Humanitarian Access, Protection, and Diplomacy in Besieged Areas

This rapid literature review examines the lessons learned in terms of providing humanitarian access and protection for civilians in besieged areas. The focus is on the following besieged areas: Syria (e.g. Raqqa, Aleppo, Deir-Ez-Zor and Eastern Ghouta), Hudaydah in Yemen and Mosul in Iraq. The recent literature is dominated by the conflict in Syria while there is very little in-depth analysis of humanitarian access in Hudaydah or Mosul. This review utilised grey literature produced by research organisations, Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) and humanitarian organisations as well as academic literature on humanitarian access. The findings reported in the literature were based on case study analyses which encompassed in-depth interviews with humanitarian actors and victims of conflict.