Access to basic services (health & education)

Access to basic services, particularly health and education, is essential for the survival of people in crisis situations. Health services need to be supported and/or re-established during emergency situations, particularly during health crises (Ebola, cholera, etc.). The importance of maintaining or re-establishing access to education is just as fundamental given the terrible impact that its absence can have on society as a whole in long-term crisis contexts.

Often considered an area of activity of development aid, supporting the education and health sectors has also become an area of activity of humanitarians in protracted crisis and long-term displacement contexts. In addition, certain crises, such as the Ebola crisis, have revealed pre-existing weaknesses in national health systems, which are unable to stop the epidemic. Taking in uprooted people puts additional pressure on education and public health systems which find themselves saturated by the flow of people. By supporting these national systems, development aid can therefore play a role in preventing crises. This is one of the most important aspects of the link between relief and development and is therefore increasingly important in fragile contexts.