Research "Principled Compromises or Compromised Principles? A review of principled humanitarian response in Ukraine"

Country: Ukraine Sources: Danish Refugee Council, HERE-Geneva, Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation Please refer to the attached file. Led by the Danish Refugee Council (DRC), with research conducted by HERE-Geneva, supported by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), and guided by a Steering Committee, this report contributes to a more timely, effective, and accountable humanitarian response in Ukraine. It informs collective reflection on the understanding and role of principled humanitarian assistance and protection, and highlights the importance of applying and operationalising the four humanitarian principles of humanity, impartiality, neutrality, and independence in a complex and highly politicised environment. The report aims to: analyse how humanitarian and crisis responders in Ukraine understand and apply humanitarian principles in both conceptual and practical terms; and identify key challenges related to principled delivery, as experienced by national and international responders, and how these challenges relate to localisation and coordination with national actors, both now and moving forward. The research is based on qualitative methods, including 53 semi-structured interviews with key informants (national NGOs and civil society organisations, international NGOs, UN agencies, Ukrainian authorities, and donor representatives), workshops with coordination mechanisms and networks in Ukraine, and extensive document analysis. While challenging, Ukraine presents a context in which the humanitarian principles are particularly relevant. Four years into the full-scale invasion, there is a need for regular, joint, and open reflection among all stakeholders involved in the humanitarian response on the challenges of delivering principled assistance.

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