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Book Details
Abstract
Humanitarian action has become a subject for serious debate in light of recent conflicts across the globe. The debacle in Somalia, the policy of intervention in Bosnia, and domestic conflicts in the West over intervention in Kosovo have given rise to many complex questions surrounding humanitarian action. The contributors to this volume provide a systematic overview of the issues involved from a wide range of viewpoints.
The book examines the central problems of humanitarian action: the judicial question and the right to humanitarian assistance; the ethical framework of humanitarian action; the challenge of coordination of all the actors involved in humanitarian action; the recipients in the aid chain; the link between aid, development and emergency action; the role of the media; and a practical evaluation of Operation Lifeline Sudan.
'A very comprehensive introduction that gives an overview of issues surrounding the use of humanitarian action. It provides an insight into some of the most prominent issues and literature in the field'
Global Review of Ethnopolitics
Table of Contents
| Section Title | Page | Action | Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| Contents | iii | ||
| List of Abbreviations and Acronyms | vi | ||
| About the Transnational Institute | viii | ||
| Introduction | 1 | ||
| HUMANITARIAN DEBATES IN THE INTERNATIONAL SYSTEM | 3 | ||
| THE RIGHT TO HUMANITARIAN AID | 6 | ||
| THE ETHICAL DIMENSION:THE LIMITS OF UNIVERSALITY | 9 | ||
| TENSIONS AND DOMINATION:JOURNALISM AND THE STATE | 10 | ||
| COORDINATING THE ACTORS:LEARNING FROM EXPERIENCE | 11 | ||
| HUMANITARIAN PARTNERS OR UNTRUSTWORTHY COMBATANTS? | 14 | ||
| SIMILARITIES AND CONTRADICTIONS OF HUMANITARIAN ACTION AND DEVELOPMENT | 15 | ||
| NOTE | 22 | ||
| 1. Humanitarian Principles in International Politics in the 1990s | 23 | ||
| THE CHANGED ROLE OF HUMANITARIAN ISSUES SINCE 1989 | 24 | ||
| FACTORS CONTRIBUTING TO THE CENTRALITY OF HUMANITARIAN ISSUES | 27 | ||
| SIX UNITED NATIONS-RELATED DEVELOPMENTS | 30 | ||
| CONCLUSIONS FROM EXPERIENCES OF THE 1990s | 40 | ||
| POSTSCRIPT ON THE KOSOVO CRISIS 1999 | 47 | ||
| 2. The Right to Humanitarian Aid: Basis and Limitations | 55 | ||
| THE LEGAL BASIS FOR THE RIGHT TO HUMANITARIAN AID | 58 | ||
| THE GENEVA CONVENTIONS OF 1949 AND THE ADDITIONAL PROTOCOLS OF 1977 | 58 | ||
| COMMON PRACTICE | 62 | ||
| THE PRACTICE OF STATES | 62 | ||
| THE SPIRITUAL ELEMENT | 66 | ||
| GENERAL PRINCIPLES OF LAW | 68 | ||
| THE LAW: HUMAN RIGHTS PROTECTIONS | 70 | ||
| THE RIGHT TO LIFE | 70 | ||
| THE RIGHT TO FOOD | 71 | ||
| THE RIGHT TO BASIC HEALTHCARE | 72 | ||
| THE RIGHT TO PHYSICAL WELL-BEING | 73 | ||
| CONCLUSION | 73 | ||
| NOTES | 74 | ||
| 3. The Ethical Framework of Humanitarian Action | 78 | ||
| SPECIFIC PRINCIPLES OF HUMANITARIAN ACTION | 82 | ||
| CULTURAL RESPECT AND THE PARTICIPATION OF THOSE AFFECTED | 84 | ||
| PRACTICAL WISDOM IN HUMANITARIAN ACTION | 89 | ||
| NOTES | 97 | ||
| 4. The Complex Nature of Actors in Humanitarian Action and the Challenge of Coordination | 99 | ||
| AN INCREASINGLY COMPLICATED SCENARIO | 100 | ||
| THE ARMED FORCES AND HUMANITARIAN ACTION | 102 | ||
| THE CHALLENGES OF COORDINATION | 103 | ||
| THE COORDINATING ROLE OF THE UNITED NATIONS: SOME REFLECTIONS | 104 | ||
| COORDINATION WITHIN THE EUROPEAN UNION | 106 | ||
| THE POSITIONS OF THE OECD ’S AID DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE | 109 | ||
| NGO COORDINATION FOCUSES | 111 | ||
| COORDINATION WITHIN THE INTERNATIONAL MOVEMENT OF THE RED CROSS AND THE RED CRESCENT: THE SEVILLE AGREEMENT | 113 | ||
| CONCLUSIONS | 115 | ||
| NOTES | 116 | ||
| 5. Subalterns on the Aid Chain | 120 | ||
| COMPETING PERSPECTIVES | 121 | ||
| ALONG THE CHAIN OF AID | 124 | ||
| PROSPECTS AND POINTERS | 135 | ||
| NOTES | 137 | ||
| 6. Relief, Development and Humanitarian Intervention | 142 | ||
| SETTING THE SCENE:RELIEF,DEVELOPMENT AND THE RISE OF HUMANITARIANISM | 142 | ||
| THE COLD WAR ENVIRONMENT | 142 | ||
| THE POST-COLD WAR ENVIRONMENT | 143 | ||
| HUMANITARIANISM IN PRACTICE: THE REALITY BEYOND THE RHETORIC | 147 | ||
| RELIEF AND HUMANITARIAN INTERVENTION | 147 | ||
| DEVELOPMENT AND HUMANITARIAN INTERVENTION | 150 | ||
| NON-MILITARY HUMANITARIANISM IN PRACTICE | 152 | ||
| CONCLUSION | 154 | ||
| NOTES | 155 | ||
| 7. The Media and the Humanitarian Spectacle | 157 | ||
| HUMANITARIAN CRISES AND LOCAL MEDIA | 158 | ||
| THE HUMANITARIAN CRISIS IN THE WORLD’S MOST POWERFUL COUNTRIES | 159 | ||
| PARTIAL HUMANITARIANISM ACCORDING TO THE INTERESTS OF INDIVIDUAL STATES | 165 | ||
| THE DICTATORSHIP OF LIVE BROADCASTS | 167 | ||
| RECOMMENDATIONS | 169 | ||
| NOTES | 174 | ||
| 8. Chronicle of Ajiep, Bahr el Ghazal, Sudan, 1998 | 177 | ||
| INTRODUCTION | 177 | ||
| UNJUSTIFIED MORTALITY LEVELS | 179 | ||
| OPERATION LIFELINE SUDAN | 179 | ||
| THE EXAMPLE OF AJIEP, A VILLAGE IN BAHREL GHAZAL | 182 | ||
| THE FAILURE OF THE OLS SYSTEM | 188 | ||
| NOTES | 191 | ||
| List of Contributors | 193 | ||
| Index | 194 | ||
| Acumcum 183 | 183 | ||
| Afghanistan 64 | 64 | ||
| Africa 144 | 144 | ||
| Africa Watch 153 | 153 | ||
| aid chains | 123 | ||
| bottom-up approach 123 | 123 | ||
| calls for reform 135-7 | 135 | ||
| top down process 120-1 | 120 | ||
| aid workers | 128 | ||
| held to ransom 128 | 128 | ||
| protection for 31-2 | 31 | ||
| protection for 39 | 39 | ||
| protection for 44-5 | 44 | ||
| protection for 64 | 64 | ||
| protection for 73 | 73 | ||
| Ajiep | 14 |