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The Critical Risk of Disinformation for Humanitarians: The Case of the MV Aquarius

Sean Healy, Victoria Russell

Journal of Humanitarian Affairs, volume 3, issue 1 (2021), pp. 28-39

"The search and rescue of refugees, asylum seekers and migrants on the Mediterranean has become a site of major political contestation in Europe, on the seas, in parliaments and government offices and in online public opinion. This article summarises one particular set of controversies, namely, fals ... more

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When ‘Seeing Was Believing’: Visual Advocacy in the Early Decades of Humanitarian Cinema

Valérie Gorin

Journal of Humanitarian Affairs, volume 3, issue 2 (2021), pp. 18-27

"Focusing on the pivotal period of 1919–23 and the large-scale humanitarian responses in Central and Eastern Europe, this paper discusses the development of advocacy in the movies made by organizations like the ICRC, Save the Children Fund or American Relief Administration. While aid agencies obse ... more

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Radio: A Key Humanitarian Response Tool

Research for Health in Humanitarian Crises (ELRHA) (2021), 2 pp.

"This study, undertaken during the COVID-19 outbreak in Burkina Faso, found that radio enabled sharing of rapid, relevant, and reliable information, even during COVID-19 and a deteriorating security situation. Radio can be considered and deployed in emergency context as an urgent response tool. Huma ... more

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Explicability of Humanitarian AI: A Matter of Principles

Giulio Coppi, Moreno Jimenez Rebeca, Sofia Kyriazi

Journal of International Humanitarian Action, volume 6, issue 19 (2021), 22 pp.

"In the debate on how to improve efficiencies in the humanitarian sector and better meet people’s needs, the argument for the use of artificial intelligence (AI) and automated decision-making (ADMs) systems has gained significant traction and ignited controversy for its ethical and human rights-re ... lated implications. Setting aside the implications of introducing unmanned and automated systems in warfare, we focus instead on the impact of the adoption of AI-based ADMs in humanitarian response. In order to maintain the status and protection conferred by the humanitarian mandate, aid organizations are called to abide by a broad set of rules condensed in the humanitarian principles and notably the principles of humanity, neutrality, impartiality, and independence. But how do these principles operate when decision-making is automated? This article opens with an overview of AI and ADMs in the humanitarian sector, with special attention to the concept of algorithmic opacity. It then explores the transformative potential of these systems on the complex power dynamics between humanitarians, principled assistance, and affected communities during acute crises. Our research confirms that the existing flaws in accountability and epistemic processes can be also found in the mathematical and statistical formulas and in the algorithms used for automation, artificial intelligence, predictive analytics, and other efficiency-gaining-related processes. In doing so, our analysis highlights the potential harm to people resulting from algorithmic opacity, either through removal or obfuscation of the causal connection between triggering events and humanitarian services through the so-called black box effect (algorithms are often described as black boxes, as their complexity and technical opacity hide and obfuscate their inner workings (Diakopoulos, Tow Center for Digital Journ, 2017). Recognizing the need for a humanitarian ethics dimension in the analysis of automation, AI, and ADMs used in humanitarian action, we endorse the concept of “explicability” as developed within the ethical framework of machine learning and humancomputer interaction, together with a set of proxy metrics. Finally, we stress the need for developing auditable standards, as well as transparent guidelines and frameworks to rein in the risks of what has been defined as humanitarian experimentation (Sandvik, Jacobsen, and McDonald, Int. Rev. Red Cross 99(904), 319–344, 2017). This article concludes that accountability mechanisms for AI-based systems and ADMs used to respond to the needs of populations in situation of vulnerability should be an essential feature by default, in order to preserve the respect of the do no harm principle even in the digital dimension of aid. In conclusion, while we confirm existing concerns related to the adoption of AI-based systems and ADMs in humanitarian action, we also advocate for a roadmap towards humanitarian AI for the sector and introduce a tentative ethics framework as basis for future research." (Abstract) more

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Information Sharing Protocol: Somalia

Inter-Cluster Coordination Group (ICCG); Somalia Information Management and Assessment Working Group (IMAWG) (2021), 12 pp.

"This Information Sharing Protocol (ISP) is designed to support data responsibility in Somalia. Data responsibility in humanitarian action is the safe, ethical and effective management of personal and non-personal data for operational response, in accordance with established frameworks for personal ... more

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National Emergency Telecommunications Plans: Enablers and Safeguards. A Brief Evaluation Guide for Policy Practitioners

Ken Okong'o

London: GSMA (2021), 16 pp.

"Section 1 focuses on creating an enabling environment. Mobile network operators (MNOs) operate in a regulated environment.5 However, if this environment is not sufficiently enabling to support disaster preparedness, response and recovery, MNOs will encounter challenges when disaster strikes. This s ... more

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Multihazard Multisectoral Risk Communication Framework for Pakistan

Washington, DC: World Bank; Government of Pakistan, Ministry of National Health Services Regulations and Coordination (2021), 26 pp.

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Évaluation des besoins et de l’usage de la connectivité dans les contextes humanitaires: Une Boîte à Outils pour faciliter l’évaluation de l’usage actuel et potentiel de la connectivité et de la téléphonie mobile en situation de crises humanitaires

London: GSMA (2021), 14 pp.

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Humanitarian Connectivity Needs and Usage Assessment: Guidance for Implementing the Toolkit

London: GSMA (2021), 39 pp.

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Humanitarian Connectivity Needs and Usage Assessment: A Toolkit to Support in Assessing the Current and Potential Use of Mobile Technology and Connectivity in Humanitarian Crises

London: GSMA (2021), 14 pp.

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Building Resilience Through Mobile-Enabled Solutions: Lessons from the Mobile for Humanitarian Innovation Fund

Matthew Downer, Zoe Hamilton

London: GSMA (2021), 39 pp.

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Building and Strengthening Digital Ecosystems in Humanitarian Contexts

Belinda Baah, Zoe Hamilton

London: GSMA (2021), 24 pp.

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Mobile for Humanitarian Innovation Fund: Portfolio (2017-2022)

London: GSMA (2021), 28 pp.

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An Assessment of Malawi Media in Disaster Risk Reduction: The Case of Cyclone Idai

Mwayi Chipambali (comp.)

Harare: UNESCO; Southern African Research and Documentation Centre (SARDC) (2021), 32 pp.

"A number of issues have been raised in this report that will help the media to improve on service delivery in disaster-related issues and to be prepared in disaster management. Not only the media has vowed to improve but also government institutions, humanitarian response organizations and media st ... more

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Data Responsibility Toolkit: A Guide for Cash and Voucher Practitioners

Linda Raftree, Anna Kondakhchyan

Cash Learning Partnership (CaLP) (2021), 45 pp.

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Fiji Media, Language and Telecommunications Landscape Guide

Caroline Austin

Australian Aid (AusAID); CDAC Network (2021), 26 pp.

"This guide is a living document that is meant to be used as a starting point when planning and undertaking a campaign prior to (if possible) and during a disaster. It is intended to support the work of the Fiji government and the Fiji Communication and Community Engagement Working Group (CCEWG) in ... more

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Utilizing telecommunications / information and communication technologies for disaster risk reduction and management. Study period 2018-2021

Geneva: ITU (2021), xii, 162 pp.

[...] Early-warning systems play a crucial role in informing people about impending disasters and should therefore be deployed in disaster-prone areas. Effective information transmission and dissemination are important before, during and after a disaster. A workshop on early-warning systems held dur ... more

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Supplementing Emergency Warning Messsages to Encourage Readiness to Act: The Effect of Colour and Icons

Dominique A. Greer, Paula Dootson, Sophie A. Miller, Vivienne Tippett

Melbourne: Bushfire and Natural Hazards CRC; Queensland University of Technology (2021), 52 pp.

"An online survey was conducted in which participants were exposed to one of 16 mock emergency warnings about either a bushfire or a riverine flood and were then asked a series of questions relating to their demographic characteristics, message comprehension and effectiveness, threat appraisal, copi ... more

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Maintaining land and life in Vanuatu: Indigenous alternatives of recovery following the Manaro eruption on Ambae, Vanuatu

Foley C. Pfalzgraf

Journal of Environmental Media, volume 2, issue Supplement (2021), pp. 5.1–5.13

"Between 2017 and 2019, the Manaro volcano on the island of Ambae in Vanuatu erupted consistently, leading to two compulsory evacuations of the island’s communities. The eruption was only one of many ecological emergencies unfolding in Vanuatu as climate change continues to affect the islands. Ami ... more

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Media and Disaster Risk Reduction: Advances, Challenges and Potentials

Rajib Shaw, Suvendrini Kakuchi, Miki Yamaji (eds.)

Singapore: Springer (2021), xiii, 249 pp.

"The media is considered to be of utmost importance in all phases of disasters, before, during and after, with different types of media having different proactive roles to play in disaster risk reduction. Before disasters, they play essential roles not only in bringing early warning to people but al ... more