Inclusion and exclusion in humanitarian action: the state of play

This paper provides the foundation for a multi-year study on inclusion and exclusion in humanitarian action being carried out by the Humanitarian Policy Group (HPG) at ODI. It seeks to make sense of the concept of inclusion in humanitarian action, explore how it relates to humanitarian principles and other core concepts and outlines some of the key issues and challenges preventing more inclusive humanitarian action. Drawing on existing practice and evidence from a review of academic and grey literature,5 the study argues that vulnerability is a critical, but challenging, lens to inform the prioritisation of humanitarian assistance and protection, and that it has failed to lead to more inclusive humanitarian action.