Humanitarian Agenda

Exploring and highlighting the changing landscape of humanitarian assistance in the 21st century

With an unprecedented number of humanitarian crises around the world, the Humanitarian Agenda is committed to inform policy solutions to novel humanitarian challenges through expert dialogue and analysis and to developing and advancing avenues for improving humanitarian response and increasing humanitarian access.

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Sofia Chavez
Media Relations Manager, External Relations
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Analysis

Safeguarding Humanitarian Action: The United States’ Critical Role in Renewing UN Security Council Resolution 2664

On December 9, the UNSC will consider renewing Resolution 2664 and the ISIL/Al-Qaida carve-out. Failure to renew would undo two years of improved financial access and risk delayed transactions critical for reaching people in crisis.

Commentary by Nicolas Jude Larnerd and Michelle Strucke — December 5, 2024

Photo: AMAURY FALT-BROWN/AFP via Getty Images

Sudan’s Humanitarian Crisis: What Was Old Is New Again

Report by Cameron Hudson and Michelle Strucke — December 17, 2024

Humanitarian Finance: A Missed Opportunity for Reform at the Summit of the Future

Critical Questions by Marc Cohen and Michelle Strucke — September 30, 2024

The Red Zone: Charting Paths to Resilience in the Climate-Conflict Nexus

May 15, 2024 • 9:00 am – 5:00 pm EDT

Hosted by Humanitarian Agenda

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Recent Events

Global Conflicts to Watch in 2025: Escalating Humanitarian Needs

December 13, 2024 • 9:30 – 10:30 am EST

Hosted by Humanitarian Agenda

Implications of the Blinken/Austin Letter and Sinwar’s Passing—Gaza: The Human Toll

October 22, 2024 • 11:00 am – 12:00 pm EDT

Hosted by The CSIS Bipartisan Alliance for Global Health Security

Conflict and Displacement in Sudan: the Urgent Need to Reduce Barriers to Humanitarian Response

September 30, 2024 • 4:00 – 5:00 pm EDT

Hosted by Humanitarian Agenda

Gaza’s Water Crisis—What Can Be Done

July 26, 2024 • 8:00 – 9:00 am EDT

Hosted by The CSIS Bipartisan Alliance for Global Health Security

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Beyond Aid

Beyond Aid brings you stories about humanitarian actors and action that go beyond the challenging headlines to focus on how we can find hope and where we can find opportunities to drive change.

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Opting Out: United States to Stop Engaging with More UN Entities

Prioritizing and refining the coalitions and organizations an administration engages with makes sense, but budget cuts and an anti-multilateralism philosophy come with risks and mean a broader rupture is likely still on the horizon.

Commentary by Allison Lombardo — January 15, 2026

What Is the U.S. Posture Toward the United Nations?

President Trump delivered withering criticism of the United Nations at UNGA this week, but the future of U.S. contributions to the United Nations remains unclear. What will the future hold for U.S. support to the United Nations?

Critical Questions by Allison Lombardo — September 25, 2025

Why U.S. Junior Professionals in the UN Still Matter

Individual Americans’ contributions can be an easy way to retain some U.S. inroads to a UN that will soldier on even without the United States as an active participant.

Commentary by Allison Lombardo and Ella Lipin — August 20, 2025

What Is Happening to U.S. Humanitarian Assistance? Will the United States Continue to Save Lives?

Almost 90 days after President Trump’s executive order freezing U.S. foreign aid, this paper unpacks the critical losses in emergency response capacity, data, and U.S. credibility, and suggests a path forward for aid reform that minimizes harm.

Report by Michelle Strucke and Marc Cohen — April 18, 2025

Audio Briefs

“What Is Happening to U.S. Humanitarian Assistance? Will the United States Continue to Save Lives?”: Audio Brief with Michelle Strucke

A short, spoken-word summary from CSIS’s Michelle Strucke on her white paper with Marc Cohen, “What Is Happening to U.S. Humanitarian Assistance? Will the United States Continue to Save Lives?”

Podcast Episode by Michelle Strucke — April 18, 2025

Audio Briefs

Where Is the United States? An Earthquake in Myanmar Is the First Test of President Trump’s Emergency Aid Cuts

An audio version of “Where Is the United States? An Earthquake in Myanmar Is the First Test of President Trump’s Emergency Aid Cuts,” a new Critical Questions by CSIS's Michelle Strucke and Lily Kennedy. This audio was generated with text-to-speech by Eleven Labs.

Podcast Episode by Michelle Strucke and Lily Kennedy — April 7, 2025

Where Is the United States? An Earthquake in Myanmar Is the First Test of President Trump’s Emergency Aid Cuts

A 7.7 magnitude-earthquake in Myanmar is the first major disaster since the U.S. foreign aid cuts. This article unpacks the past, present, and future of U.S. disaster response capabilities.

Critical Questions by Michelle Strucke and Lily Kennedy — April 7, 2025

Streamlining Government Coordination for Rights-Conscious Supply Chains

Rethinking the US approach to global supply chain transparency in support of human rights.

Report by Noor Hamadeh, Jacqueline Lewis, and Whitley Saumweber — March 24, 2025

Audio Briefs

“Sudan’s Humanitarian Crisis: What Was Old Is New Again”: Audio Brief with Cameron Hudson

A short, spoken-word summary from CSIS’s Cameron Hudson on his report with Michelle Strucke, Sudan’s Humanitarian Crisis: What Was Old Is New Again.

Podcast Episode by Cameron Hudson — December 19, 2024

Audio Briefs

To Address Increasing Crises, Incentivize Locally Led Surge Capacity and Prepare for Multidimensional Crisis Response

An audio version of “To Address Increasing Crises, Incentivize Locally Led Surge Capacity and Prepare for Multidimensional Crisis Response,” a new commentary by CSIS’s Michelle Strucke. This audio was generated with text-to-speech by Eleven Labs.

Podcast Episode by Michelle Strucke — December 18, 2024

It's More than Just Drones: Industrial Base Lessons from the Conflict in Ukraine | All About the Base

Global Oil Markets Outlook: Key Takeaways from EIA’s January 2026 STEO

Examining Major Elements Driving Investment Uncertainty in the 2026 USMCA Review

Book Launch | China's Weaponization of Trade: Resistance Through Collective Resilience

Humanitarian Agenda

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Analysis

Safeguarding Humanitarian Action: The United States’ Critical Role in Renewing UN Security Council Resolution 2664

Sudan’s Humanitarian Crisis: What Was Old Is New Again

Humanitarian Finance: A Missed Opportunity for Reform at the Summit of the Future

The Red Zone: Charting Paths to Resilience in the Climate-Conflict Nexus

Recent Events

Global Conflicts to Watch in 2025: Escalating Humanitarian Needs

Implications of the Blinken/Austin Letter and Sinwar’s Passing—Gaza: The Human Toll

Conflict and Displacement in Sudan: the Urgent Need to Reduce Barriers to Humanitarian Response

Gaza’s Water Crisis—What Can Be Done

Featured Podcast

Beyond Aid

All Humanitarian Agenda Content

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Opting Out: United States to Stop Engaging with More UN Entities

What Is the U.S. Posture Toward the United Nations?

Why U.S. Junior Professionals in the UN Still Matter

What Is Happening to U.S. Humanitarian Assistance? Will the United States Continue to Save Lives?

“What Is Happening to U.S. Humanitarian Assistance? Will the United States Continue to Save Lives?”: Audio Brief with Michelle Strucke

Where Is the United States? An Earthquake in Myanmar Is the First Test of President Trump’s Emergency Aid Cuts

Where Is the United States? An Earthquake in Myanmar Is the First Test of President Trump’s Emergency Aid Cuts

Streamlining Government Coordination for Rights-Conscious Supply Chains

“Sudan’s Humanitarian Crisis: What Was Old Is New Again”: Audio Brief with Cameron Hudson

To Address Increasing Crises, Incentivize Locally Led Surge Capacity and Prepare for Multidimensional Crisis Response

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