John Borton

Senior Research Associate, Humanitarian Policy Group

John is a Senior Research Associate who has worked within the international humanitarian sector for 30 years in a variety of operational, evaluation, research and capacity development roles.

During his eleven years as an ODI Research Fellow (1991-2002) he led the establishment of what is now HPN, the landmark Study 3 of the Joint Evaluation of Emergency Assistance to Rwanda and the establishment of ALNAP, of which he was coordinator for its first five years. Since moving to a freelance role John has supported the governance and staff of a large NGO programme in Darfur status for 8 years as well as preparing annual surveys of developments in humanitarian accountability.

For the last year he has been part of the HPG’s Global History of Humanitarian Action team and has a particular interest in making the history of humanitarian action more accessible to humanitarian workers.

Outputs

A history of the humanitarian system: Western origins and foundations

Publication - Research reports and studies - 18 June 2013

HPG Working Papers

Eleanor Davey, with John Borton and Matthew Foley

While knowledge of the past has direct operational, analytical and strategic implications, the humanitarian sector has a poor understanding of its history. Delve into HPG’s account of the history of the international humanitarian system to discover more.

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Herbert Hoover and the European Relief Council

Global history of modern humanitarian action

Projects - March 2011 to March 2015

This research project seeks to promote the use of history in the practice and policy-making of humanitarian action. The aim is to help the sector better understand its history and make greater use of historical analysis and lessons in current discussions and debates aimed at improving humanitarian action.

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