ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses a number of themes regarding humanitarian aid through the lens of mandates of agencies. The term multi-mandate organisations is usually applied to international non-governmental organisations (NGOs) that have a humanitarian mandate in addition to other mandates, such as reconstruction, development or peace-building. Humanitarian aid has been criticised for many years, because it did not take into account the resilience of refugees and internally displaced people (IDPs) and hence did not build on the initiatives of target groups. The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and medecins sans frontieres (MSF) are usually considered single-mandate, while the others are all seen as multimandate. With refugee care, the host government is an important actor, although in refugee camps in developing countries most governmental functions are being delegated to the UN high commissioner for refugees (UNHCR). The 1990s saw much debate about the relative advantages and disadvantages of linking relief, rehabilitation and development (LRRD).
