Greening Humanitarian Aid: A case study on environmental mainstreaming in the Minawao Refugee Camp in Cameroon

Sammanfattning: This thesis is a qualitative case study on greening policies in the Minawao Refugee Camp in far-northern Cameroon. It thoroughly investigates the actors and dynamics of humanitarian aid and specifically explores how environmental mainstreaming can shape humanitarian governance. The case was chosen due to its unique policies and programmes that aim to green the refugee camp and use a participatory approach to tackle the challenges. The concepts used throughout the thesis are humanitarian governance including both politicisation and de-politicisation aspects as well as clusterisation. A particular focus is placed on environmental mainstreaming. In addition, the humanitarian-development-peace nexus which plays an increasingly important role in shaping humanitarian aid is introduced and discussed. The theoretical framework is built upon these three concepts, humanitarian governance, environmental mainstreaming, and the humanitarian-developmentpeace nexus, as well as the dynamics between each other. A flexible qualitative research design is applied, using mixed methods for the data collection consisting of expert interviews and secondary data from reports and media. The collected data was coded and analysed using the “thematic analysis” method. The findings are divided in politicisation, de-politicisation, and clusterisation themes. The research confirms that environmental mainstreaming requires long-term planning, while humanitarian governance remains focused on immediate response to save lives and alleviate human suffering. Power dynamics, funding issues, and the involvement of governmental institutions lead frequently to disproportionate politicisation of humanitarian aid. However, ownership, resilience, and partnership help to de-politicise the process. Moreover, clusterisation allows for better coordination and helps to interlink humanitarian aid, development assistance, and environmental mainstreaming, leading to improved results and outcomes for the beneficiaries. The thesis shows that while environmental mainstreaming remains a significant challenge to humanitarian governance, it is of crucial importance to both be included in conceptual work and daily practice, and considered in further research.