With over three decades of experience and teams on the ground in 16 countries, Human Appeal is redefining rapid humanitarian response - delivering aid by land, air, and sea when and where it’s needed most.

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How has Human Appeal been involved in deploying immediate aid?

At Human Appeal, we bring over 30 years’ of experience to the deployment of immediate humanitarian aid, which means we’re well equipped to respond quickly to the outbreak of a crisis. We are well-placed to do so with teams on the ground across the world, including countries such as Palestine, Yemen, Pakistan, Lebanon, Syria, Turkey, Bangladesh, Somalia and more. Over our 30+ years since our inception in 1991, we have worked closely with partner agencies in some of the countries where we operate, including with larger agencies such as the United Nations to ensure the safe and efficient delivery of aid. Owing to our presence on the ground in 16 countries, we’re able to deploy immediate aid response whether by land, air or sea. Our work covers the entire gamut of humanitarian support: from immediate relief in the wake of emergencies such as the recent flash floods in Pakistan, where we delivered 12,000 hot meals to displaced families, to building hospitals to offer ongoing medical support for local communities amid longstanding conflict, such as our one-of-a-kind paediatric Al-Imaan hospital in northwest Syria. We’re incredibly fortunate to have the support of our donors around the world to continue this work, especially in recent years due to the cost of living crisis.

What are some of the key lessons Human Appeal has learned from recent emergency responses that could benefit other charities?

Firstly, that time is of the essence. When a catastrophe strikes, having the necessary infrastructure in place is vital to being able to provide timely support of aid. As we’ve seen in recent years, situations can change incredibly quickly, and without the right response strategy in place, this can lead to further and unnecessary casualties. Alongside this is of course adaptability. Again, we’re very fortunate to have protocols in place that facilitate our teams being able to respond to evolving circumstances. From urgent medical provision to hygiene kits, food to shelter, when disaster wreaks havoc across communities, the needs of these communities can shift from one moment to the next. Thirdly, our recent work has underscored the benefit of and need for a strong local presence. This is particularly important in situations where the political context is driving humanitarian need, such a conflict zones. By working with our team on the ground in the countries where we operate, we have been able to continue to deliver aid where needed for longer periods of time. Lastly but not least, we owe an incredible debt to our teams in the field. These people are working under some of the toughest and most difficult conditions imaginable in order to help others, and championing these people as the heart of what we do.

What advice would you offer to smaller organisations trying to build rapid-response capacity?

Having spent over 30 years building our capacity for rapid response, we have certainly learned a few things. Firstly, and this is true of any organisation in the charity sector regardless of the kind of work they carry out, is that it’s pivotal to engage the public. These are your donors, your ambassadors, your advocates, your volunteer networks and your supporters in the long term and maintaining regular contact. So make sure that your message is being transmitted to your target supporters consistently across all channels available to you for the best results.

Are you seeing any trends in the nature or frequency of emergencies that are shaping your future response strategy?

Both in the nature and the frequency of emergencies the effects of climate change on humanitarian disasters is becoming abundantly clear. Take the flash floods in Pakistan once again as an example. As a result of climate change that are causing erratic weather patterns around the world, we have witnessed a worsening of the impact of the floods from 2010 all the way to the present day, which have recently displaced an estimated 600,000 people. What this suggests is that the frequency of these disasters may continue to rise, which will mean that more people will be affected by these crises. For organisations like ourselves and others, unfortunately this means that operations will need to be ready to be deployed immediately, and at scale, to reach the amount of people affected. Additionally, the level of international conflict that we continue to witness will also drive demand for humanitarian aid, and once again this reinforces the need for the global community (from the public, to charities, to governments) to come together and create effective networks of support to meet this need. Our motto at Human Appeal is ‘here for every human’, and whilst we continue to see varying kinds of crises unfold, relief support will become all the more necessary to deliver on our mission.

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