Located in north-eastern Syria, Deir Ezzor is the second largest Syrian province in terms of area, with a pre-crisis population of 1.7 million. Deir Ezzor is considered wealthy, with diverse agriculture, premium cattle herds, and several oilfields. When the Islamic State group lay siege to the city between 2014 and 2017, its residents were forced to leave their homes. Those who remained had to rely on the WFP for airdrops of food assistance to survive.
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.