Professor: Humanitarian organizations suppress ability of displaced people to organize themselves

Humanitarian structures are weakening the autonomy and agency of internally displaced persons, Sultan Barakat, Professor of Public Policy at Hamad bin Khalifa University, Qatar Foundation, and Professor at the University of York, said at the 13th session of the World Urban Forum (WUF13) in Baku, Report informs.

"The international humanitarian system is overly focused on saving lives, while paying extremely little attention to preserving people's will and capacity to organize themselves," the professor emphasized.

As Barakat noted, families forced to flee begin to think about rebuilding their homes as early as the second day after displacement, while international organizations begin the planning process significantly later.

"From the very first day of displacement, the emphasis must be on supporting people's ability to organize themselves and plan for the future," he added.