Abstract
This report forms part of a major research programme, supported by Nuffield College at the University of Oxford, which is working with international non-governmental organisations (INGOs) to reassess their purpose, the values that they are built on, the basis of their legitimacy, and the future leadership that they will need if they are to remain relevant and stay effective in serving the people who they aim to help.
The INGOs and the Long Humanitarian Century research programme aims to help INGOs negotiate a unique historical moment that they find themselves in. Many are facing calls for reform, and there are challenges to INGOs both from within the sector and from their external environment.
INGOs and the Long Humanitarian Century brings together senior leaders from within the INGO sector, policymakers and academics working on the history of humanitarianism, to create a space for critical reflection and debate. By providing a historical and social perspective, the programme’s overarching ambition is to help INGOs understand where they have come from, where they are now, and where they want to be by the year 2030, while staying focused on and true to their founding values.