This case study looks at the Principles and Protocols of Humaitarian Operation (PPHO) and the Joint Policy of Operation (JPO) in an attempt to develop a more explicitly ‘principled’ approach to working in conflict. The case study is part of a wider study by ODI into the idea of ‘Humanitarian Principles’. The purpose of the study was to investigate three broad questions:

 • What do humanitarian principles mean to agencies?

 • What difference does the adoption of an explicitly principled approach make to agency decision making and behaviour in the field?

 • And finally, what impact soes this approach have on the behaviour of the warring parties?