FoA2040 Steering Committe
Michel MAIETTA
Future of Aid 2040: Pathways to Transformation

Building on the success of the Future of Aid: INGOs in 2030 report, IARAN and CHL start the launching of this new study to explore transformative pathways for aid by 2040. With a focus on digitalization, disaster resilience, and decolonizing aid, the project will provide foresight scenarios and a toolkit for systemic transformation. Guided by a dedicated Steering Committee and using methodologies like La Prospective and Causal Layered Analysis, it empowers actors to navigate change collaboratively.

Future of Aid 2040: Pathways to Transformation
Matt Thomas, Practitioner
Matt Thomas
Rapidly exploring future humanitarian impacts ...

Two years of huge emergency after huge emergency - from the Covid-19 pandemic’s various variants to evacuations from Afghanistan and a series of storms battering the UK - our people are tired, yet the need for humanitarian aid continues to grow. And then the Ukraine crisis boiled over.

We have always struggled to plan for the many uncertainties the future may bring, but the massive disruptions of the last couple of years made us realise that grappling with uncertainty is not an option.

The British Red Cross’s Strategic Insight and Foresight team has been developing a way to rapidly construct scenarios about the future, helping our teams get a sense of likely people’s short-term and longer-term humanitarian needs, as well as the potential ripple effects caused by a crisis.

Rapidly exploring future humanitarian impacts of the Ukraine conflict

INGO

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The future of humanitarian NGOs: implementing a risk management framework

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The future of humanitarian NGOs: implementing a risk management framework

NGOs today need modernized structures and governance to remain effective and competitive. A proactive approach to risk management—covering identification, assessment, mitigation, and monitoring of risks like cybersecurity, climate change, and ESG factors—is essential for resilience. Governance within ESG is especially vital for sustainable financing. Transparency and compliance, alongside skills in strategic planning and risk management, strengthen reputation and stakeholder trust. As NGOs adapt to a rapidly changing environment, a tailored risk management approach helps ensure operational stability, financial health, and the continued effectiveness of their missions amidst complex global challenges.

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Working Together: INGOs and Building Communities Beyond Dichotomies in Humanitarian Aid

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Working Together: INGOs and Building Communities Beyond Dichotomies in Humanitarian Aid

Along with other organisations in the formal humanitarian aid sector, the way in which large INGOS operate has been under challenge for some time. They have been legitimately criticised for holding nearly all decision-making in programme design and financial power at international level in their “Global North” headquarters, while engaging with national and local partners in the “Global South” in sub-contracting relationships. The need for reform or even transformation is broadly defined as “localisation” – the shifting of power to the “South” and the “local.” Recently, the issue has taken on a new urgency due to practical challenges to traditional operating models posed by the Covid-19 pandemic, and moral-ethical challenges posed by a renewed focus on racial discrimination and injustices, alongside continued concerns about gender equity in the sector.


The future awaits.