Drones are reshaping the environments in which humanitarian organisations operate, not primarily because of what they can do, but because of what they change: how risk is generated, how trust is built, and how visibility and acceptance function in conflict-affected settings. This document sets out why those changes matter and what they mean for humanitarian action.

It is intended for a range of readers across NGOs and the wider humanitarian sector: those who need to understand drone risk in order to make organisational decisions, those who need to engage on the issue externally, and those preparing to engage with the more technical or operational guidance in this series.

This is one part of a three-part series on drones and their impact on NGO operations.