Humanitarian diplomacy in practice: Turkish and Qatari NGOs navigating access and influence in Somalia

This article examines how Turkish and Qatari humanitarian non-governmental organizations (NGOs) navigate access, legitimacy, and influence in Somalia’s fragmented humanitarian environment. It focuses on Turkey’s Humanitarian Relief Foundation (IHH), an independent faith-based NGO with grassroots engagement, and the semi-governmental Turkish Red Crescent (TRC), aligned with state diplomacy. On the Qatari side, it analyses Qatar Charity (QC) and Qatar Red Crescent Society (QRCS), both operating within an authoritarian, elite-led system. Drawing on interviews and document analysis, the study applies Ketola’s typology of NGO strategies and negotiation theory to identify five challenges: access, governance, neutrality, logistics, and coordination. IHH acts as a navigator, TRC as a broker constrained by security and neutrality risks, while QC and QRCS operate as broker-translators emphasizing coordination and capacity-building. The study contributes to humanitarian diplomacy scholarship by showing how Turkish and Qatari NGOs operationalize humanitarian principles on the ground, expanding understandings beyond Western aid models.