Transcript

BETH FERRIS: There are questions about the relationship between humanitarian assistance and the causes of conflicts, with many arguing that humanitarian assistance is used when the international community can’t decide to take action to address the political conflicts that cause the need for humanitarian assistance -- you know, situations such as Darfur, or Democratic Republic of Congo, years and years in Bosnia. As Sadako Ogata, the former UN High Commissioner for Refugees often said, there are no humanitarian solutions to humanitarian problems.

What does this mean for the future of humanitarian work?  In the absence of political action, can humanitarian assistance be sustained indefinitely. . . .Sometimes it seems that humanitarian ideals are under fire from all sides -- increasingly vociferous critics who charge that humanitarians have not only failed to address the needs of people, but have actually made conflicts longer.  And day-to-day challenges in the field, of questions such as how to balance security of humanitarian staff with meeting the needs of people on the ground? How far to negotiate with non-state actors to ensure humanitarian access?  How much compromise is needed and acceptable to ensure humanitarian response?

           

Some have suggested that the days of principled humanitarianism are over, and that a more pragmatic humanitarianism is necessary. 

View Full Transcript »