There is a moment at the start of every major crisis when you think: “This is going to change everything.” COVID-19 was no exception.
“In humanitarian response, there will be a ‘before’ and ‘after’ COVID-19,” Ed Schenkenberg van Mierop, executive director of the think tank HERE-Geneva, wrote in late March.
But as the crisis born of this global pandemic has evolved, some of the promises of deep transformation in a humanitarian aid sector that has long resisted reform have proven overly optimistic – at least so far.
Here are 13 ways the pandemic may change the future of humanitarianism – and the forces of resistance that may get in the way.