The establishment of United Nations (UN) Integrated Missions whereby humanitarian coordination and leadership are placed under the umbrella of political and peacekeeping missions has raised serious concerns within the humanitarian community. The main assertions have been that UN integration undermines the independence of humanitarian action; silences the humanitarian, voice and reporting of the UN; and distorts local power, holders perception of humanitarian action and actors, risking the safety of both humanitarian workers and the people who benefit from humanitarian action.
This discussion paper aims to provide a different perspective on the ongoing integration debate. It explores an area that has received little attention to date: how integration has impacted cooperation between UN and NGO humanitarian actors. The paper also touches upon integrated UN security management. While security management is not directly linked to UN integration, it is seen as one of the greatest impediments to UN-NGO coordination.
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