A conference on "Refreshing Humanitarian Action" took place in Jakarta, Indonesia, at the end of February.
The event was an opportunity for policy makers and humanitarians to look at how humanitarian action in South-East Asia has changed in recent decades.
Humanitarian aid is no longer dominated by Western donors and international aid agencies. Dealing with disasters, bringing relief to war zones and helping refugees and trafficking victims all involve local, national and regional bodies.
The February conference was one of a series co-organized by the ICRC and the Humanitarian Policy Group of the Overseas Development Institute. The conferences are looking at what humanitarian models work best, how closely humanitarians need to work alongside the people they are assisting and how those outside the formal system can influence the future of humanitarian action.