Humanitarian action in an urban world: the IRC's role in improving urban crisis response

The humanitarian landscape is changing. The world is urbanizing rapidly, and its ever-expanding cities will increasingly be affected by natural disasters and displacement crises. Despite the existence of sprawling refugee camps in countries bordering the world’s conflict zones, today some 60% of the world’s refugees live in urban contexts, most of them in the cities of conflict- affected or low-income countries struggling to maintain stability and provide services for their host populations. Such trends generate new challenges and opportunities for humanitarian actors.