning to which it is subject, it is better to speak of a “glacial” era into which it has entered. From then on – and more than ever – it is imperative that practitioners, organization staff, analysts, researchers, journalists, activists, citizens supporting humanitarian causes have spaces for reflection, analysis and exchange. In order – in a collective intelligence approach – to be able to understand the meaning and scope of the upheavals under way, their specificity, compare them to previous episodes of retreat, evaluate them and deconstruct them. So as to reflect on the elaboration of new paradigms and adapt the action of aid organizations to the new global geopolitics, as well as to the imperative necessity of an overall restructuring of means and resources. Particularly for NGOs, Red Cross/Red Crescent actors and United Nations Agencies. So that missions of assistance, relief, defense of rights, testimonies in all their dimensions continue and that ultimately Humanitarian action emerges strengthened from the ordeal currently being experienced. For humanitarian needs themselves are not decreasing, quite the contrary.
From this point of view, Défis Humanitaires fulfills a specific and irreplaceable role for French-speaking actors. While the magazine fits into a close interaction with the editorial ecosystem of the sector [especially the journal Alternatives Humanitaires (AH) and Humanitaires En Mouvement (HEM) of the Groupe URD], its particularities confer on it its own and original place. Notably due to its monthly periodicity which allows it to “stick” more closely to current events, the variety of subjects treated, or again the long interviews (made possible by its format) with leaders of the sector.
Thanks to the considerable work accomplished by Alain BOINET since their creation, Les Défis continue to strengthen and expand. This is to be commended and proves beneficial for the various components of the aid sector. The forthcoming launch of a renovated format in spring 2026 also attests to the good health of the publication and its adaptability. While fitting into a now well-established continuity, it will certainly offer new perspectives. Among the avenues to explore in view of this renewal, it could be useful to add a regular section of “Looking back on”. This would make it possible to revisit, update and recontextualize articles published on this or that theme. Or another of monitoring of social networks on information, controversies, misinformation conveyed by them on humanitarian action.
Is not the best illustration of the necessity of a space such as that occupied by Défis Humanitaires the fact that today many are those who wait with a certain impatience to learn each beginning of the month the content of its monthly issue.
Philippe Ryfman.
Philippe Ryfman : Doctor of Political Science and holder of a postgraduate degree in Private Law, he is an honorary associate professor and researcher at the Department of Political Science and at the European Center for Sociology and Political Science of the Sorbonne (CESSP-Sorbonne), University Paris I Panthéon-Sorbonne. He directed the DESS and then the Master’s program “International Cooperation, Humanitarian Action and Development Policies” (CIAHPD) within this university. Today, he continues research activities on non-governmental and humanitarian issues, notably as an associate researcher at the Canadian Observatory on Crises and Humanitarian Action (OCCAH), UQAM, Montreal.