What It Takes: Principled pragmatism to enable access and quality humanitarian aid in insecure environments

This study seeks to determine ‘what works’ when trying to enable access and deliver quality humanitarian assistance to people caught up in war zones. It is part of the Secure Access in Volatile Environments (SAVE) research programme, conducted from 2013 to 2016. Based on fieldwork in four of the most dangerous aid settings during this time (Afghanistan, South Central Somalia, South Sudan and Syria), SAVE explored how to deliver effective humanitarian responses amid high levels of insecurity. The SAVE research focused on three areas: presence and coverage (see Stoddard et al., 2016b); access and quality (the present report); and accountability and learning (see Steets et al., 2016). The present study aims to answer two questions: 1. What works best to enable access in the most insecure environments? 2. What works best to deliver quality aid in situations of reduced oversight and control?