Preventing Humanitarian Emergencies: Human Security and Strategic Action

Abstract

Complex humanitarian emergencies are deep, multidimensional crises triggered by the large-scale use of violence. In such emergencies people are killed, or suffer from violence, displacement, hunger and disease. Humanitarian crises are almost always associated with civil wars, but not all such wars result in emergencies as their intensity and scope may remain limited. To qualify as a humanitarian disaster, the crisis must exceed a certain threshold of severity measured by the amount of death and suffering. One can also make a distinction between sudden and protracted humanitarian emergencies; the former is manifested in an outburst of violence and death, while the latter is embedded in the structure of society.