Abstract Sudden closures or handovers of humanitarian programs are becoming increasingly common due to abrupt funding disruptions or acute insecurity. Meanwhile, planned closures of humanitarian programs can still leave communities with few resources after their departure. Ethical closure of humanitarian programs is closely related to the ‘Do No Harm’ principle, yet, how to meaningfully apply ethical principles amid significant operational constraints remains poorly understood. This study aims to understand how humanitarian organizations conceptualize and implement ethical closure strategies in practice. For the purposes of this study, ‘closure’ denotes the end of projects, and may also include handover to another organization or transition to other projects or programs. The study involved a convergent analysis of two data sets: 21 peer-reviewed and grey literature sources that were identified using Arksey and O’Malley’s scoping review framework, and 13 organizational endline reports from the Canadian Red Cross. Through these steps, we identified seven key strategies to support ethical program closure – planning early and responsibly and considering recovery and long-term perspectives, being responsive and adaptable to changing contexts from the beginning, building complementary and collaborative relationships, communicating transparently across all stages of a program, maintaining organizational commitments and promoting equity, maintaining impartiality and accountability, planning for capacity strengthening of the humanitarian staff and local organizations, and documenting, monitoring and evaluating. Advancing the integration of ethical considerations into closure processes by encouraging early engagement and collaboration and transparent communication with local stakeholders may minimize the risk of inequitable outcomes, enhance resilience, and contribute to lasting positive impacts for affected communities.
Hossain et al. (Mon,) studied this question.