A Bed For The Night : Humanitarianism

Leaving the comforts of the first world, Jessica Alexander abandons her job, fiancé, family, and home to venture into the misleading volunteer work of Humanitarian aid. Chasing Chaos: My Decade In and Out of Humanitarian Aid by Jessica Alexander is a conglomeration of stories that are written from Jessica’s memory. “It is a true account based on [Jessica’s] best recollections of the events and [her] experiences.”.

The Big Truck That Went By: How the World Came to Save Haiti and Left Behind a Disaster is an inside look into the realities behind international aid and intervention. The book answers the question of whether or not international efforts in Haiti really benefited the nation in the long term. The book argues that the international community failed in their efforts to rebuild Haiti due to their mismatched military approaches, failed monetary pledges and how the how billions of dollars were ineffective, having served only short term needs instead of, rebuilding solid foundations and institutions that would serve as the first step toward sustainable development.

Samantha Nutt, a medical doctor and co-founder of War Child, narrates her sixteen years of experience traveling in conflict zones struggling to help the most vulnerable targets, women and children. Her book “Damned Nations: Greed, Guns, Armies and Aid” strings that bind Western nations to war torn countries and simultaneously critiques the serve of militarism and misguided aid efforts, which she believes to exacerbate their mission in bringing relief from poverty and conflict. The author analyzes from her multiple trips to war zone nations of Congo, Iraq, Somalia and Afghanistan.

Humanitarian Intervention is military intervention that is carried out in pursuit of humanitarian rather than strategic objectives. This term is controversial and therefore often debated, as it is an evaluative and subjective term. The common use of the term itself is the desire to come in help to other people, however according to some other opinions, it is the outcome of the intervention that defines it. Firstly, it is essential to define what is meant by the word abandoned in this context. As HI has been happening throughout history, abandoned would imply an on-going lack or diminishing numbers of interventions.

This paper considers two issues: firstly, human rights in the developing world and secondly Canada’s responsibility of humanitarian assistance. Both issues are of grave importance and are mutually exclusive - as nations lacking strong human rights standards are more likely to require the greatest humanitarian assistance. Additionally, the need for humanitarian assistance will increase as global crises become more frequent, due to climate change insecurity (Adger, Huq, Brown, Conway & Hulme, 2003). The example of climate change will be utilised throughout this paper to explore the disparaging links between climate justice and human rights. In defining humanitarian assistance this paper will take Jamieson’s (2004) definition that humanitarian assistance is a response to crises via support in the short term to overcome disasters such as earthquakes and tsunamis. Whereas, development assistance considers the longer term issues in developing countries. By defining the two main types of assistance this paper will propose that greater investment into development aid may reduce the need for humanitarian aid as nations become more capable to support themselves. The body of this paper will consider key arguments concerning humanitarian assistance and human rights, including: Canadas humanitarian response in the developing world, the increasing need for global crisis response, human rights as a global responsibility and lastly the move from humanitarian to development assistance. In

One of the major crisis in the world is the conflict occurring in Syria, which has resulted in the displacement of millions of refugees throughout Europe. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), an agency that “ensures refugees have access to both protection and durable solutions” is encouraging, persuading, and “helping host countries to meet their international obligations. Although states across Europe like Germany, Netherlands, and France have responded to this crisis in various of ways, this paper will solely focus on Canada and its response to this issue. This essay will argue that Canada has had an affirmative humanitarian response, which is shaped by Canada’s identify. Canada is identified throughout the world as

To understand the impact of humanitarian crises and how international politics play a role, a common definition of such crises must be understood. In his book “Humanitarian Crises and the International

For an organization whose motto is “speed saves lives,” it makes sense that there are a vast array of costs that come with the unique efficiency of MSF. After reading the section of Peter Redfield’s Life in Crisis entitled “Vital Mobility”, I was amazed by what MSF has been able to accomplish. All semester long I have learned of the intricacies of humanitarianism, how nothing is as simple as it seems. Often, I wonder why can’t it be simpler? Why do we let politics get in the way of good? Is there not a more effective way of helping distant strangers? Redfield’s focus on the mobility and efficiency of MSF seems to counteract how the rest of the humanitarian world works. No other organization can “[boast] of its ability to mobilize emergency aid to almost any part of the planet within forty-eight hours” (71). In no other way is foreign aid made to look so simple. MSF’s focus on efficiency, their

The “Responsibility to Protect” (R2P) is a concept that has its roots in the philosophy of “Human Security”. Human Security can be defined as focusing on the individual human being as the referent object of security as distinct from the nation-state. R2P and Human Security have gathered impetus in the international community both in academic and policy spheres with a view to these concepts being justifiers for humanitarian intervention.

An Imperfect Offering is a powerful personal memoir from a James Orbinski, a Canadian who has spent most of his adult life in front-line humanitarian work in the world's worst conflict zones. Despite its dark chapters, it is also a hopeful story about the emergence of Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) as a new and independent agent of civil society, and the possibilities of making the world a better place. In “An Imperfect Offering”, James Orbinski tells the story of people who have been harmed by war, and humanitarian workers who have come to heal them when possible. He engages in deep reflection on the nature of humanitarian response and the many threats to this most human activity. He has sharp criticism for governments who act to cause

The debate of humanitarian intervention and the responsibility to protect have been discussed in international relations discourse more seriously within the last 60 years. The major historical developments which have led to an increase in the intensity of these debates have had beneficial and detrimental effects on Earth within the last 20 years. Several factors have contributed to this including; globalization, the rise in international accountability, an increase humanitarian consciousness to prevent major atrocities from occurring, the expansion of territorial to global responsibility of the western world, and the realization of the western world that regional sovereignty no longer accounts for national security. To develop an opinion

The article “The New Humanitarian Order” by Mahmood Mamdani, published in The Nation, dated September 10, 2008 based on the theory of international humanitarian order which titles responsibility for the protection of certain population around the globe which is often regarded as vulnerable populations. Furthermore, author Mamdani argues that the new order of humanitarian is politicized and to some extend corrupted by powerful countries of world. In addition, he also argues that because of politicization of the new order, sovereignty only remains in the affluent parts of the world but it is suspended in countries in Africa and Middle East, thereby making many countries in Africa as failed states (Mamdani, 2008). Mamdani also argues that western countries, with the use of humanitarian interventions is gaining illegitimate

The key objections to humanitarian intervention include the conflict of interests with the self-interested state and sovereignty, the difficulty of internal legitimacy, the problematical Responsibility to Protect (R2P) doctrine, and the debate over legality of intervention. The issue of morality stands as an overarching issue which touches on all of these. Overall, one finds that despite a moral imperative to intervene, humanitarian intervention should not occur but is perhaps the lesser of a series of evils.

Although volunteers for Medecins Sans Frontiers are commonly stationed in various countries with a dire healthcare worker shortage, regions with refugee camps and internally displaced persons are also a focus for this organization. Refugees and internally displaced persons often come from war torn regions and live in close confines with poor sanitation and limited resources. These living situations become a breeding ground for diseases and other health issues like malnutrition, yet the individuals lack access to any sort of healthcare. The organization also responds quickly when regions suddenly experience an increased need for healthcare, for example in times of an epidemic or a natural disaster. Medecins Sans Frontiers’ involvement across its varying regions and their attempt to address a broad spectrum of healthcare truly show how altruistic the organization is to individuals regardless of race, gender, or religion.

Much recent discourse surrounding humanitarian intervention has focused on the responsibility to protect (R2P). Prevention is a key component for good international relations and few would say it is not important, but as evidence to date would show prevention is very ineffective, the legality of military intervention still needs to be debated, as to date there is no consensus. For any intervention to be legitimate, whether unilateral or multilateral, it must comply with international law. So as not to cause any confusion, any situation in which an “intervention” is done with the permission or by request of the state being intervened, should be considered humanitarian assistance as state sovereignty is not breached. This paper will