Reflection On Humanitarianism

During my learning interactions, I noticed the theory behind humanitarian, humanitarianism, humanitarian action, history of humanitarianism, humanitarian ethics and the moral values underlying humanitarian principles. As I came across different reading, the act of helping others underlies a long tradition of charitable giving and national solidarity in different societies, as the social values that directly speak to the core principle of humanity. For me, the most significant aspect was how humanitarianism is as old as history. I do associate humanitarianism with compassion and I do believe religious, spiritual, and logical commitments inspired acts of compassion. Barnett (2011) has suggested the three ‘ages of humanitarianism’ in his book

The expansion of European power, coupled with the arrival of Christian missionaries, has been linked with the spread of Western thoughts, and within such distinctive political environment, humanitarianism have interacted with Western derived concepts to inform the development of modern humanitarian action. Indeed, looking into the term “humanitarian”, it came into wide and frequent circulation lately in the last decades of the 20th century (Davies, 2012: 1).

At the same time, however, the commonality of humanitarian values and norms should not be underplayed as humanitarian actions are imposed by moral values underlying humanitarian principles. In its broadest and most fundamental form, the essence of humanitarianism can be distilled as the imperative to ‘save lives at risk’ (Barnett and Weiss, 2008: 11) and alleviates the suffering of others.

As Barnett (2011) in his book explores the differences, similarities, and tensions between faith-based and secular organizations, competition for resources become a crucial problem determining the survival or deaths of NGOs after 1990 and this ‘age’ was believed to avoid ‘human rights’ (Barnett,

Most importantly we witnessed there is no easy military solution to the crisis and the options being considered always risk thousands of live and there is no humanitarian space to provide aid and protections to vulnerable groups. It seems military intervention using humanitarian justification is the best example of the new humanitarianism. (Fox, F. June 2000).

After these realizations, I found it more helpful for all humanitarian agencies and humanitarian workers to keep momentum and continued commitment to fundamental humanitarian principles, ethics and value. As Humanitarian principles by which aid workers operate keep us impartial and independent.

In general, I have significantly improved my knowledge of humanitarianism and humanitarian principles and ethical foundations, moving forward this knowledge is essential for me as a practitioner because Humanitarianism is not only about providing aid to the needs of people affected by some forms of man-made or natural disaster ; truly it also is about respecting and governed by