Listen to communities, gather evidence, identify who is excluded, and understand the causes behind repeated hardship.
Development and ongoing needs
Long-term support after the emergency response
Development work deals with the ongoing needs that remain before, during and after crisis: livelihoods, education, health, protection, infrastructure, rights, inclusion, resilience and the systems that help people rebuild their lives with dignity.
What does development mean in humanitarian work?
Development in humanitarian work means longer-term support that helps people, communities and institutions recover, reduce vulnerability, protect rights, improve services and build resilience. It can sit alongside emergency relief, especially where crises last for years and people need more than short-term survival assistance.
From immediate survival to ongoing recovery
Emergency relief may focus on urgent needs such as food, water, shelter, medicine and protection. Development work looks at the needs that continue once the first emergency response has begun: how people earn an income, how children return to learning, how communities access health care, how rights are protected and how local systems recover.
In many places, the line between emergency response and development is not neat. A community may need emergency food support and long-term agriculture support at the same time. Displaced families may need shelter now, but also education, livelihoods, documentation, safety and access to services for years.
Development and ongoing needs work should be practical, locally informed and accountable to the people affected. It should avoid creating dependency, respect community priorities, reduce future risk and strengthen local capacity wherever possible.
Development work often asks
- What vulnerability keeps repeating?
- Which services are missing or broken?
- Who is excluded from support?
- What can local people lead or maintain?
- What risks could be reduced before the next crisis?
- How can aid avoid creating harm or dependency?
How development and ongoing needs fit together
Development work is usually slower than emergency relief, but it still needs discipline, evidence, community participation and practical delivery. The strongest work connects immediate needs with longer-term resilience.
Make sure work supports safety, participation, non-discrimination, accountability and access to essential services.
Support local people, organisations, services, livelihoods, institutions and systems so progress can continue.
Use preparedness, infrastructure, education, energy, environment, livelihoods and inclusion to reduce future vulnerability.
Development is shaped by context
A development issue rarely stands alone. Livelihoods may be linked to land rights, disability inclusion, roads, markets, education, protection, corruption, gender, climate risk and local security. The best responses look at how these issues connect.
| Area of need | What it can involve | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Livelihoods and income | Skills, tools, credit, markets, land, employment, small businesses and recovery of household income. | Families need routes out of repeated emergency dependency. |
| Protection and rights | Safety, legal identity, family unity, access to services, non-discrimination and prevention of abuse or exploitation. | People cannot rebuild safely when rights and dignity are ignored. |
| Services and infrastructure | Schools, clinics, roads, water systems, energy, communications and public facilities. | Recovery depends on practical systems that people can use every day. |
| Inclusion | Women and girls, children, older people, disabled people, displaced people and other groups often excluded from services. | Development work fails when the most affected people are not reached. |
| Risk reduction | Preparedness, safer construction, early warning, environment, disaster planning and local response capacity. | Reducing future risk can prevent repeated loss, displacement and crisis. |
Development and ongoing needs topics
This section will grow into a structured resource library for long-term humanitarian recovery, rights, resilience and community support. Live pages are linked. Other topic areas are shown without links until their full guides are added.
Advocacy
Helping communities raise issues, influence decisions, protect rights and push for services, safety and fair treatment.
Agriculture
Food production, seeds, tools, irrigation, livestock, soil, markets and support for families who depend on land or animals.
Capacity Building
Strengthening local organisations, staff, systems, community groups and institutions so work continues beyond one project.
Child-headed Households
Support for children and young people caring for siblings or relatives after loss, displacement, poverty or family separation.
Children
Protection, education, health, nutrition, family tracing, psychosocial support and safe environments for children affected by crisis.
Corruption and Bribes
Recognising, reducing and responding to bribery, diversion, misuse of resources and pressure on aid workers or communities.
Open resourceDisaster Risk Reduction
Reducing the impact of future disasters through preparedness, safer infrastructure, planning, early warning and local resilience.
Education
Access to learning, temporary classrooms, teacher support, materials, school safety, catch-up education and long-term skills.
Environment
Environmental protection, land use, water pressure, waste, fuel, climate risk and avoiding harm through aid activities.
Health
Primary care, disease prevention, vaccination, maternal health, medicine access, clinics, outreach and public health systems.
HIV/AIDS
Prevention, treatment access, stigma reduction, community health work, continuity of medication and support for affected households.
Human Rights
Rights protection, documentation, access to justice, non-discrimination, dignity, safety and support for people at risk.
ICRC and its Special Role
The distinctive mandate, neutrality and protection role associated with the International Committee of the Red Cross.
Information Communication Technology (ICT)
Using technology, communications, data, mobile tools, connectivity and digital systems in development and response.
Gender
Understanding how crisis, poverty, work, safety, care responsibilities and access to services affect people differently.
Infrastructure
Roads, bridges, water systems, clinics, schools, energy, public buildings and practical assets that support recovery.
Livelihoods
Income, skills, tools, small businesses, market access, employment and practical routes for households to recover stability.
Microcredit and Microfinance
Small loans, savings groups, community finance, business recovery and the risks of debt in vulnerable communities.
Mine Clearance and Education
Mine action, unexploded ordnance awareness, safe behaviour, land release and support for affected communities.
Older People
Support for older people facing isolation, health needs, reduced mobility, loss of income or exclusion from aid systems.
Participation
Community involvement in assessment, planning, feedback, delivery and decisions that affect people’s lives.
Tracing
Family tracing, separated people, missing relatives, documentation, reunification processes and safe information handling.
People With Disabilities
Accessibility, inclusion, protection, mobility, assistive devices, services and participation for disabled people.
Protection
Reducing violence, coercion, exploitation, neglect, family separation and rights violations affecting vulnerable people.
Refugees and IDPs
Support for displaced people, host communities, shelter, services, documentation, rights, livelihoods and durable solutions.
Security for Local People and Communities
Community safety, local protection risks, violence reduction, safe movement and dignity for people living with insecurity.
Security Sector Reform
Longer-term work around policing, justice, community safety, accountability and public trust in security institutions.
Solar, Wind and Alternative Energies
Renewable energy for homes, clinics, schools, water systems, communications and locally appropriate resilience.
Tourism for Aid and Development
How travel, local enterprise, responsible tourism and visitor spending can support or harm communities.
Trauma Counselling
Psychosocial support, trauma-informed care, referral pathways, community support and safe responses to distress.
Women and Girls
Safety, health, education, livelihoods, leadership, protection, dignity and access to services for women and girls.
Why ongoing needs matter
A crisis does not end when the first relief distribution is completed. Families may still be displaced, children may still be out of school, clinics may still lack medicines, livelihoods may be gone, land may be unsafe, and local systems may be too weak to support recovery.
Ongoing needs work recognises that people require more than short-term supplies. They need safety, services, income, participation, dignity and the chance to shape decisions that affect their future.
This is where development work becomes essential: not as an abstract theory, but as practical support for the conditions that allow people to rebuild their lives.
Good development work should
- Be based on local evidence and consultation.
- Strengthen rather than replace local capacity.
- Reach people who are often excluded.
- Protect dignity, rights and safety.
- Reduce future vulnerability and risk.
- Respect the environment and local systems.
- Be realistic about power, corruption and access.
The humanitarian-development link
Humanitarian needs, development challenges and peace or security issues often overlap. Long-running conflict, displacement, poverty, weak services and climate shocks can leave communities needing immediate relief and long-term support at the same time.
Development work should not ignore urgent suffering, and emergency relief should not ignore the conditions that keep creating new crises. The strongest work connects short-term protection and survival with long-term recovery, resilience and local ownership.
Accountability to communities
People affected by crisis should not be passive recipients of plans made elsewhere. Participation, feedback, inclusion and accountability help make development work more relevant, safer and more likely to last.
Development and ongoing needs FAQs
What does development mean in humanitarian work?
Development means longer-term support that helps people, communities and institutions recover, reduce vulnerability, protect rights, improve services and build resilience beyond immediate emergency relief.
How is development different from emergency relief?
Emergency relief focuses on urgent life-saving needs such as food, water, shelter, health care and protection. Development focuses on ongoing needs such as livelihoods, education, health systems, infrastructure, rights, governance, inclusion and resilience.
Can development work happen during a crisis?
Yes. In protracted crises, emergency response and development work often overlap. Communities may need immediate assistance while also needing education, livelihoods, protection, infrastructure and local systems that reduce future vulnerability.
Why are corruption and bribes part of development work?
Corruption and bribery can prevent resources from reaching people, increase risks for aid workers and communities, distort services and damage trust. Development work often needs practical safeguards against misuse of power and resources.