Considering how difficult to keep the humanitarian space in the conflict on-going place, there is a widespread belief among academic scholars that indicates insecurity for humanitarian aid workers leads shrink of humanitarian space under the civil war situation. Although public interest and budget for humanitarian aid have been growing in the world post-9/11, and following this, humanitarian space has been widened at the same time. However, it has been argued that keeping humanitarian space is still not easy to achieve. Especially in the situation of civil war, number of humanitarian aid workers lost life incidentally. Indeed many analytic researches show the evidence that humanitarian space is not declining in total. Contrary some literature highlights that a humanitarian space in particular situation such as conflict must be reduced. Especially countries such as Afghanistan and Iraq where have been struggled with the conflict for several years, keeping humanitarian space has not been so successful. In this essay, it will be argued that why humanitarian organisation must to be faced to the risk of terror and what makes so difficult to keep the humanitarian space under on-going conflict. Despite the fact that humanitarian workers see that keeping humanitarian space in the war-ongoing place is difficult, it does not necessarily mean that they should stop their aid. They sometimes face the dilemma of making assistance along with military forces but it is unavoidable in such dangerous situation. I would like to argue that flexibility and taking balance of such dilemma are important for them to continue their humanitarian activities.
First of all, it is crucial to understand what exactly ‘Humanitarian space’ is, before discussing how...
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...n space. Approach for humanitarian space has been changed since the attack on 9.11 in the US, which was the trigger that the boundary of military force and NGOs to became obscured. Under such circumstance, NGOs have become to face the risk of terrorism. On the other hand, it is unavoidable NGOs to spread their activities without military forces in dangerous places, thus this dilemma causes vicious circle. Although terrorism prevents spreading humanitarian space, terrorism could be caused by several reasons such as misunderstanding of NGO activities, or bad national mood for particular nations where military/NGO workers comes from. It is still argumentative that whether humanitarian space is collapsed or not, however at very least the notion humanitarian space had changed after global war, and also the risk of terrorism can affect the activity of NGOs in micro level.
Her memoir starts off in Darfur in 2005, where in her late 20’s, she hits rock bottom while managing a refugee camp for 24,000 civilians. It backtracks to her internship in Rwanda, while moving forward to her challenges in Darfur, in addition to her experiences in post- tsunami Indonesia, and post-quake in Haiti. By sharing her story, Alexander gives readers an opportunity to go behind-the-scenes into the devastations that are censored on media outlets. She stresses that these are often the problems that individuals claim they are educated on, but rarely make it their priority to solve. However, that is not the case for Jessica Alexander as she has over 12 years of experience working with different NGO’s and UN operations. As a result, Alexander earns the credibility to critique the multi-billion-dollar humanitarian aid industry. From her painful yet rewarding work experience, Alexander gives an honest and empathetic view of humanitarian aid as an establishment and a
...victims of war and genocide, it is admirable to see his courage to remain engaged in service to his fellow human. With a bold, yet pragmatic vision, Orbinski is unconcerned with seemingly intractable problems of finding drugs for the poorest AIDS victims. The book illustrates his desire to get the job done without bravado and grand statements. Although the book was painful to read, it takes he reader to the extreme of human suffering. Nevertheless, it also inspires with its reflections of humanitarianism and the ingenuity brought to its implementation. It is heartening to know James Orbinski can inspire students in both the arts and sciences as they set out on their careers. Since after all he’s seen, Orbinski remain optimistic, not cynical, and committed to action. Do give this book to any students in your life, after you have read it yourself.
Since the end of the Cold War, the recruitment of child soldiers has been recognized as an increasingly global phenomenon. Although the majority of the relatively recent child soldier recruitment cases have developed from armed conflicts in Africa, by the beginning of the new millennium the trend increased globally, appearing on nearly every continent, including Asia, Europe and the Americas. The prevalence of this practice has turned it into a much talked about international issue. The aim of this paper is to look at how this issue is influenced and even aggravated by globalization. More specifically, it will be argued that globalization, expressed through the existence of international organizations, such as the United Nations, have been ineffective in putting a stop to child soldiery and that globalization, defined by the interconnectedness of world economies has lead to underdevelopment and therefore exasperated conflict and as a result child soldiery.
Chandler, David G. "The Road to Military Humanitarianism: How the Human Rights Ngos Shaped a New Humanitarian Agenda." Human Rights Quarterly. 23.3 (2001): 678-700. Print.
Even though , many people have been effected by the Iraq and Afghanistan war because the number of displaced Iraqis internally and externally are estimated to be between 3.5 million and 5 million people (Iraq: The Human Cost , 2014). According to the Iraq Body Count website, there have been 186 thousand deaths due to violence in the war.
"The Gates Foundation: Helping NGOs at the Front Line." Theguardian.com. Guardian News and Media, 07 Oct. 2013. Web. 26 May 2014.
Humanitarian intervention is definitely one of the most controversial subjects of the recent decades- among states, international organizations, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and academia. The centre of the debate is the clash of traditional principles of state sovereignty and new adopted norms on use of force for humanitarian purposes. Despite the political controversies between the countries, humanitarian intervention is now an international norm which calls for action anytime there are serious mass life threatening occurrences in any country.
Barnett, Michael, and Thomas G. Weiss. Humanitarianism in Question: Politics, Power, Ethics. Ithaca, New York: Cornell University Press, 2008.
76-122). Fixdal, M., & Smith, D. (1998) Humanitarian intervention and war Mershon International Studies Review, 42, 283-312. Fussell, (1989) Wartime, chapter 18 (pp. 267-298. Gartner, Scott.
There is no static or perfect definition that can encapsulate all that may fall under the theme of humanitarian intervention. Philosophically speaking, humanitarian intervention is the idea that individuals have the duty to prevent human rights violations from occurring. Furthermore, the legal basis of humanitarian intervention is derived from the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the Convention on the Prevention of Genocide and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (Lecture 11/15/16). As decided by the UN in 1948, all nations have a responsibility to protect, or to prevent crimes against humanity, and while it was an important milestone for the recognition of human rights, not all those experiencing the crimes of genocide
The non-charitable organisations objective embedded within its mission statement is to work with all its partners towards the attainment of the sustainable human development goals adopted by the world community and the realisation of the vision of peace and social progress enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations. UNICEF was created with the purpose of working with others to overcome the obstacles that poverty, violence, disease and discrimination place in a child’s path, thus advancing the cause of humanity.
The complex issue of humanitarian intervention is widely argued and inherently controversial. Humanitarian intervention involves the coercive action of states intervening in areas for the sole purpose of preventing or halting the killing or suffering of the people there. (1, 9, 5) It is an issue argued fervently amongst restrictionists and counter-restrictionists, who debate over whether humanitarian intervention is a breach of international law or a moral requirement. (10) Restrictionists argue that Articles 2 (7) and 2 (4) of the United Nations (UN) Charter render forcible humanitarian intervention illegal. The only legitimate exception to this, they claim, is the right to self defence, as enshrined in Article 51 of the UN Charter. (1-472) This position is contested by counter-restrictionists, who insist that any and all nations have the right, and the responsibility, to prevent humanitarian disasters. (8-5) Despite the declaration of a ‘new world order’, the post-Cold war world has not been a more peaceful one: regional and ethnic conflicts have, in fact, proliferated. Between 1989 and 1993, for example, thirteen new peacekeeping operations were launched by th...
When considering the concepts of human rights and state sovereignty, the potential for conflict between the two is evident. Any humanitarian intervention by other actors within the international system would effectively constitute a violation of the traditional sovereign rights of states to govern their own domestic affairs. Thus, the answer to this question lies in an examination of the legitimacy and morality of humanitarian intervention. While traditionally, the Westphalian concept of sovereignty and non-intervention has prevailed, in the period since the Cold War, the view of human rights as principles universally entitled to humanity, and the norm of enforcing them, has developed. This has led to the 1990’s being described as a ‘golden
Humanitarian intervention challenges traditional notions of international order, however when circumstances in a state threatens human rights norms or international peace and security intervention may be necessary to maintain order. The legality of intervention has increased as global bodies have created greater legal capability to impede on a state’s sovereignty when severe human rights abuses are occurring. The global impact of these atrocities is unavoidable, thereby requiring a level of international involvement. However, intervention can be used
Introduction Whenever a disaster occurs, the international community, such as states and international organizations, has always responded by sending various forms of humanitarian aid. Emergency assistance has been provided not only in the form of food, clothing and medicine, but also in the form of manpower; experts and project coordinators from many international humanitarian organizations hoped to be able to help people in an affected area. However, every humanitarian aid endeavor that has been dispersed has not always been successful. According to the World Bank (2008), this failed international humanitarian response can be identified in the large amount of aid that has been given out by the international community that was not in accordance