The international aid system has failed to translate its commitments to conflict sensitivity into meaningful action. And yet, we need conflict sensitivity to work. What needs to change?

Timothy Midgley, Sherine El Taraboulsi-McCarthy, Rahma Ahmed & Alastair Carr’s article, “Beyond box-ticking: How conflict sensitivity can shape a more equitable aid system,” suggests that conflict sensitivity risks becoming a box-ticking exercise. An exercise that perpetuates rather than challenges the fundamental flaws in the aid system. It argues that focusing on technical support to address problems at the program level has obscured systemic inequalities & incentives that prevent aid from responding to conflict more effectively. For conflict sensitivity to play a role in shaping an effective & equitable aid system, it must focus on the aid system at large.

To what extent does conflict sensitivity reinforce & guard the very inequalities that have hindered responses to conflict & humanitarian crises in the past? How might conflict sensitivity, the concept & practice, have the potential to play a more transformative role in shaping the way international aid & investment is employed in conflict settings?

Timothy Midgley & Rahma Ahmed joined our ConnexUs Thursday Talk hosted by Zander Willoughby to discuss on 25 August 2022