Submission ID 118330
| Issue/Objective | Humanitarian aid provides emergency relief in response to conflicts, disasters, disease outbreaks and other crises. Once an emergency abates, project objectives are met, or if there are insufficient funds or resources to continue operations, humanitarian organizations will exit. Yet, humanitarian aid's impacts often extend beyond the immediate response-especially for health-related projects. A lack of planning for effective transitions of services or failures to address potential service gaps can disrupt continuity of care and undermine social determinants of health. While humanitarian medical organizations may have frameworks to guide responsible exit strategies, implementing these strategies in fragile environments remains a challenge. To better understand how humanitarian organizations frame and address the long-term impact of interventions, this project maps and analyzes institutional and sectoral policies on delivering humanitarian health aid in ways that promote lasting benefits and address ongoing community needs after humanitarian health projects close. |
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| Methodology/Approach | A policy document analysis was undertaken using the READ 4-step approach: (1) preparing and organizing documents, (2) extracting relevant data, (3) analyzing data, and (4) distilling key findings. To ensure comprehensive document collection, we conducted targeted online and database searches, including databases from ReliefWeb and Humanitarian Library and sectoral and organizational websites from humanitarian medical organizations (e.g., Médecins Sans Frontières, Médecins du Monde) and organizations with extensive health programs (e.g., IFRC). We also consulted with key informants and applied reference chaining to identify additional documents. Document selection involved independent title and abstract screening by two reviewers, followed by full-text review based on inclusion criteria. Guided by the "3-i" Framework-institutions, ideas, and interests-we will analyze key themes within each category. |
| Results | The initial document collection yielded 198 documents, with 100 documents selected for full-text review. Organizational and sectoral policies promote various long-term benefits such as sustaining essential services and benefits, strengthening health systems, mitigating the lasting effects of interventions, and building long-term community resilience. Additionally, long-term considerations were frequently represented within the context of exit strategies, environmental policies, localization commitments and in relation to broader organizational goals, such as the Sustainable Development Goals. |
| Discussion/Conclusion | In a rapidly changing global health landscape, addressing the lasting impact of humanitarian health interventions is essential to build long-term and sustainable solutions for communities impacted by crises. These findings can support discussion and debate about humanitarian medical organizations' approaches to promote enduring benefits following the closure of their projects. |
| Presenters and affiliations | Magnolia Miller McGill University Alayne Adams McGill University Raphael Lencucha McGill University Lisa Schwartz McMaster University Salim Sohani Canadian Red Cross Matthew Hunt McGill University Isabel Munoz Beaulieu McGill University |
