Humanitarian Insights, Development & Aid Analysis

  The New Standards for Project Design Tahir Ali Shah The world of non governmental organizations has changed deeply. In the past, social work mainly meant delivering a service. Food was distributed, kits were handed out, and reports were written to show numbers. People were often called beneficiaries, as if they were passive receivers of help. Over time, it became clear that this approach was not enough. It solved short term problems but rarely created lasting change. Today, the global aid system looks very different. Power is slowly shifting away from Western led models toward local leadership and self determination. Communities are no longer seen as empty spaces waiting to be fixed. They are recognized as places full of knowledge, history, and solutions. Project design must reflect this reality if it wants to remain relevant and effective. This guide moves away from rigid and outdated planning methods and embraces a justice centered approach. It is designed for a world w...

Putting Children at the Center of International Justice Why Child-Sensitive Investigations Matter in Conflict Settings Tahir Ali Shah In conflicts across the world, children are often the most deeply affected and the least meaningfully heard. They are killed, displaced, recruited, abused, separated from their families, and exposed to violence that reshapes their lives long after the fighting stops. Yet when international justice mechanisms are activated through investigations, fact-finding missions, or accountability processes, children’s experiences are still too often treated as peripheral rather than central. This gap weakens justice itself. If international justice is to be credible, effective, and survivor-centred, it must place children at the heart of its work, not as an afterthought, but as rights-holders whose experiences reveal the true scale and nature of international crimes. International law clearly recognizes children as rights-holders. The Convention on the Rights of th...

  Why Protection Mainstreaming Still Fails in Humanitarian Response and How Field Leaders Can Fix It Tahir Ali Shah Protection mainstreaming has long been a foundational concept in humanitarian work. It appears in strategic plans, donor proposals, cluster guidance, and training materials. Almost every organization claims to apply protection across its programs. Yet on the frontline, people affected by crises continue to experience harm, directly or indirectly, linked to humanitarian action. Women and girls are harassed while accessing aid, children are exposed to grave violations, and people living in conflict zones face multiple layers of risk that humanitarian programs fail to address systematically. These persistent protection gaps raise a difficult but necessary question: if protection mainstreaming is so widely understood and promoted, why does it continue to fail in practice? One reason is the way responsibility for protection is perceived. Protection mainstreaming is...

  Beyond the Logframe: Staying Oriented When the Structure Disappears Tahir Ali Shah In humanitarian and development work, much of our daily structure comes from outside us. Our calendars are shaped by donor deadlines, reporting cycles, coordination meetings, and team responsibilities. Even when the work is intense, the rhythm is familiar. We know what is expected, when it is due, and who we are accountable to. Over time, this external structure becomes the invisible framework that holds our days together. When that structure suddenly disappears, because a contract ends, funding stops, or a role is lost, many experienced professionals are surprised by how disoriented they feel. This is not because they lack discipline or motivation. It is because the tools they relied on were designed for a very different situation. Productivity systems that worked well in stable employment often fail during periods of uncertainty, not because they are bad tools, but because they are solving ...

  When the Job Ends, the Purpose Does Not Tahir Ali Shah Most people like me, who spend their lives in humanitarian and development work, do not enter the sector by accident. We are drawn in by something deeper than salary or job titles. It may be a sense of justice, a desire to stand with people in crisis, or simply the feeling that this work matters in a way few others do. Over time, the work becomes part of our identity. It shapes how we see the world and how we see ourselves within it. This is why periods of unemployment, short-term contracts, or professional uncertainty hit so hard in this sector. When a job ends, it can feel as though the mission has ended with it. For many experienced practitioners, especially those who have spent decades moving from emergency to emergency or program to program, the loss of a formal role feels personal. It creates doubt, frustration, and sometimes a quiet grief that is rarely spoken about openly. The past few years have made this fee...

The Silent Skills Gap in Humanitarian Leadership Tahir Ali Shah For more than thirty years, I worked in humanitarian and development organizations, managing large programs, leading teams across countries, and overseeing millions of dollars in donor funding. On paper, I looked like a senior professional who knew exactly what I was doing. Yet there is a truth I took many years to fully accept: for a long time, I was doing this work without being properly prepared for the job I was actually performing. Like many people in the humanitarian sector, I grew into leadership roles through commitment, field experience, and a strong belief in the mission. I understood communities, protection risks, emergency response, and program design. What I did not fully understand, at least not in a structured and confident way, was the business side of my role. No one ever formally taught me management, leadership, or financial systems. I was expected to learn these things along the way, while already carry...