Aid Access - Right to Aid

In intra-state conflicts (civil wars) where states block aid as a military or political tactic, the aid system and international diplomacy routinely fail to reach those most needing assistance. Major violations of IHL–blocking aid access, starvation, siege, attacks on civilians, aid workers, and civilian and humanitarian infrastructure–routinely go unpunished. In Syria, Myanmar, Ethiopia, Sudan and elsewhere, the international aid system routinely fails to reach those most affected by conflict, relies on humanitarian diplomacy to manage conflicts, and does not speak up or punish violations for fear of upsetting those perpetrating these crimes. As such, denying aid and manipulating and bending the aid system are now seen as tested, effective, and cost-effective warfighting methods. Emma is working on a multi-strand effort to ensure that aid is available to all those affected by conflict, even when intentional aid denial and humanitarian architecture failure are present. 

Emma's extensive body of work on aid in Syria--including the cross-border resolution– and the dramatic failures of the aid system in the wake of February 2022's earthquake in Syria and Turkey, and Myanmar's Rakhine state in the wake of Cyclone Mocha, led her to produce a deep piece of research that looked at how and why the aid system fails when states block aid [Convoys, Cross-border, Covert Ops: Responding to state-led arbitrary aid denial in civil wars. Lessons from Syria, Myanmar, and Ethiopia, June 2023]. Sudanese aid workers quickly seized upon this work, as the findings mirrored their own experiences. Off the back of this research, Emma published a piece in Foreign Affairs [Humanitarian Blackmail, July 2023], analyzing the role of humanitarian diplomacy in the challenges faced by the aid sector in these crises. 

Emma was invited to brief these ideas to a high-level meeting of 'like-minded' Western states considering policy approaches to the end of Syria's cross-border resolution. She also convened private roundtables for states and practitioners working in that context to explain how the research findings related to the policy choices stemming from the end of cross-border. She followed this up with private bilateral briefings to Western governments, as well as INGOs and the UN, and she provided policy recommendations and concept notes for work streams to support Syria in ways that integrated these findings. 

Elsewhere, she worked with INGOs and researchers to disseminate these findings and improve responses. Emma presented this work at the Brussels Pledging Conference for Syria, the Centre for Humanitarian Action, a special event in Geneva run by HERE Geneva, to the Myanmar INGO Forum, at a side event co-hosted by Emma and IRC on the sidelines of UNGA 2023 that looked at ways to reassert the right to aid and address the growing challenges in aid access. Emma also published this work through the Sudan Conflict Sensitivity Mechanism to apply it to that context. ICVA also drew on the report's findings in a paper published in 2024 looking at challenging aid environments and held an event at HPNW discussing concepts posited in Emma's original research, such as the need for crisis typologies to improve response. She also worked with and advised civil society in the various affected areas to help shape their thinking and advocacy based on the findings of the work. 

Collaborating with Shabaka and the Vitol Foundation, Emma is leading a continuing advocacy project highlighting mutual aid work in these crises and increasing philanthropic support for these efforts. While the international system is in a deadlock and unable to change to meet the needs of those living in areas where aid is denied, there is a critical need to directly support local communities and groups working in these areas. This work must take place alongside significant shifts in the aid system. Alongside this, Emma's work and analysis of humanitarian diplomacy, the need to reassert the right to aid, and the inherent challenges of managing conflicts through humanitarian action continue.