[52], The recent rise in Big Data, high-resolution satellite imagery and new platforms powered by advanced computing have already prompted the development of crisis mapping to help humanitarian organizations make sense of the vast volume and velocity of information generated during disasters. Adjustment to normal life again can be a problem, with feelings such as guilt being caused by the simple knowledge that international aid workers can leave a crisis zone, whilst nationals cannot. This is not only never correct but reinforces existing stereotypes and thereby warfare. [60] However, since academic research on aid and conflict focuses on the role of aid in post-conflict settings, the aforementioned finding is difficult to contextualize. The majority of aid is provided in the form of in-kind goods or assistance, with cash and vouchers constituting only 6% of total humanitarian spending. (31): Some critics of humanitarian aid do not content themselves with criticising negative by-products but question the legitimacy of humanitarian aid as a whole. theatre, music) and of ethnic pluralism in the media; 2. 300 27
(4): The question of doing harm is of course as valid for development co-operation as for humanitarian aid. Bugnion, Francois. Humanitarian aid is material and logistic assistance to people who need help. His graphic account of the immense suffering he witnessed, written in his book A Memory of Solferino, became a foundational text to modern humanitarianism. Ethiopia's Tigray crisis: What's stopping aid getting in? [15] Nightingale and her team watched as the understaffed military hospitals struggled to maintain hygienic conditions and meet the needs of patients. Forsythe, David. AJe'/Q0X@. Impunity: When aid workers use the goods and support systems provided as aid to people who suffer for their own pleasures and purposes (such as taking a vehicle to the mountains for a weekend holiday - even when petrol is scarce), the message is that if one has control over resources, it is permissible to use them for personal benefit without being accountable to anyone else who may have a claim on these resources. In his opinion, humanitarian aid is acceptable in the eyes of the authorities, whereas protection is politically controversial; most massive NGOs are aware that they are providing protection with their presence but do not make this claim publicly.(21). ; and the Code of Conduct of International Alert (which is really a conflict transformation, not a development organisation). 0
Irenees.net is a documentary website whose purpose is to promote an exchange of knowledge and know-how at the service of the construction of an Art of peace.This website is coordinated byModus Operandi, Analysis file There is a debate on linking humanitarian aid and development efforts, which was reinforced by the World Humanitarian Summit in 2016. In effect these NGOs are the civil arm of their governments policies and the ideological cousins of the IMF and World Bank. The primary objective of humanitarian aid is to save lives, alleviate suffering, and maintain human dignity.
The 198385 famine in Ethiopia caused upwards of 1 million deaths and was documented by a BBC news crew, with Michael Buerk describing "a biblical famine in the 20th Century" and "the closest thing to hell on Earth". The significance only grew with time in the revision and adaptation of the Geneva Convention in 1906, 1929 and 1949; additionally, supplementary treaties granted protection to hospital ships, prisoners of war and most importantly to civilians in wartime. Resist the pressure to spend aid rapidly. The ICRC was a response to - the battle of Solferino. xTMOQN? $"MMXhb i*4P Ropers 1999:8. The Shandong Famine Relief Committee was soon established with the participation of diplomats, businessmen, and Protestant and Roman Catholic missionaries. [42], The Central Emergency Response Fund was created at the 2005 Central Emergency Response Fund at the United Nations General Assembly. 0000004357 00000 n
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Humanitarian aid organisations base their work on international law, in particular the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the various covenants and conventions on civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights; the status of refugees; discrimination against women, etc. [28], The first of the renowned Geneva Conventions was signed on 22 August 1864; never before in history has a treaty so greatly impacted how warring parties engage with one another. (12): Also the older organisations were usually founded under the impression of a specific war. [33] British missionary Timothy Richard first called international attention to the famine in Shandong in the summer of 1876 and appealed to the foreign community in Shanghai for money to help the victims. They work in development and reform projects, sometimes also in their own countries. [44], It is important to note that humanitarian aid is not only delivered through aid workers sent by bilateral, multilateral or intergovernmental organizations, such as the United Nations. 2015 Jun;4(2). support of independent journalism, of cultural activities (e.g. [66] In 2010, it was reported that the humanitarian fieldworker population increased by approximately 6% per year over the previous 10 years. In the assessment phase, several UN agencies meet to compile data and work on a humanitarian response plan. (24), 7. [58] Throughout the plans. UNDP, UNHCR, World Food Program, UNICEF), and the World Bank. Secondly, it might contribute to the support of civil society and the civilising of attitudes, values and institutions. [22] Dunant took these ideas and came up with two more ingenious concepts that would profoundly alter the practice of war; first Dunant envisioned a creation of permanent volunteer relief societies, much like the ad hoc relief group he coordinated in Solferino, to assist wounded soldiers; next Dunant began an effort to call for the adoption of a treaty which would guarantee the protection of wounded soldiers and any who attempted to come to their aid. Nurs Midwifery Stud. Fields of conflict-related activities in development co-operation are identified in greater detail below: 1. Janku, Andrea (2001) "The North-China Famine of 18761879: Performance and Impact of a Non-Event." (22) According to these recommendations, development co-operation might contribute to good governance, respect of human rights, and the reform of police and juridical apparatus, by training personnel and counselling those responsible for such reforms. Understanding Uncertainty. (28): By importing goods for relief and distributing them free of charge, donors can bring about the collapse of the local economy, and/or of informal networks of people helping each other. Four of the most widely known initiatives are, ALNAP, the CHS Alliance, the Sphere Project and the Core Humanitarian Standard on Quality and Accountability (CHS). In Bangladesh e.g. trailer
Norwegian Refugee Council), and church/religious-based NGOs (e.g. ; and the four Geneva conventions of 1949. [54] 0000004631 00000 n
"Birth of an Idea: The Founding of the International Committee of the Red Cross and of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement: From Solferino to the Original Geneva Convention (18591864)." 0000006751 00000 n
In their eyes, development co-operation and humanitarian aid is just the other side of a new colonialism: Much of the influence of foreign NGOs in Africa derives from the power of their governments, embassies and companies. ", "The Sphere Project | New online course on the Core Humanitarian Standard | News", The Humanitarian Organisations Dataset (HOD), "Active Learning Network for Accountability and Performance", "The Code of Conduct: humanitarian principles in practice", "EM-DAT: The International Disaster Database", "Protection work during armed conflict and other situations of violence: professional standards", "The Center for Disaster and Humanitarian Assistance Medicine", "Post-Modern Conflict and Humanitarian Action: Questioning the Paradigm", "A Bed for the Night: Humanitarianism in Crisis", International Humanitarian Fact-Finding Commission, Yemen Relief and Reconstruction Foundation, Humanitarian Networks and Partnerships Weeks, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Humanitarian_aid&oldid=1099685394, All articles with bare URLs for citations, Articles with bare URLs for citations from March 2022, Articles with PDF format bare URLs for citations, Articles with unsourced statements from September 2020, Pages using Sister project links with hidden wikidata, Pages using Sister project links with default search, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0. [45], How aid is delivered can affect the quality and quantity of aid. (9): The information digested here was partly taken out of published and grey material from humanitarian aid and development organisations, partly from two interviews with a representative of EIRENE International and a former staff member of a German development organisation, AGEH. There is growing agreement among the organisations that aid and development are more an issue of emphasis than two absolutely separate activities. International Review of the Red Cross 94 (2013):1325, Bugnion, Francois. Florence Nightingale: The Mother of Nursing. Additionally, there are also UN volunteers in projects carried out by particular governments (UNV auf einen Blick - die wichtigsten Statistiken fr 1994. "Birth of an Idea: The Founding of the International Committee of the Red Cross and of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement: From Solferino to the Original Geneva Convention (18591864)." To this field belongs the support of traditional mechanisms of dealing with conflict, of NGO networks and peace constituencies, education and independent media. The four UN entities that have primary roles in delivering humanitarian aid are United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR), the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) and the World Food Programme (WFP). (Gass/van Dok 2000:59). ), Ethiopia: A Country Study, U.S. aid chief to travel to Ethiopia in diplomatic push on Tigray. [67], Aid workers are exposed to tough conditions and have to be flexible, resilient, and responsible in an environment that humans are not psychologically supposed to deal with, in such severe conditions that trauma is common. For the album, see, Core Humanitarian Standard on Quality and Accountability, Hosein Karimi, Negin Masoudi Alavi. "[60] Furthermore, analyzing the relationship between conflict and food aid, a recent research shows that the United States' food aid promoted civil conflict in recipient countries on average. In reaching out to international communities, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA)[3] of the United Nations (UN) is responsible for coordination responses to emergencies. Each year there are about 4.000 (paid) volunteers in the field, each having a contract of 2 years. Many different organisations are working in the field of development, aid and conflict transformation. Bugnion, Francois. [14] Ten times more soldiers were dying of disease than from battle wounds. The large international NGOs easily reach numbers in the hundreds if not thousands. International Review of the Red Cross 94 (2013): 1306. The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) coordinates the international humanitarian response to a crisis or emergency pursuant to Resolution 46/182 of the United Nations General Assembly. (20): For example the Code of Conduct that the ICRC and the Red Crescent Movement formulated together with other NGOs in Disaster Response Programmes, see: Humanitarian Charter 2000:314 pp. It has dealt with the question of what impact humanitarian aid might have on conflict, and eventually formulated a set of issues for awareness, based on a number of case studiesusually known as the Do No Harm approach. 5. International Review of the Red Cross 94 (2013):1326, Edgerton-Tarpley, Kathryn, "Pictures to Draw Tears from Iron". Traditionally, humanitarian organizations have concentrated their efforts in the delivery of human, medical, food, shelter and water sanitation and hygiene resources during humanitarian emergencies. Barnett, Michael, and Weiss, Thomas. On the other hand, impact analyses of single projects may show what worked in a certain case, but are of limited use in formulating general lessons on how to achieve positive impact.(33). The German Dienste in bersee (Services Overseas), for example, accompanied a threatened bishop in Guatemala. [70], Reports of sexual exploitation in sexual exploitation and abuse in humanitarian response have been reported following humanitarian interventions in Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone in 2002,[71] in Central African Republic[72] and in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. (18) Some even speak of a continuum concept: Development Co-operation - Emergency Relief - Rehabilitation - Development Co-operation, with the principal focus on the use of emergency relief and rehabilitation to support development of local structures and capacities capable of sustainable development.(19). However, they do not only implement the projects which are designed in the North as the term local partner sometimes seems to infer, but in many, if not most countries, play an important role of their own as well. He is the General Secretary of the Pan-African movement.). [26] Beyond this, in order to solidify humanitarian practice, the Geneva Society of Public Welfare hosted a convention between 8 and 22 August 1864 at the Geneva Town Hall with 16 diverse States present, including many governments of Europe, the Ottoman Empire, the United States of America (USA), Brazil and Mexico. Organisations like Mdecins sans Frontires (13) publish regularly on human rights issues, and base their decisions on active involvement in a crisis area more on a day-by-day risk analysis, than on the formal invitation or permission of the government of the respective country in which they want to work. (3): See Anderson 1996, especially p. 16 ff., Donini 1996, de Waal/Omaar 1996. For example, it has been estimated that over $8.75billion was lost to waste, fraud, abuse and mismanagement in the Hurricane Katrina relief effort. (Gass/van Dok 2000:59). Some of these activities have a direct bearing on conflictfor example, the two last activities. "[61] Thus, the impact of humanitarian aid on conflict may vary depending upon the type and mode in which aid is received, and, inter alia, the local socio-economic, cultural, historical, geographical and political conditions in the recipient countries. [4], The International Committee of the Red Cross understands humanitarian relief as a norm in both international and non-international armed conflicts, and countries or war parties that prevent humanitarian relief are generally widely criticized. [18] All of these improvements are pillars of modern humanitarian intervention. Distributional effects: Aid is usually targeted to certain groups which means that other people do not receive it, thereby tending to reinforce the conflict, especially if one of the groups is identifiable with pre-formed sides in the conflict. 0000007520 00000 n
Continue to invest in audit capacity, beyond simple paper trails; Establish and verify the effectiveness of complaints mechanisms, paying close attention to local power structures, security and cultural factors hindering complaints; Clearly explain the processes during the targeting and registration stages, highlighting points such as the fact that people should not make payments to be included, photocopy and read aloud any lists prepared by leaders or committees. [62], However, there is little clear consensus on the trade-offs between speed and control, especially in emergency situations when the humanitarian imperative of saving lives and alleviating suffering may conflict with the time and resources required to minimise corruption risks. It is usually short-term help until the long-term help by the government and other institutions replaces it. Nonviolent conflict interventions in the panorama of work on conflicts, How humanitarian aid and development agencies relate to peace teams and CPS. Composed of five Geneva citizens, this committee endorsed Dunant's vision to legally neutralize medical personnel responding to wounded soldiers. (29): When humanitarian aid satisfies basic needs, then the political elites are free of their responsibility, and need no longer justify their actions to civil society. [44] However, evidence has shown how cash transfers can be better for recipients as it gives them choice and control, they can be more cost-efficient and better for local markets and economies. (3), In development co-operation, the issue is more complex. This is partly (1) due to the growing number of humanitarian catastrophes in the last 10 years, creating an enormous challenge for both humanitarian aid and development aid. Among the people in need are the homeless, refugees, and victims of natural disasters, wars, and famines. 0000128652 00000 n
[2] Humanitarian aid can come from either local or international communities. Forsythe, David. (6) While some of them see conflict as part of the environment to be taken into account when planning a project, others have started projects concentrating on conflict transformation itself. [56] When delivering humanitarian aid, it is thus important for humanitarian actors, such as the United Nations, to include challenges specific to women in their humanitarian response. A simultaneous campaign was launched in response to the Great Famine of 187678 in India. Theft: Very often aid goods are stolen by armies to support the war effort either directly (as when food is stolen to feed fighters), or indirectly (as when food is stolen and sold in order to raise money to buy weapons). The development of rigorous information management systems may lead to feasible mechanisms for forecasting and preventing crises. [76] It comprises nine core standards, which are complemented by detailed guidance notes and indicators. Festival Images migrantes "Du migrant au sujet politique", Pourquoi as-tu quitt ton pays? 0000000836 00000 n
Aid can be seized by armed groups, and even if it does reach the intended recipients, "it is difficult to exclude local members of local militia group from being direct recipients if they are also malnourished and qualify to receive aid. [31], The International Committee of the Red Cross exists to this day as the guardian of International Humanitarian Law and as one of the largest providers of humanitarian aid in the world. International Review of the Red Cross 94 (2013): 1320. Larger lessons-learned projects such as Reflecting on Peace Processes by the same group of organisations which developed the Do No Harm approach, or the comparable project by the European Platform on Conflict Prevention, are still under way and have yet to publish their results. These efforts brought in 204,000 silver taels, the equivalent of $710million in 2012 silver prices.[35]. (32): In Mozambique approximately 70% of the countrys gross domestic product in 1988 was development aid, and education and health care in the hands of NGOs instead of the government. A Famine Relief Fund was set up in the United Kingdom and had raised 426,000 within the first few months. These activities can be found in most of the work descriptions of development agencies - e.g. Les trangers face linjonction permanente de justifier leur prsence, Frantz Fanon : Repenser les catgories raciales et le fonctionnement du racisme, Aim Csaire pour une pense anti-coloniale autonome et contre lindpendance tatique des Antilles, Nonviolent conflict interventions in the panorama of work on conflicts. i
"4I00iXEVL7/8y3s z The Inter-Agency Standing Committee provides guidelines for humanitarian actors on how be inclusive of gender when delivering humanitarian aid. 0000128306 00000 n
The Sphere Project handbook, Humanitarian Charter and Minimum Standards in Disaster Response], which was produced by a coalition of leading non-governmental humanitarian agencies, lists the following principles of humanitarian action: Another humanitarian standard used is the Core Humanitarian Standard on Quality and Accountability (CHS). [79], Material or logistical assistance for people in need, "Succour" redirects here. See Schwieger 2000. 0000007032 00000 n
For example, crowdsourcing maps (such as Open Street Maps) and social media messages in Twitter were used during the 2010 Haiti Earthquake and Hurricane Sandy to trace leads of missing people, infrastructure damages and rise new alerts for emergencies. [29] The basic tenents of the convention outlined the neutrality of medical services, including hospitals, ambulances, and related personnel, the requirement to care for and protect the sick and wounded during the conflict and something of particular symbolic importance to the International Committee of the Red Cross: the Red Cross emblem. While some critics were questioning whether the sector will truly benefit from the implementation of yet another humanitarian standard, others have praised it for its simplicity. Nightingale used principles of new science and statistics to measure progress and plan for her hospital. Women have limited access to paid work, are at risk of child marriage, and are more exposed to Gender based violence, such as rape and domestic abuse. In recent years, a number of concerns have been raised about the mental health of aid workers.[68][69]. arms buy-back programs), demobilisation and reintegration programs for soldiers, non-violence training for police and army; 3. 0000001711 00000 n
It was only in the 1980s, that global news coverage and celebrity endorsement were mobilized to galvanize large-scale government-led famine (and other forms of) relief in response to disasters around the world. Aid workers are the people distributed internationally to do humanitarian aid work. Besides development projects they also support human rights work, monitor elections, help with the resettlement of refugees, and do training in political science and human rights. 1911 Feb;11(5):34657. International Review of the Red Cross 94 (2013): 1324, Bugnion, Francois. "Birth of an Idea: The Founding of the International Committee of the Red Cross and of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement: From Solferino to the Original Geneva Convention (18591864)." In some cases, development organisations have also engaged in peacekeeping activities. [48] However, humanitarian diplomacy is also used by state actors as part of their foreign policy. (24): Services Overseas in Mexico and Mozambique. These include: 1. [1], Humanitarian aid is seen as "a fundamental expression of the universal value of solidarity between people and a moral imperative". 0000002116 00000 n
Arms: When aid agencies hire armed guards to protect their goods from theft or their staff from harm, the implicit ethical messages is that it is legitimate for arms to determine who gets access to food and medical supplies and that security and safety derive from weapons. [55] Conflict and natural disasters exacerbate women's vulnerabilities. Most of these catastrophes were human-made, caused by civil wars or protracted (2), stale-mate conflicts. (Freise 1994:48, Evers 1997:59). It can support either those people and actions that pursue war, or those that pursue and maintain non-war. On the other side, if the use of armed guards is avoided, the message may be that law and order may rule and people can be safe. [37], A 2004 reform initiative by Jan Egeland, resulted in the creation of the Humanitarian Cluster System, designed to improve coordination between humanitarian agencies working on the same issues.[38]. in the not yet published and not-quotable case studies of the Reflecting on Peace Practices-Project, the interviews I conducted with representatives of development agencies and different other publications, e.g. Development co-operation entails many activities, for example: technological support, rural development, livelihood support projects and the like, which may have only an indirect impact on conflict. see Central Emergency Response Fund). 0000056335 00000 n
Some of the proceeds also went to the famine hit areas of Eritrea. [8], The beginnings of organized international humanitarian aid can be traced to the late 19th century. An increase in United States' wheat aid increased the duration of armed civil conflicts in recipient countries, and ethnic polarization heightened this effect. International Review of the Red Cross 94 (2013): 1300. To win assent for interventions, aid agencies often espouse the principles of humanitarian impartiality and neutrality. Waste and corruption are hard to quantify, in part because they are often a taboo subject, but they appear to be significant in humanitarian aid. (16) One typical difference between aid and development organisations is that the former works in larger, specialised teams, while the latter often send single experts to work as consultants in a local environment. 300 0 obj <>
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Another example that illustrates technology used for humanitarian purposes is the Artificial Intelligence for Digital Response platform which is a free and open source software that automatically collects and classifies tweets that are posted during emergencies, humanitarian crises and disasters. There can be different arrangements on the role these agencies play, and such arrangement affects that quality of hard and soft aid delivered. In some cases the presence of humanitarian aid and development organisations may play a more general protective function: Mahony/Eguren give the example of Sri Lanka where according to one confidential source who had worked with both the UN and large international humanitarian NGOs in Sri Lanka, this sort of implicit protection was an even more important service to Sri Lanka than the actual material aid offered by either the UN or the NGOs. In a later stage, it might mean assistance with physical reconstruction, resettlement of refugees and reintegration of former combatants.