Responsible Exit of Humanitarian Aid Agencies at the End of Programs: A Scoping Review

Humanitarian needs are increasing globally, while resources available to humanitarian organizations are stagnating. Consequently, humanitarian actors increasingly face difficult decisions about when and how to end interventions. Poorly planned project closures can generate ethical harms for affected communities, local partners, staff, and institutions. Despite growing recognition of the importance of ‘responsible exit’, the evidence base remains fragmented and conceptually underdeveloped. We conducted a scoping review following Joanna Briggs Institute methodology to examine the literature on exit strategies of international non-governmental humanitarian organizations. Bibliographic and gray literature sources were searched without date restrictions. Data were extracted and thematically analyzed to map existing evidence; describe core concepts, theories, and frameworks related to ‘responsible exit’; and identify key knowledge gaps. Fifty-seven documents published between 1999 and 2022 were included, the majority of which were gray literature. The review revealed substantial variability in terminology and approaches to exit strategies. Exit decision-making was found to be ethically complex and shaped by organizational mandates, contextual constraints, global funding dynamics, and decision-makers. Poorly managed exits were associated with negative outcomes, including service disruption, dependency, erosion of trust, and harm to organizational legitimacy. Responsible exit was characterized by three core capacities: foresight, attentiveness, and responsiveness, supported by the guiding principles of inclusive participation and transparency. Responsible exit should be understood as an ethically grounded, continuous process spanning the entire project cycle. Strengthening ethical guidance and empirical evidence, particularly by incorporating perspectives of affected populations and local partners, is essential to improve accountability and practice in humanitarian project closure.