“Partnerships are on the rise in a lot of collective action dilemmas, not only in the humanitarian sector”, says Alejandra. “There are a lot of underlying assumptions that they are conducive to transparency, accountability, and increased democracy, and we’re looking at data to analyse these assumptions and come to a shared understanding of the current challenges and opportunities in partnerships.”

“What really interested me about this project was the idea of collective action”, says Maria. “It is a completely new type of governance and of looking at how we can solve issues all over the world. What we’re seeing is that partnerships are not only trending, they’re working.”

Jacques Forster, President of HQAI’s Board of Directors, highlighted the practical benefits that come from participating in the Capstone project. “Last year, HQAI had a group of 3 Institute students researching how humanitarian actors implement the principle of impartiality and, more specifically, how to measure the extent to which humanitarian actors implement the principle. It was a wonderful and very useful experience which enabled us to get insight into our own activities. We’re looking forward to getting the results of this year’s project and to continue working with the Institute on these Capstone projects”.

On 13 June, HQAI and the Graduate Institute hosted a public event exploring the role and challenges of partnerships in aid.

LEARN MORE: Watch a short video with Alejandra, Marie and Jacques Forster below, and download our Capstone flyer to find out how employers can get involved as partners.