ABSTRACT
This chapter begins with overviews of the key findings from armed conflicts and disaster case studies. It follows with a comparative analysis of these types of crises, a synthesis of factors identified in the cases that enabled or hindered the realization of the continuum, and finally the overall implications for international cooperation. Despite deficient knowledge and understanding of the continuum, most actors involved in humanitarian crises management are striving to do more than relief within their organizational capacity. However, such efforts are mostly restricted to linking relief and recovery phases, followed by some form of development; thereby overlooking crisis prevention as a management phase engendered during relief and recovery. The analysis indicates three major factors that could facilitate or hinder the success of approaches to the continuum: country ownership of the process; policy expertise and capacities related to crisis management; and the existence of multiple actors that engage and complement each other's efforts. Finally, the chapter highlights three major suggestions for realizing the continuum: to recognize that crisis management is not linear, to put 'local' at the center, and to ensure that prevention starts from day one of a crisis
