To celebrate the Humanitarian Leader/Leader Humanitaire’s 50th edition milestone, the co-author of the journal’s first-ever paper – Deakin Distinguished Professor Matthew Clarke – has written reflection on the evolution of the journal and the important place in the humanitarian ecosystem it has created for our authors and readers alike.
“It is a great honour and privilege to write this piece marking the 50th paper of the Humanitarian Leader / Leader Humanitaire. This paper, and the 49 that preceded it, have challenged existing norms, highlighted new challenges and sought to raise questions on how to transform local and global responses to humanitarian events so that the entire humanitarian ecosystem is more equitable, just and effective.
With tens of thousands of downloads each year, the reach of the Humanitarian Leader / Leader Humanitaire is significant across all parts of the world. This reach is not unexpected as the articles published are so fundamental to the day-to-day work of humanitarian workers and leaders but also core to the pertinent questions and problems being addressed by those studying and researching this sector and these issues.
Unlike most publications (whether in this field or any other discipline), less than half of all papers published within Humanitarian Leader / Leader Humanitaire have been written by those working within the university sector. Rather, the majority of papers are written by practitioners or those working in affiliated occupations. While 22 editions have been written by academics, 16 have been authored by those working in non-governmental or non-profit organisations, five have been written by those in the private sector, while the rest have been written by those in research centres, civil society organisations, social enterprises, government, multilateral organisations or other entities.
This spread of organisations demonstrates the accessibility of this publication but also the breadth of readership. The ongoing challenge of this series is to continue attracting papers from practitioners, women, and francophone (and non-English speaking) authors.
Humanitarian Leader / Leader Humanitaire authors reside in all parts of the globe, including Europe, North America, South-east Asia, Africa, Central and South America, the Middle East and Asia. Having just under a third of papers from regions more greatly impacted by humanitarian events is a great strength of this series and one that is rightly celebrated. This wide aperture of voices gives this publication an authenticity that is not replicated in more traditional forums or outlets. Indeed, seeking new voices and perspectives has been a key focus of the Humanitarian Leader / Leader Humanitaire from its origins.
This focus on wanting to hear new voices and ensure global reach is best reflected in the fact it is now a bilingual publication, being available in both English and French. It should not be of any great surprise therefore to note future plans to further widen the series to be published in Arabic and Spanish.
On this impressive anniversary, it is also right and proper to acknowledge and celebrate the contributions made by a number of key individuals that have been core to the success of the Humanitarian Leader / Leader Humanitaire. Dr Nazanin Zadeh-Cummings was the inaugural editor soon after the series was launched. Dr Phoebe Downing and Dr Marian Abouzeid assumed this responsibility in 2023 and were joined earlier this year by Dr Joshua Hallwright. Justine de Rouck has paved the way as editor of the French-language edition. Without their vision and hard-work (and make no mistake, editing such publications is a lot of hard-work!), we would not be celebrating this milestone.
Finally, it was my great honour to co-author the first Humanitarian Leader / Leader Humanitaire in 2019. This contribution was a provocative paper challenging the long-established principles of humanitarianism—humanity, neutrality, impartiality and independence. The purpose of this work was to seek to instigate a discussion within the humanitarian sector to reconsider these principles and question whether they were still fit-for-purpose in a significantly different environment from which they were first conceived. Alternative principles were presented in order to frame this contest. The independent voice of this publication of the Humanitarian Leader / Leader Humanitaire meant it was the perfect outlet for which to launch this conversation.
In this anniversary paper, Dr Balwant Singh is continuing to push, prod and prompt discussions that have not been had or which have been set aside as being too dangerous or uncomfortable for the humanitarian sector—by reflecting and dissecting my own work and how it stands five tumultuous and world-changing years’ later. I am honoured to be part of this ongoing and vital conversation. Our humanitarian sector needs to be transformed to become more equitable, just and effective and the Humanitarian Leader / Leader Humanitaire is at the fore of this change.”
Deakin Distinguished Professor Matthew Clarke, Deputy Vice-Chancellor – Research and Innovation, Deakin University
The 50th edition of the Humanitarian Leader, entitled, ‘Where is the leadership? Where is the imagination? Confronting a humanitarian system in crisis and resistant to change’ by Balwant Singh, is available now.
The Humanitarian Leader/Leader Humanitaire is made possible with the generous support of the American people through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). The contents are the responsibility of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of USAID or the United States Government.
