Intersecting crises: a scoping review on the impact of underfunding, violations of international humanitarian law, and climate crisis on humanitarian action

Abstract Background In the past decades humanitarianism has seen an increase in its importance and relevance, mostly due to the surging needs of the populations it serves around the globe. With the core principles of humanity, neutrality, impartiality, and independence providing a strong value system, the humanitarian sector has responded to conflicts, outbreaks and climate-related emergencies, evolving into a necessary entity. Yet it currently finds itself at a crossroads: while its identity constantly undergoes self-reflection and transformation, humanitarianism grapples with an array of challenges, namely, the widening gap between funding and needs, the escalation of violations of international humanitarian law (IHL), and the complex dynamics of the climate crisis. Through critical evaluations of past and present crises, this scoping review seeks to analyse these humanitarian challenges and attempts to link them in a way that can inform future research as well as humanitarian practice. Methods This study employed a scoping review methodology that identified 158 relevant articles in the databases of PubMed and Google Scholar. Snowballing and citation tracking methods were also utilised. In the final review, 25 articles published between 2009 and 2023 were included and analysed. The articles utilised various methodological approaches, including literature reviews, mixed-methods approaches, qualitative case studies, and quantitative analyses. The comprehensive framework of the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analyses extension for Scoping Reviews (PRIMA-ScR), as well as quality assurance tools such as the Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI) critical appraisal checklists were used, in order to ensure a systematic approach to both the literature research and the findings presentation. Results The results revealed a complex interplay between underfunding, IHL violations, and the impacts of the climate crisis, each exacerbating the others in a dynamic and interconnected manner. Key findings highlighted the pervasive issue of funding often being driven by political and economic interests rather than the rising humanitarian needs, the challenge of maintaining neutrality and impartiality in complex emergencies amidst politicisation of aid and increased attacks against aid workers and civilians, and the critical role of the climate crisis as a threat multiplier that compounds existing vulnerabilities, while also creating new ones. Discussion The literature reviewed and analysed proposes an Exacerbators-Symptoms-Solutions approach, which maps out the challenges and responses in humanitarian action. This approach aided in dissecting the complex and interlinked nature of humanitarian issues, identifying exacerbators like conflict, politicisation of aid, and climate crisis as key drivers that intensify existing vulnerabilities. The symptoms of these exacerbators are seen in the operational challenges such as limited humanitarian access, reduced safety for aid workers, and underfunding as well as in direct impacts on the people in need such as food insecurity and displacement. The solutions proposed emphasise the importance of local and anticipatory action, sustainable and innovative solutions, a holistic integration of efforts across the Humanitarian-Development-Peace (HDP) nexus enriched with climate considerations as well as the need for strong advocacy and political will, thus showcasing the interconnectedness not only of problems but also of potential remedies. Conclusion Humanitarian challenges should be addressed with an interconnected approach and synergistic strategies with a focus on both immediate needs and long-term sustainability in humanitarian efforts. This review demonstrated that challenges and solutions are interconnected and can have a compounding effect. For this to take place, humanitarian action has to be contextually-sensitive, politically-informed and climate-aware and the understanding of the interactions between humanitarian and developmental aid has to be deeper, highlighting the need for further research into how these domains can be more effectively integrated. The proposed Exacerbators-Symptoms-Solutions approach offers the base of future research in order to explore these interconnections in greater depth and a decision aid in humanitarian practice.