Introduction

The field of Humanitarian Assistance has become increasingly complex in every aspect. Since the end of the cold war one can observe multiple changes-increase in humanitarian action, increased number and variation of humanitarian actors, proliferation of tasks between different actors (e.g. militaries as relief and developmental actors), professionalization of relief aid, etc. Bluntly speaking, the times when the Red Cross and States were the only humanitarian actors and when international humanitarian law alone was sufficiently covering emergency situations, are long gone.