Complex Emergencies and Human Development: A Quantitative Analysis of Their Relationship

Abstract

Increasingly, the world’s poorest and most marginalized are also those most affected by armed conflict. The complicated interactions among modern conflicts, poverty, hunger, and disease have led to the emergence of the notion of the “complex emergency.” The widespread occurrence of complex emergencies in the world’s poorest countries, where development efforts are the most needed, has grave consequences for human development. Through an application of quantitative methods, this paper examines the relationship between complex emergencies and development using the human development index developed by the United Nations Development Programme and the typology of complex emergencies developed by the United Nations University World Institute for Development Economics Research. The study demonstrates a relationship between levels of development and types of complex emergencies and suggests that an index which considers the multiple manifestations of complex emergencies would provide a better measurement than a single quantifier. These results point to the need to situate development efforts in the context of complex emergencies in order for them to meet the needs of the world’s most vulnerable populations.