Humanitarianism began because of Henry Dundant, and has four main principles: Humanity, to alleviate human suffering wherever it may be found; Neutrality, to not take sides in a conflict; and not help one side win over the other; Impartiality, aid should be based on needs alone, regardless of race, class, gender and sex; whoever needs it more gets it ; and Independence, from benefactors and institutional donors. Three additional principles of Voluntary Service, Unity and Universality were added later.
A video we watched in class yesterday, found at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jwqRo4Xkix8, detailed International Humanitarian Law, and the Geneva Conventions. I hadn’t previously realized the full extent of the Geneva Conventions and their current shortcomings until this video. While the Geneva Conventions state that in war civilians, wounded, sick, and detainees/captured combatants must be spared and may not be targeted at all costs, detainees and captured combatants must be allowed to maintain contact with their families and bans any violence including torture against them, and that breaking the Geneva Conventions you can be prosecuted by any country, or by the International Criminal Court. Something was brought to the viewers attention that was potentially a circumvention of the Geneva Conventions, and that was rebels and private hire guns and how they present a problem regarding adherence to the rules of war panned out by the Geneva Conventions. What I found most interesting about this video is that it points out two very good points: there has been a polarization post-9/11 in war and humanitarian efforts towards anti-terrorism goals and combats which have helped to destabilize entire regions, and that traditionally war has been two sided between countries; now it is a group of people or an organization against a country or another group of people.
We also covered complex emergencies in class. A complex emergency is a multifaceted humanitarian crisis in a country, region, or society where there is a total or considerable breakdown of authority resulting from internal or external conflict and which requires a multi-sectoral, international response that goes beyond the mandate or capacity of any single agency. 
By this definition the tsunami that affected Indonesia and India, among many other countries, could be considered a complex emergency due to India's near non-existent national government and the horrible after effects of the tsunami.
Given the definition of a complex emergency, a country is considered stable when most of the people within the country have enough food and medical care, most kids are taken care of, most people live in homes, and most are not afraid of being shot. That being said, Afghanistan has not been a stable country for at least twenty, if not thirty years, so if a natural disaster, man-conceived disaster, or a complex emergency were to occur in that country, how much humanitarian aid would be necessary? And how much humanitarian aid is too much aid? Where is the cut off? And how do we regulate the humanitarian aid we give to ensure that it is used for the intended purposes for which the aid is sent? 
Jen, I feel that all of the things you included in your blog post really did a good job of reinforcing all of the new material we learned in class this week. I specifically was interested your writings on the Geneva Convention and what their services included. A also wanted to add that humanitarian relief in the past was used on two or more countries at war with one another in the form of nonprofit organizations such as the Red Cross. In the present times with the war on terror, it is a lot harder for these humanitarian agencies to do their jobs correctly when there are not two major powers fighting against each other. This new breed of terrorist is making it a lot harder for the humanitarian system because there are not a lot of casualties on both sides; instead there are random bombings and other events that kill a few hundred people at most at a time. Because of these strategies there is not enough of a major need for these humanitarian efforts because the casualties are not that great.
ReplyDeleteThe next thing I would like to discuss that you brought up in your blog is that of a complex emergency. This is when all of the people in the country are well taken care of nutritionally and also feel safe out in the streets with no protection. I feel that the questions you brought up about humanitarian aid in the Middle East were very good such as how much aid will they need and when is it at the point when it is too much aid. Overall, I would have to say your blog was very good Jen. The only thing that kind of bothered me was all of the pink on your page, which made it difficult to focus on the reading, but we already discussed that in person. Great job keep up the good work!
Jenny. I do have to agree with you about how Afghanistan is a very unstable and if there were to be a natural disaster or man-made disaster of any kind it would probably require large amounts of aid. This would be a complex emergency. This country is known to be very unstable because of the large presence of Al-Qaeda and Taliban, so with that said I do not believe there would be many groups willing to put themselves in a hostile environment. I do believe that there should be a humanitarian effort to help individuals that could fall victim to a large terrorist attack by the Al-Qaeda or Taliban or even a natural disaster of maybe a earthquake or drought or even famine. I believe a combination of the four types of humanitarian groups would be needed to help with a country like Afghanistan. There might have to be a call from the UN for military forces to step in for security purposes for the people working as humanitarian aids under the Geneva Conventions.
ReplyDeleteAnother problem that we might run into which I think you were asking about is, when does the humanitarian effort stop for a country or city? When and where do we cut off the aid? And how do we regulate the humanitarian aid we give to ensure that it is used for the intended purposes for which the aid is sent?
To answer those questions above: I believe that the humanitarian effort is a longer process than most people believe. You have the initial response of administering food, water, medical care, and potentially saving lives. Then you have the caring for those people who might be put in a survivor camp where diseases may spread rapidly. These diseases may have been affecting a person before the disaster but is now spreading due to these survivor camps. Or the disease is found after an individual receives medical attention that he or she may not receive in their own country. Then you have the humanitarian aid part at the end of it all, possibly helping the country rebuild their buildings and homes.
The second question, when and where do we cut off the aid? The recent uprisings in Lybia and Egypt have caught international attention as these events have been unfolding. These countries have been receiving aid from the United States and possibly other countries. However, the former leader of Egypt, Mubarak and the still somehow in power Qaddafi of Lybia were receiving millions and most likely billions of dollars from the United States and did not help their people at all. I believe these countries should have been stripped of their aid from the United States years and years ago since the U.S. does not support dictators suppressing their people. As for when to stop aid I believe it is a much more complex issue than a time line.
I really like your blog post. The most interesting part of it that I found was when you were speaking about the Geneva Convention. I found this most interesting because my primary focus with my career aspirations is military, law enforcement and anti-terrorism. So this really sparked my interest. As for the rules of the Geneva Convention that you mentioned, these rules are great, unfortunately they are rarely followed especially during the present war that we are in with Iraq and Afghanistan. One of the newer tactics that the insurgents are now using is that they do not use hollow point rounds (or bullets). This is good because hollow points do less damage to a person when it makes contact with the body, but it is also what they are using against us. See, what they do is they will use a 556 round that is known to penetrate the person and go right through him or her, therefore knocking them down and taking them out of the fight. This is good because a lot of the time it will just wound them instead of kill them depending of course on where you get hit. But what they insurants are doing is when other soldiers come to attend to the wounded, they are aiming for the medical personnel and wounding them as well so it is almost like they are killing two birds with one stone (no pun intended). Today, the Taliban is known to not follow to rules of war in any way shape or form. So, I believe that the UN and other countries need to step in and do something about it because although wars in not suppose to be pretty, it should be fair and humane. All in all, I learned a great deal from your post and found it to be very interesting. Thank you.
ReplyDeleteI can agree there are certainly some interesting flaws in the Geneva Convention, so many flaws, in fact, that I'm not entirely certain that it serves much of a purpose now a days. For example, one of the most poignant arguments against the system was made by another soldier during a pre-deployment class that was required to be taught to all Army personnel - he asked, "If many of the nations and organizations we are fighting haven't signed the Convention and don't follow it, why should we bother?". While I certainly don't favor cruelty, maiming, or terror campaigns, I must admit I find it difficult to waste time, resources, and run serious legal risks just to "be the bigger man".
ReplyDeleteThe concept of a complex emergency is certainly and interesting and logical idea, one I'm surprised I hadn't actually heard of it prior to this class. The world is increasingly interconnected with international alliances and a global economy and disasters have a wider impact than before and require a wider scope to solve and prevent.