Engaging Armed Grps in Afghanistan and Colombia: Lessons from Covid-19
Many of the environments in which NRC and the humanitarian community operates have evolved over recent years with significant implications for how the organisation engages non-state armed groups (NSAGs or armed groups). Covid-19 drove further contextual changes that affected the behaviour of NSAGs and offered new opportunities for them to grow and consolidate their power.
Despite these changes, long-standing approaches to NSAG engagement in Afghanistan have enabled the humanitarian organisations to stay and deliver, even during the Taliban takeover of the country. This research nevertheless points to important questions regarding the viability of some of these engagement strategies with the Taliban now in control.
In Colombia, the viability and safety of humanitarian operations have been profoundly challenged by fundamental changes in the conflict landscape since 2016 that have been magnified by the global Covid-19 pandemic. These transformations have undermined traditional engagement modalities and have pushed agencies and organisations to modify their approach to engaging armed groups in the country.
This research explores the obstacles and opportunities for engagement with NSAGs related to these contextual shifts.
This document has been produced with the financial assistance of the Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance (BHA). The contents of this document, under no circumstances, should be regarded as reflecting the position of BHA.