Wellbeing is not just a luxury to be enjoyed in times of peace or prosperity, but also a fundamental right during crisis. But, within a humanitarian system that prioritises the provision of what is deemed lifesaving assistance and the meeting of basic needs, interventions too often overlook large parts of what affected people really want, in order to live meaningful lives.
This new policy brief from HPG is the culmination of Beyond survival: wellbeing in protracted crisis, a two-year research project exploring the aspects of life people deem important to their wellbeing, how these change over time, and how they vary across intersections of power and identity.
Our two case studies, highlighting the experiences of Karen refugee youth in Thailand, and the context of Kurdish state formation in Northeast Syria, found that there are growing disconnects between what aid actors and affected people consider relevant and appropriate assistance in times of conflict and crisis, and that this impacts the overall wellbeing of people and affected communities.
This project sits as part of our wider programme of work at HPG on people, power and agency. The understanding of wellbeing, and its importance to people suffering a crisis, is an example of where power dynamics within the humanitarian sector mean that those affected are often stripped of the agency to decide which interventions are most necessary.
