The Centre of Competence on Humanitarian Negotiation (CCHN) started its workstream on forced migration in Europe in September 2020. We have made it a top priority to help humanitarians working with refugees and migrants in Greece to develop their negotiation skills. In September 2020, we held our first peer workshop in Europe – and the first during the COVID 19 pandemic – in Athens.
The efficiency of humanitarian response following a disaster depends on how fast coordination structures are established, supply chains are enabled, and human and financial resources are mobilised.
Negotiating in disaster contexts becomes challenging because of the many parties involved. Often, survivors are turned into first responders until traditional humanitarian response mechanisms are set up. Then, when humanitarian actors step in, it’s necessary to negotiate and coordinate the response among the multiple actors.
In 2023, the CCHN launched its research on negotiating in the context of disasters. Since then, we have conducted a series of interviews to understand field practices, produced a report and developed a thematic session with the project to expand this topic in the future.