The New Humanitarian
The New Humanitarian is an independent nonprofit news organization covering humanitarian crises, aid, displacement, conflict, and global responses.
Last updated November 4, 2026
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Overview
The New Humanitarian is an independent nonprofit news organization focused on humanitarian crises and the systems that respond to them. It was established in 1995 as Integrated Regional Information Networks, commonly known as IRIN News, following the Great Lakes refugee crisis that followed the 1994 Rwandan genocide. The original purpose was to provide reliable, timely information about crises and humanitarian operations in places where conventional international media coverage was limited. IRIN began as a project managed by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Its early operations were based in Nairobi, Kenya, and it developed regional desks and liaison offices serving different parts of the world. In its early years, the service distributed information through fax and email before developing a website in the late 1990s. Its reporting was used by humanitarian organizations, government agencies, United Nations bodies, researchers, journalists, and other people working in or studying crisis-affected settings. The organization expanded beyond general humanitarian news into specialized reporting and multimedia work. In 2001 it created PlusNews, a service dedicated to HIV and AIDS reporting. PlusNews later expanded its language coverage to French, Portuguese, and Arabic and became a significant source of original reporting about the epidemic. IRIN also produced documentary and video work, including reporting on sexual violence and public-health emergencies. Its HIV documentary series Heroes of HIV received an honorable mention at the 14th annual Webby Awards, while the documentary Our Bodies... Their Battleground, about sexual violence against women in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Liberia, won Best Feature at the United Nations Documentary Film Festival in 2005. On 1 January 2015, IRIN separated from the United Nations and became an independent nonprofit news organization. This change gave it greater institutional independence while preserving its focus on humanitarian affairs. On 21 March 2019, it relaunched under the name The New Humanitarian. The rebrand reflected an expanded editorial ambition: rather than reporting only on emergency relief, the outlet increasingly examined the politics, financing, ethics, institutions, and long-term consequences of humanitarian action. The New Humanitarian publishes primarily in English, with a smaller selection of articles available in French and Arabic. Its editorial coverage includes armed conflict, forced migration, climate-related crises, food insecurity, public health, humanitarian access, aid accountability, gender-based violence, and the experiences of people affected by crisis. The organization also publishes newsletters, podcasts, visual journalism, and explanatory or investigative projects. Its flagship podcast Rethinking Humanitarianism explores debates about how the aid sector should change, while What's Unsaid addresses topics that receive limited public discussion. The outlet's audience is concentrated among people connected to the humanitarian and international-development sectors. A 2018 reader survey identified nonprofit and nongovernmental organizations as the largest audience group, followed by academia, the United Nations, government, media, business, and donors. More than 40 percent of readers were reported to come from Africa, Asia, the Middle East, and Latin America. The organization also hosts in-person and livestreamed discussions intended to connect journalists, practitioners, researchers, and policy audiences. The New Humanitarian operates through a nonprofit funding model. Its support has included grants and contributions from governments, foundations, private donors, and a membership program. Publicly identified supporters have included the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the Canton of Geneva, and international aid agencies from Australia, Belgium, Canada, Norway, Sweden, and Switzerland. It is not a publicly listed company and does not publish a stock ticker. Its continuing editorial proposition is to produce independent, specialist journalism about under-reported crises while scrutinizing the institutions and power structures involved in humanitarian response.
History
The New Humanitarian traces its origins to 1995, when Integrated Regional Information Networks was created in response to the information needs generated by the Great Lakes refugee crisis after the 1994 Rwandan genocide. Known as IRIN News, the service was intended to supply dependable reporting on humanitarian emergencies and relief operations that received limited attention from major international media. It was established within the United Nations system and managed by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. The organization's early base was Nairobi, Kenya. Its reporting network later included regional desks in Nairobi, Johannesburg, Dakar, Dubai, and Bangkok, together with liaison offices in New York and Geneva. IRIN initially distributed weekly regional updates through fax and email, reflecting the professional information needs of aid agencies and officials. It launched its first website in the late 1990s, broadening access to its reporting. IRIN developed specialist services as its audience and editorial scope grew. In 2001 it launched PlusNews, a dedicated HIV and AIDS news service. The project expanded across English, French, Portuguese, and Arabic and became an important source of original reporting on the epidemic. IRIN also developed documentary and video journalism. Heroes of HIV received an honorable mention at the 14th annual Webby Awards, and the 2005 documentary Our Bodies... Their Battleground won Best Feature at the United Nations Documentary Film Festival for its coverage of sexual violence against women in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Liberia. A major institutional transition took place on 1 January 2015, when IRIN left the United Nations and became an independent nonprofit organization. Independence changed its governance and funding structure while retaining its mission of producing specialist humanitarian journalism. The organization subsequently expanded its coverage from immediate emergencies to broader questions about the aid sector, including accountability, financing, displacement policy, humanitarian access, gender, conflict, and the political consequences of international intervention. On 21 March 2019, IRIN relaunched as The New Humanitarian. The new name signaled a broader editorial identity and a desire to examine not only crises but also the assumptions, institutions, and power relationships shaping humanitarian responses. The organization continued to publish mainly in English, with a smaller body of French- and Arabic-language material. The modern outlet operates through a mix of digital journalism, newsletters, podcasts, video, investigations, and public events. Its readers include staff of nongovernmental organizations, academics, United Nations personnel, government officials, journalists, businesses, and donors. A 2018 audience survey found that more than 40 percent of readers came from Africa, Asia, the Middle East, and Latin America, consistent with the organization's emphasis on regions and crises that it considers under-reported. The New Humanitarian's nonprofit model is supported by a combination of government and foundation grants, private contributions, and membership revenue. Publicly identified supporters have included the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the Canton of Geneva, and aid agencies from Australia, Belgium, Canada, Norway, Sweden, and Switzerland. Its journalism has continued to include investigations into misconduct within humanitarian operations, including a 2020 investigation with the Thomson Reuters Foundation into alleged abuse of women working for humanitarian agencies during the Kivu Ebola response in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
- 2020
Kivu Ebola response investigation
[2]The New Humanitarian and the Thomson Reuters Foundation investigate alleged abuse of women working for humanitarian agencies during the Ebola response in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo.
- 2019
Relaunch as The New Humanitarian
[1]The organization adopts The New Humanitarian name and presents a broader editorial focus on humanitarian systems and under-reported crises.
- 2015
IRIN becomes independent
[1]IRIN separates from the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs and continues as an independent nonprofit news organization.
- 2005
Documentary receives UN festival award
[1]The IRIN documentary Our Bodies... Their Battleground wins Best Feature at the United Nations Documentary Film Festival.
- 2001
PlusNews launches
[1]IRIN creates PlusNews, a specialist HIV and AIDS reporting service that later expands into several languages.
- 1995
IRIN is established
[1]Integrated Regional Information Networks is created after the Great Lakes refugee crisis to improve reporting and information exchange about humanitarian emergencies.
Products and positioning
Independent, specialist, nonprofit journalism for professionals and informed audiences seeking deeper reporting on humanitarian crises, aid systems, displacement, conflict, and overlooked regions.
Digital news publication · 2019
The New Humanitarian website
The organization's primary publishing platform provides reporting, analysis, investigations, features, and explanatory journalism about humanitarian crises, conflict, displacement, public health, aid policy, and accountability. Its editorial approach emphasizes specialist knowledge and regions that receive limited sustained coverage from general-interest media.
Email journalism · 1995
Newsletters
The New Humanitarian distributes daily and weekly newsletters summarizing and contextualizing developments in humanitarian affairs. The newsletter program developed from IRIN's earlier fax- and email-based distribution model and serves a professional audience across aid, government, research, media, and policy communities.
Podcast
Rethinking Humanitarianism
Rethinking Humanitarianism is a flagship podcast examining how the aid sector operates and how it might change. It extends the organization's editorial role beyond breaking news into debate and critical discussion about humanitarian institutions, power, financing, and reform.
Podcast
What's Unsaid
What's Unsaid is a podcast focused on subjects that are often neglected or insufficiently discussed in humanitarian and international-development conversations. It complements the organization's written reporting with longer-form audio storytelling and analysis.
Specialist health news service · 2001
PlusNews
PlusNews was a specialist service created by IRIN in 2001 to cover HIV and AIDS. It expanded its language offering to French, Portuguese, and Arabic and became a substantial source of original reporting on the epidemic. Its history forms part of the organization's earlier IRIN-era product portfolio.
Controversies
2020
Investigation into abuse during the Kivu Ebola response
The New Humanitarian, working with the Thomson Reuters Foundation, reported allegations of widespread abuse involving women working for humanitarian agencies during the response to the Kivu Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The investigation concerned conduct within the wider humanitarian sector rather than an allegation that The New Humanitarian itself committed wrongdoing.
Marketing campaigns
- 2019The New Humanitarian relaunch
Global
The organization relaunched under a new name after operating independently as IRIN since 2015. The rebrand positioned the publication as an independent nonprofit newsroom covering both humanitarian emergencies and the structures that shape aid responses.
Outcome. The New Humanitarian became the organization's continuing public identity and editorial brand.
Brand decisions
2019
Adopt The New Humanitarian brandStrategyBackground
Following its separation from the United Nations, the organization sought a name that reflected a broader and more independent editorial mission.
Action taken
IRIN relaunched as The New Humanitarian on 21 March 2019.
Aftermath
The new identity broadened the brand's association from emergency information services to independent journalism about humanitarian systems, crises, and accountability.
2015
Separate from the United NationsStrategyBackground
IRIN had operated as a project of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs since its creation.
Action taken
The service became an independent nonprofit news organization on 1 January 2015.
Aftermath
The organization retained its humanitarian-news mission while gaining an independent institutional and editorial identity.
Sources2 sources
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