Topic 1: What is a complex emergency?
Definitions of key terms relating to complex emergencies
In this section we briefly examine the background and definitions of the key words emergency, disaster and complex emergency.
Defining emergency
Within the Australian context the word emergency is used, while within the American context you will more frequently find the term disaster.
Two descriptions of what is meant by an emergency are given below. The first is from an emergency services point of view and implies a legislative role of the response to the event, in that it assumes the community’s inability to cope using its own resources and therefore a need for external assistance is present. The second description is a sociological view and considers the emergency in terms of the event and the vulnerability of the community to that event.
An emergency from an emergency services perspective
A serious disruption to community life which threatens or causes death or injury in that community and/or damage to property which is beyond the day-today capacity of the prescribed statutory authorities and which requires special mobilisation and organisation of resources other than those normally available to those authorities.
An emergency from a sociological perspective
An emergency may be defined as the interface between an extreme event and vulnerable human population.
Whichever description is used it is important to understand that in emergency management we are generally referring to emergency as an event whose impact would require a significantly higher level of management than could otherwise be provided by a single agency in response to a lesser event. Examples of lesser events would include a minor traffic accident or a building fire which is well within the resources of the single emergency service agency or local community.
Defining disaster
The term disaster has a more specific definition than complex emergency, and this terminology is clarified on pages 161-166 of the 2010 World Disasters Report. Disasters here include two main generic types: natural disasters and technological disasters. According to the classification used by the 2010 World Disasters Report, at least one of the following criteria must be fulfilled in order for data to be entered into the disaster database:
- ten or more people reported killed
- 100 people or more reported affected
- declaration of a state of emergency
- call for international assistance.
- A very simple approach to classifying disasters is displayed in Figure 1.1 below.
Natural |
Human-made |
climatic disasters, e.g. cyclones |
technological disasters, e.g. transport accidents |
geophysical disasters e.g. earthquakes |
disasters caused through human fault, e.g. oil spills |
biological disasters e.g. epidemics |
hostile actions, e.g. terrorist attacks |
Figure 1.1: A simple classification of disasters according to cause
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For further discussion please read the article titled What is A Disaster? |
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Defining a complex emergency
The international (humanitarian) system has shown considerable growth in recent years. Global staffing levels have increased on an average annual rate of 6% over the past decade, and have now reached a total population of roughly 210,800 humanitarian workers in the field. In 2008, some $ 6.6 billion was contributed by donors directly to international emergency response efforts, a nearly three-fold increase since the start of the decade after allowing for inflation.
(The State of the Humanitarian System, 2009, p9)
The term complex emergency was an invention of international aid organisations to acknowledge that the emergency aid/humanitarian assistance needs were being generated by armed conflict as well as by periodic natural disaster events, such as cyclones and droughts, while avoiding mentioning use of terms such as ‘war’, ‘civil war’ and ‘conflict’ which were sensitive terms in many country contexts where these emergencies have occurred.
An official definition of a complex emergency is provided by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) in its Handbook for Complex Emergencies (http://www.reliefweb.int/library/documents/ocha__orientation__handbook_on__.htm)
It defines complex emergency as:
a humanitarian crisis in a country, region or society where there is total or considerable breakdown of authority resulting from internal or external conflict and which requires an international response that goes beyond the mandate or capacity of any single agency and/or the ongoing United Nations country program.
Chowhali, Bangladesh
One kilometre of land was washed away by flood waters. This building narrowly escaped, but it is uninhabitable. Flooding is classified as a natural disaster.
Source: V. Ingham 2010
The Inter-Agency Standing Committee is the primary mechanism for inter-agency coordination of humanitarian assistance, particularly that involving key UN and non-UN humanitarian partners.
Complex emergencies are typically characterised by:
- extensive violence and loss of life; massive displacements of people;
- widespread damage to societies and economies;
- the need for large-scale, multi-faceted humanitarian assistance;
- the hindrance or prevention of humanitarian assistance by political and military constraints; and
- significant security risks for humanitarian relief workers in some areas.
Janz & Slead’s book Complex Humanitarian Emergencies (2000) provides an updated review of humanitarian work over the previous decade. These authors suggest that complex emergencies, particularly those involving Non Government Organisations (NGOs), which was the stakeholder group they represented, were increasingly likely to include:
- high risk – insecurity – war – civil unrest;
- large scale – high death rates & trauma;
- ethnic and/or religious factors;
- multiple factions – weak or dissolving government structures, which may require negotiation with numerous factions;
- dissolving or damaged economy, institutions and infrastructures;
- difficult access or denial of access to areas of need;
- on-going crisis or escalation series of crises;
- potential to increase suffering through inappropriate aid assistance; and
- increased completion for limited resources.
Defining an emergency as complex is itself complicated.
The term ‘complex emergency’ was coined in Mozambique in the latter half of the 1980s. An important factor influencing this was the need for international aid agencies to acknowledge that the ‘emergency aid’ or humanitarian assistance needs were being generated by armed conflict as well as by natural disaster events, such as cyclones and droughts, while avoiding mentioning use of terms such as ‘war’, ‘civil war’ and ‘conflict’ which were sensitive terms at the time. Since then, particularly following the end of the Cold War period, the international community has been more directly involved in efforts to provide humanitarian assistance in areas of ongoing armed conflict. As a consequence the term ‘complex emergency’ has entered widespread usage as a way of differentiating those situations where armed conflict and political instability are the principal causes of humanitarian needs, from those where natural hazards are the principal cause of such needs. The term is useful in that it highlights the fact that situations involving political instability and armed conflict are often particularly complex contexts in which those involved in the provision of humanitarian assistance have to operate. It is the very complex context of such emergencies that requires the adoption of particular approaches and techniques by those involved in humanitarian assistance in response to complex emergencies.
Of course emergencies caused by natural disasters such as the Indian Ocean Tsunami of 2004, the Pakistan Floods and Haiti Earthquake in 2010 are not ‘simple’. In all of these events, almost all organisations have encountered unprecedented challenges not within any previous experiences of these agencies and the individuals who worked on these events. While rapid-onset natural disasters often involve sudden and traumatic events- the duration of the events is rarely more than a few days, though it may take months or years for the affected population to resume their pre-disaster livelihoods. Slow-onset natural disasters, such as droughts, are of at least several months duration and prolonged droughts may last for 2 years or more; however, their effects may take weeks and months to develop. Complex emergencies are often chronic situations lasting several years. In the case of Afghanistan, Mozambique and Angola, the conflict lasted for almost two decades. The reality of what we call ‘complex emergencies’ under this category are not unforeseen, but have either been politically created or have been in an emergency-like state for a rather long time.
Timing and urgency are not the only characterisation that distinguishes complex emergencies from ‘normal’ emergencies. For agencies involved in these, they will also have to face extensive violence and loss of life, massive displacements of people, and widespread damage to societies and economies. There is also the need for large-scale, multi-faceted humanitarian assistance. In these conditions, the hindrance or prevention of humanitarian assistance by political and military constraints is becoming more significant. Moreover, in complex emergency there are significant security risks for humanitarian assistance by political and military constraints. These issues are addressed in more details in later Topics.
Food for thought Does the definition of what constitutes an ‘emergency’ influence the mission and activities of an organisation in response to the needs of the affected communities? If so, how? |