GISF 117d ago

In an era marked by escalating threats to humanitarian action, that range from direct violence against personnel to disinformation campaigns, criminalization of essential activities, and political barriers that impede principled response, the need for a united and evidence-driven approach has never been greater. This online session introduced the HOPES Project – Humanitarian Opportunities: Protect Engage and Stand For, a new initiative, funded by DG ECHO, that examines the political and legal drivers of insecurity affecting humanitarian operations worldwide. The session outlined the project’s two core areas of focus: the criminalization of humanitarian action, the impact of harmful narratives on humanitarian space and the interconnection between the two. This session was an interactive discussion with participants on identifying: The trends regarding criminalization of humanitarian action and harmful information environments; the main contexts where these 2 phenomena are preventing humanitarian organizations to operate safely such as legal constraints encountered, policy or political measures adopted by State authorities or non-State armed groups, funding or compliance decisions affecting humanitarian operations. How disinformation/misinformation and criminalization are interconnected? Concrete avenues for collaboration, especially in analyzing the impact of laws affecting humanitarian assistance, and to gather partners’ views on complementary initiatives to strengthen joint assessment and engagement on criminalization and disinformation.