Source: Nature Medicine

The COVID-19 pandemic should revive a shared understanding of humanitarian emergencies and crisis resolution, opening the door to transformative change in humanitarian responses. But it has also revealed political opportunism and poor data-reporting structures.

For the first time since the influenza pandemic in 1918, the whole world has been directly affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, a global humanitarian emergency. Most of us had little input into how decisions were made that dramatically affected our lives and livelihoods. This helplessness and lack of agency are often how people affected by humanitarian emergencies feel every day. As with any crisis, there are opportunities for learning and making positive changes.