More vulnerable world needs better future planning by humanitarians - expert

Professionals dealing with humanitarian needs – from aid workers to policy makers – need to get better at anticipating new and different future crises which are likely to affect rich countries as much as poor ones, according to the head of the London-based Humanitarian Futures Programme. Interviewed by Alertnet, Randolph Kent, a former U.N. humanitarian coordinator for Somalia, Kosovo and Rwanda, said real aid effectiveness starts with bolstering the resilience of communities and minimising their exposure to disasters, "resilience becomes the key, and not response, because if we can start strengthening local communities, that means we will need to have less emergency response."