Humanitarian principles

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

There are a number of meanings for the term humanitarian. Here humanitarian pertains to the practice of saving lives and alleviating suffering. It is usually related to emergency response (also called humanitarian response) whether in the case of a natural disaster or a man-made disaster such as war or other armed conflict. Humanitarian principles govern the way humanitarian response is carried out. 

Humanitarian principles are a set of principles that governs the way humanitarian response is carried out. The principle is central to establishing and maintaining access to affected populations in natural disasters or complex emergency situations. In disaster management, compliance with the principles are essential elements of humanitarian coordination. The main humanitarian principles have been adopted by the United Nations General Assembly. The four guiding principles are Humanity, Neutrality, Impartiality and Independence.

Defining principles

The core principles are defining characteristics, the necessary conditions for humanitarian response. Organizations such as military forces and for-profit companies may deliver assistance to communities affected by disaster in order to save lives and alleviate suffering, but they are not considered by the humanitarian sector as humanitarian agencies as their response is not based on the core principles.

Core humanitarian principles

Humanity

The principle of humanity means that all humankind shall be treated humanely and equally in all circumstances by saving lives and alleviating suffering, while ensuring respect for the individual. It is the fundamental principle of humanitarian response.

The purpose of humanitarian action is to protect life, health and ensure respect for human beings. It also promotes mutual understanding, cooperation, friendship and peace among all people. According to the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent movement, the principle of humanity includes: • It recalls the origin of the movement: a desire to assist without discrimination to the wounded during conflict. • It recalls the double dimension of the movement: national and international one. • To protect life and health • To define the purpose of the movement 

Humanitarian Imperative

The Code of Conduct for the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement and NGOs in Disaster Relief (RC/NGO Code) introduces the concept of the humanitarian imperative which expands the principle of humanity to include the right to receive and to give humanitarian assistance. It states the obligation of the international community "to provide humanitarian assistance wherever it is needed."

Impartiality

Provision of humanitarian assistance must be impartial and no discrimination on the basis of nationality, race, gender, religion, political opinion or class. It must be based on need alone. Priority most be given to the most urgent cases of distress.

To treat everyone the same way without consideration for the level of suffering or the urgency would not be equitable. Impartiality means that the only priority that can set in dealing with people that need help must be based on need and the order of relief must correspond to the urgency.

For most non-governmental humanitarian agencies (NGHAs), the principle of impartiality is unambiguous even if it is sometimes difficult to apply, especially in rapidly changing situations. However, it is no longer clear which organizations can claim to be humanitarian. For example, companies like PADCO, a USAID subcontractor, is sometimes seen as a humanitarian NGO. However, for the UN agencies, particularly where the UN is involved in peace keeping activities as the result of a Security Council resolution, it is not clear if the UN is in position to act in an impartial manner if one of the parties is in violation of terms of the UN Charter.

Neutrality

For International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, neutrality means not to take sides in hostilities or engage at any time in controversies of a political, racial, religious or ideological nature.

The principle of neutrality was specifically addressed to the Red Cross Movement to prevent it from not only taking sides in a conflict, but not to "engage at any time in controversies of a political, racial, religious or ideological nature." Neutrality can also apply to humanitarian actions of a state. "Neutrality remains closely linked with the definition which introduced the concept into international law to designate the status of a State which decided to stand apart from an armed conflict. Consequently, its applications under positive law still depend on the criteria of abstention and impartiality which have characterized neutrality from the outset."

The application of the word neutrality to humanitarian aid delivered by UN agencies or even governments can be confusing. GA Resolution 46/182 proclaims the principle of neutrality, yet as an inter-governmental political organization, the UN is often engaged in controversies of a political nature. According to this interpretation, the UN agency or a government can provide neutral humanitarian aid as long as it does it impartially, based upon need alone.

Today, the word neutrality is widely used within the humanitarian community, usually to mean the provision of humanitarian aid in an impartial and independent manner, based on need alone. Few international NGOs have curtailed work on justice or human rights issues because of their commitment to neutrality.

Independence

Humanitarian agencies must formulate and implement their own policies independently of government policies or actions. Humanitarian agencies, although there are auxiliaries in the humanitarian services and subject to the laws of their countries, must maintain their autonomy from political, economic, military or any other others and to be able at all times to act in accordance with the humanitarian principles.

Problems may arise because most NGHAs rely in varying degrees on government donors. Thus for some organizations it is difficult to maintain independence from their donors and not be confused in the field with governments who may be involved in the hostilities. The ICRC, has set the example for maintaining its independence (and neutrality) by raising its funds from governments through the use of separate annual appeals for headquarters costs and field operations.

Additional humanitarian principles

In addition to the core principles, there are other principles that govern humanitarian response for specific types of humanitarian agencies such as UN agencies, the Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, and NGOs.

Proselytism

The provision of aid must not exploit the vulnerability of victims and be used to further political or religious creeds. All of the major non-governmental humanitarian agencies (NGHAs) by signing up to the RC/NGO Code of Conduct have committed themselves not to use humanitarian response to further political or religious creeds.

Universality

Equal status and share of responsibilities and duties in helping each other. Solidarity with regard to decision-making regardless of their size or wealth.

Origin of Humanitarian principles

The humanitarian principles originated from the work of the International Committee of Red Cross and the National Red Cross/Red Crescent Societies. The core principles guided the work of these organizations before it was adopted by the United Nations. In 1991, the first three principles (humanity, neutrality and impartiality) were adopted and endorsed in the General Assembly resolution 46/182. The General Assemble resolution of 1991 also led to the establishment of the role of the Emergency Relief Coordinator (ERC). In 2004, the General Assembly resolution 58/114 added independence as the fourth core principle essential to humanitarian action. The fourth principle was as result of co-opting of humanitarian assistance in highly politicized context to address challenges faced in preserving independence for local partners and in relation to targeting of beneficiaries and the delivery of need based services in affected areas. These principles have been adopted by many international humanitarian organizations working with affected populations in disaster crisis.

The Inter-Agency Standing Committee has the responsibility of upholding humanitarian principles globally. This is the body responsible for bringing together UN agencies, Red Cross Movement and NGOs working in humanitarian action.

Principles based on field experience in emergencies

All of the above principles are important requirements for effective field operations. They are based on widespread field experience of agencies engaged in humanitarian response. In conflict situations, their breach may drastically affect the ability of agencies to respond to the needs of the victims. 

If a warring party believes, for example, that an agency is favoring the other side, or that it is an agent of the enemy, access to the victims may be blocked and the lives of humanitarian workers may be put in danger. If one of the parties perceives that an agency is trying to spread another religious faith, there may be a hostile reaction to their activities.

Sources

The core principles, found in the Red Cross/NGO Code of Conduct and in GA Resolution 46/182 are derived from the Fundamental Principles of the Red Cross, particularly principles I (humanity), II (impartiality), III (neutrality—in the case of the UN), and IV (independence).

Humanitarian accountability

Accountability has been defined as: "the processes through which an organisation makes a commitment to respond to and balance the needs of stakeholders in its decision making processes and activities, and delivers against this commitment." Humanitarian Accountability Partnership International adds: "Accountability is about using power responsibly."

Article 9 of the Code of Conduct for the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement and NGOs in Disaster Relief states: "We hold ourselves accountable to both those we seek to assist and those from whom we accept resources;" and thus identifies the two major stake holders: donors and beneficiaries. However, traditionally humanitarian agencies have tended to practice mainly "upward accountability", i.e. to their donors.

The experience of many humanitarian agencies during the Rwandan Genocide, led to a number of initiatives designed to improve humanitarian assistance and accountability, particularly with respect to the beneficiaries. Examples include the Sphere Project, ALNAP, Compas, the People In Aid Code of Good Practice, and the Humanitarian Accountability Partnership International, which runs a "global quality insurance scheme for humanitarian agencies."

Additional principles

The RC/NGO Code also lists a number of more aspirational principles which are derived from experience with development assistance.

• Agencies should operate with respect to culture and custom
• Humanitarian response should use local resources and capacities as much as possible
• The participation of the beneficiaries should be encouraged
• Emergency response should strive to reduce future vulnerabilities
• Agencies should be accountable to both donors and beneficiaries
• Humanitarian agencies should use information activities to portray victims as dignified human beings, not hopeless objects

The right to life with dignity

The Sphere Project Humanitarian Charter uses the language of human rights to remind that the right to life which is proclaimed in both the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Convention on Civil and Political Rights is related to human dignity.

Vulnerability and behavioral issues

Humanitarian principles are mainly focused on the behavior of organizations. However a humane response implies that humanitarian workers are not to take advantage of the vulnerabilities of those affected by war and violence. Agencies have the responsibility for developing rules of staff conduct which prevent abuse of the beneficiaries.

Sexual exploitation and abuse

One of the most problematic areas is related to the issue of sexual exploitation and abuse of beneficiaries by humanitarian workers. In an emergency where victims have lost everything, women and girls are particularly vulnerable to sexual abuse.

A number of reports which identified the sexual exploitation of refugees in west Africa prodded the humanitarian community to work together in examining the problem and to take measures to prevent abuses. In July 2002, the UN's Interagency Standing Committee (IASC) adopted a plan of action which stated: Sexual exploitation and abuse by humanitarian workers constitute acts of gross misconduct and are therefore grounds for termination of employment. The plan explicitly prohibited the "Exchange of money, employment, goods, or services for sex, including sexual favours or other forms of humiliating, degrading or exploitative behaviour." The major NGHAs as well the UN agencies engaged in humanitarian response committed themselves to setting up internal structures to prevent sexual exploitation and abuse of beneficiaries.

Compliance

Substantial efforts have been made in the humanitarian sector to monitor compliance with humanitarian principles. Such efforts include The People In Aid Code of Good Practice, an internationally recognised management tool that helps humanitarian and development organisations enhance the quality of their human resources management. The NGO, Humanitarian Accountability Partnership International, is also working to make humanitarian organizations more accountable, especially to the beneficiaries.

Structures internal to the Red Cross Movement monitor compliance to the Fundamental Principles of the Red Cross.

The RC/NGO Code is self-enforcing. The SCHR carries out peer reviews among its members which look in part at the issue of compliance with principles set out in the RC/NGO Code

Humanitarian aid

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

A soldier gives a young Pakistani girl a drink of water as they are airlifted from Muzaffarabad to Islamabad.

 

A young Afghan girl clenches her teddy bear that she received at a medical clinic at Camp Clark in Khost Province.

 

Humanitarian aid is material and logistic assistance to people who need help. It is usually short-term help until the long-term help by government and other institutions replaces it. Among the people in need are the homeless, refugees, and victims of natural disasters, wars and famines. Humanitarian aid is material or logistical assistance provided for humanitarian purposes, typically in response to humanitarian relief efforts including natural disasters and man-made disaster. The primary objective of humanitarian aid is to save lives, alleviate suffering, and maintain human dignity. It may therefore be distinguished from development aid, which seeks to address the underlying socioeconomic factors which may have led to a crisis or emergency. There is a debate on linking humanitarian aid and development efforts, which was reinforced by the World Humanitarian Summit in 2016. However, the approach is viewed critically by practitioners.

Humanitarian aid aims to bring short term relief to victims until long term relief can be provided by the government and other institutions. Humanitarian aid considers “a fundamental expression of the universal value of solidarity between people and a moral imperative”. Humanitarian aid can come from either local or international communities. In reaching out to international communities, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) of the United Nations (UN) is responsible for coordination responses to emergencies. It taps to the various members of Inter-Agency Standing Committee, whose members are responsible for providing emergency relief. The four UN entities that have primary roles in delivering humanitarian aid are United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR), the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) and the World Food Programme (WFP).

According to The Overseas Development Institute, a London-based research establishment, whose findings were released in April 2009 in the paper "Providing aid in insecure environments:2009 Update", the most lethal year in the history of humanitarianism was 2008, in which 122 aid workers were murdered and 260 assaulted. The countries deemed least safe were Somalia and Afghanistan. In 2012, Humanitarian Outcomes reported that the countries with the highest incidents were: Afghanistan, South Sudan, Syria, Pakistan and Somalia.

History

Origins

The beginnings of organized international humanitarian aid can be traced to the late 19th century. The most well known origin story of formalized humanitarian aid is that of Henri Dunant, a Swiss business man and social activist, who upon seeing the sheer destruction and inhumane abandonment of wounded soldiers from the Battle of Solferino in June 1859, cancelled his plans and began a relief response. Despite little to no experience as a medical physician, Dunant worked alongside local volunteers to assist the wounded soldiers from all warring parties, including Austrian, Italian and French casualties, in any way he could including the provision of food, water and medical supplies. His graphic account of the immense suffering he witnessed, written in his book “A Memory of Solferino”, became a foundational text to modern humanitarianism.

A Memory of Solferino changed the world in a way that no one, let alone Dunant, could have foreseen nor truly appreciated at the time. To start, Dunant was able to profoundly stir the emotions of his readers by bringing the battle and suffering into their homes, equipping them to understand the current barbaric state of war and treatment of soldiers after they were injured or killed; in of themselves these accounts altered the course of history. Beyond this, in his two-week experience attending to the wounded soldiers of all nationalities, Dunant inadvertently established the vital conceptual pillars of what would later become the International Committee of the Red Cross and International Humanitarian Law: impartiality and neutrality. Dunant took these ideas and came up with two more ingenious concepts that would profoundly alter the practice of war; first Dunant envisioned a creation of permanent volunteer relief societies, much like the ad hoc relief group he coordinated in Solferino, to assist wounded soldiers; next Dunant began an effort to call for the adoption of a treaty which would guarantee the protection of wounded soldiers and any who attempted to come to their aid.

After publishing his foundational text in 1862, progress came quickly for Dunant and his efforts to create a permanent relief society and International Humanitarian Law. The embryonic formation of the International Committee of the Red Cross had begun to take shape in 1863 when the private Geneva Society of Public Welfare created a permanent sub-committee called “The International Committee for Aid to Wounded in Situations of War”; composed of five Geneva citizens, this committee endorsed Dunant’s vision to legally neutralize medical personnel responding to wounded soldiers. The constitutive conference of this committee in October 1863 created the statutory foundation of the International Committee of the Red Cross in their resolutions regarding national societies, caring for the wounded, their symbol, and most importantly the indispensable neutrality of ambulances, hospitals, medical personnel and the wounded themselves. Beyond this, in order to solidify humanitarian practice, the Geneva Society of Public Welfare hosted a convention between August 8 and 22, 1864 at the Geneva Town Hall with 16 diverse States present, including many governments of Europe, the Ottoman Empire, the United States of America (USA), Brazil and Mexico. This diplomatic conference was exceptional, not due to the number or status of its attendees but rather because of its very raison d'être. Unlike many diplomatic conferences before it, this conference’s purpose was not to reach a settlement after a conflict nor to mediate between opposing interests; indeed this conference was to lay down rules for the future of conflict with aims to protect medical services and those wounded in battle.

The first of the renowned Geneva Conventions was signed on August 22, 1864; never before in history has a treaty so greatly impacted how warring parties engage with one another. The basic tenants of the convention outlined the neutrality of medical services, including hospitals, ambulances and related personnel, the requirement to care for and protect the sick and wounded during conflict and something of particular symbolic importance to the International Committee of the Red Cross: the Red Cross emblem. For the first time in contemporary history, it was acknowledged by a representative selection of states that war had limits. The significance only grew with time in the revision and adaptation of the Geneva Convention in 1906, 1929 and 1949; additionally supplementary treaties granted protection to hospital ships, prisoners of war and most importantly to civilians in wartime.

The International Committee of the Red Cross exists to this day as the guardian of International Humanitarian Law and as one of the largest providers of humanitarian aid in the world.

Another such examples occurred in response to the Northern Chinese Famine of 1876–1879, brought about by a drought that began in northern China in 1875 and lead to crop failures in the following years. As many as 10 million people may have died in the famine.

A contemporary print showing the distribution of relief in Bellary, Madras Presidency. From the Illustrated London News (1877)

 

British missionary Timothy Richard first called international attention to the famine in Shandong in the summer of 1876 and appealed to the foreign community in Shanghai for money to help the victims. The Shandong Famine Relief Committee was soon established with the participation of diplomats, businessmen, and Protestant and Roman Catholic missionaries. To combat the famine, an international network was set up to solicit donations. These efforts brought in 204,000 silver taels, the equivalent of $7–10 million in 2012 silver prices.

A simultaneous campaign was launched in response to the Great Famine of 1876–78 in India. Although the authorities have been criticized for their laissez-faire attitude during the famine, relief measures were introduced towards the end. A Famine Relief Fund was set up in the United Kingdom and had raised £426,000 within the first few months.

1980s

RAF C-130 airdropping food during 1985 famine

 

Early attempts were in private hands, and were limited in their financial and organizational capabilities. It was only in the 1980s, that global news coverage and celebrity endorsement were mobilized to galvanize large-scale government-led famine (and other forms of) relief in response to disasters around the world. The 1983–85 famine in Ethiopia caused upwards of 1 million deaths and was documented by a BBC news crew, with Michael Buerk describing "a biblical famine in the 20th Century" and "the closest thing to hell on Earth".

Live Aid, a 1985 fund-raising effort headed by Bob Geldof induced millions of people in the West to donate money and to urge their governments to participate in the relief effort in Ethiopia. Some of the proceeds also went to the famine hit areas of Eritrea.

2010s

The first global summit on humanitarian aid was held on May 23 and 24, 2016 in Istanbul, Turkey. An initiative of United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, the World Humanitarian Summit included participants from governments, civil society organizations, private organizations, and groups affected by humanitarian need. Issues that were discussed included: preventing and ending conflict, managing crises, and aid financing.

Funding

Aid is funded by donations from individuals, corporations, governments and other organizations. The funding and delivery of humanitarian aid is increasingly international, making it much faster, more responsive, and more effective in coping to major emergencies affecting large numbers of people (e.g. see Central Emergency Response Fund). The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) coordinates the international humanitarian response to a crisis or emergency pursuant to Resolution 46/182 of the United Nations General Assembly. The need for aid is ever-increasing and has long outstripped the financial resources available.

Delivery of humanitarian aid

Truck for delivery of aid from Western to Eastern Europe

 

Humanitarian aid spans a wide range of activities, including providing food aid, shelter, education, healthcare or protection. The majority of aid is provided in the form of in-kind goods or assistance, with cash and vouchers constituting only 6% of total humanitarian spending. However, evidence has shown how cash transfers can be better for recipients as it gives them choice and control, they can be more cost-efficient and better for local markets and economies.

It is important to note that humanitarian aid is not only delivered through aid workers sent by bilateral, multilateral or intergovernmental organizations, such as the United Nations. Actors like the affected people themselves, civil society, local informal first-responders, civil society, the diaspora, businesses, local governments, military, local and international non-governmental organizations all play a crucial role in a timely delivery of humanitarian aid.

Humanitarian aid and conflict

In addition to post-conflict settings, a huge portion of aid is being directed at countries currently undergoing conflicts. However, the effectiveness of humanitarian aid, particularly food aid, in conflict-prone regions has been criticized in recent years. There have been accounts of humanitarian aid being not only inefficacious, but actually fueling conflicts in the recipient countries. Aid stealing is one of the prime ways in which conflict is promoted by humanitarian aid. Aid can be seized by armed groups, and even if it does reach the intended recipients, "it is difficult to exclude local members of local militia group from being direct recipients if they are also malnourished and qualify to receive aid." Furthermore, analyzing the relationship between conflict and food aid, a recent research shows that the United States' food aid promoted civil conflict in recipient countries on average. An increase in United States' wheat aid increased the duration of armed civil conflicts in recipient countries, and ethnic polarization heightened this effect. However, since academic research on aid and conflict focuses on the role of aid in post-conflict settings, the aforementioned finding is difficult to contextualize. Nevertheless, research on Iraq shows that "small-scale [projects], local aid spending . . . reduces conflict by creating incentives for average citizens to support the government in subtle ways." Similarly, another study also shows that aid flows can "reduce conflict because increasing aid revenues can relax government budget constraints, which can [in return] increase military spending and deter opposing groups from engaging in conflict." Thus, the impact of humanitarian aid on conflict may vary depending upon the type and mode in which aid is received, and, inter alia, the local socio-economic, cultural, historical, geographical and political conditions in the recipient countries.

Aid workers

UNICEF humanitarian aid, ready for deploying. This can be food like Plumpy'nuts or water purification tablets.

 

Wanda Błeńska, Polish leprosy expert and missionary who successfully developed the Buluba Hospital in Uganda

 

Aid workers are the people distributed internationally to do humanitarian aid work. They often require humanitarian degrees.

Composition

Bangladeshi citizens offload food rations from a US Marine CH-46E helicopter of 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit after Tropical Cyclone Sidr in 2007

 

The total number of humanitarian aid workers around the world has been calculated by ALNAP, a network of agencies working in the Humanitarian System, as 210,800 in 2008. This is made up of roughly 50% from NGOs, 25% from the Red Cross/ Red Crescent Movement and 25% from the UN system.

The humanitarian fieldworker population has increased by approximately 6% per year over the past 10 years.

Psychological Issues

Aid workers are exposed to tough conditions and have to be flexible, resilient, and responsible in an environment that humans are not psychologically supposed to deal with, in such severe conditions that trauma is common. In recent years, a number of concerns have been raised about the mental health of aid workers.

The most prevalent issue faced by humanitarian aid workers is PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder). Adjustment to normal life again can be a problem, with feelings such as guilt being caused by the simple knowledge that international aid workers can leave a crisis zone, whilst nationals cannot. 

A 2015 survey conducted by The Guardian, with aid workers of the Global Development Professionals Network, revealed that 79 percent experienced mental health issues.

Standards

During the past decade the humanitarian community has initiated a number of interagency initiatives to improve accountability, quality and performance in humanitarian action. Five of the most widely known initiatives are the Active Learning Network for Accountability and Performance in Humanitarian Action (ALNAP), Humanitarian Accountability Partnership (HAP), People In Aid, the Sphere Project and the Core Humanitarian Standard on Quality and Accountability (CHS). Representatives of these initiatives began meeting together on a regular basis in 2003 in order to share common issues and harmonise activities where possible. 

People In Aid

The People In Aid Code of Good Practice is an internationally recognised management tool that helps humanitarian aid and development agencies enhance the quality of their human resources management. As a management framework, it is also a part of agencies’ efforts to improve standards, accountability and transparency amid the challenges of disaster, conflict and poverty.

Humanitarian Accountability Partnership International

Working with its partners, disaster survivors, and others, Humanitarian Accountability Partnership International (or HAP International) produced the HAP 2007 Standard in Humanitarian Accountability and Quality Management. This certification scheme aims to provide assurance that certified agencies are managing the quality of their humanitarian actions in accordance with the HAP standard. In practical terms, a HAP certification (which is valid for three years) means providing external auditors with mission statements, accounts and control systems, giving greater transparency in operations and overall accountability.

As described by HAP-International, the HAP 2007 Standard in Humanitarian Accountability and Quality Management is a quality assurance tool. By evaluating an organisation's processes, policies and products with respect to six benchmarks setout in the Standard, the quality becomes measurable, and accountability in its humanitarian work increases. 

Agencies that comply with the Standard:

• Declare their commitment to HAP's Principles of Humanitarian Action and to their own Humanitarian Accountability Framework
• Develop and implement a Humanitarian Quality Management System
• Provide key information about quality management to key stakeholders
• Enable beneficiaries and their representatives to participate in program decisions and give their informed consent
• Determine the competencies and development needs of staff
• Establish and implement complaints-handling procedure
• Establish a process of continual improvement

The Sphere Project

 

The Sphere Project handbook, Humanitarian Charter and Minimum Standards in Disaster Response, which was produced by a coalition of leading non governmental humanitarian agencies, lists the following principles of humanitarian action:

• The right to life with dignity
• The distinction between combatant and non-combatants
• The principle of non-refoulement

Core Humanitarian Standard on Quality and Accountability

 

Logo of the Core Humanitarian Standard

 

Another humanitarian standard used is the Core Humanitarian Standard on Quality and Accountability (CHS). It was approved by the CHS Technical Advisory Group in 2014, and has since been endorsed by many humanitarian actors such as "the Boards of the Humanitarian Accountability Partnership (HAP), People In Aid and the Sphere Project". It comprises nine core standards, which are complemented by detailed guidance notes and indicators.

While some critics were questioning whether the sector will truly benefit from the implementation of yet another humanitarian standard, others have praised it for its simplicity. Most notably, it has replaced the core standards of the Sphere Handbook and it is regularly referred to and supported by officials from the United Nations, the EU, various NGOs and institutes. 

Humanitarian Encyclopedia

The Humanitarian Encyclopedia, launched in June 2017, aims to create "a clear and comprehensive reference framework, influenced by local and contextualised knowledge … [including] analyses of lessons learned and best practices, as well as … insights for evidence-based decision and policy-making." A part of this mission will be to provide a centralised data base for defining or clarifying different understandings of key concepts in humanitarian aid. The need for this stems from the experience in Haiti in the aftermath of the 2010 earthquake, where international aid organisations pushed out local aid groups as a result of a lack of reflection and understanding of local contexts and aid concepts, making the relief effort less efficient.

Free to access, the project is expected to be completed within five years, with the first parts slated to be published online by the end of 2018.

Challenges in terminology

The terms humanitarian action, humanitarian aid, humanitarian assistance and humanitarian response are often used interchangeably in publications, common literature and in the news, and there seems to be no common understanding of either of these terms. In 2003, in an attempt to provide more clarity globally, 17 nations and various other players in the international field founded The Good Humanitarian Donorship Initiative (GHD), which states that "the objectives of humanitarian action are to save lives, alleviate suffering and maintain and protect human dignity during and in the aftermath of emergencies”.

Following this, in 2008 the UNOCHA website Relief Web published a Glossary of Humanitarian Terms, which provides a collection of definitions available in other publicly available material. This glossary cites the ALNAP definition of humanitarian action as the "assistance, protection and advocacy actions undertaken on an impartial basis in response to human needs resulting from complex political emergencies and natural hazards." However, since the glossary is not a common terminologcial framework provided by the United Nations but a collection of material from secondary sources, it can serve as an important reference point but does not solve the need for a common terminology in this field. 

The lack of a common terminology may create difficulties in properly defining, allocating and tracking humanitarian action, and makes it hard for intergovernmental organizations, non-governmental organizations or the International Red Cross Red Crescent movement to share comparable data with each other. This is particularly relevant as the lines between humanitarian and development action become increasingly blurred due to changes such as the growing emergence of protracted crises, which call for a different approach of humanitarian aid overall.

An initiative aware of this terminological challenge is the Humanitarian Encyclopedia, which aims to "collectively interrogate how humanitarian concepts are used across time, geographical contexts, organizational cultures, disciplinary backgrounds and professions". While this does not mean that a common terminology will be created, it has the potential to serve as a reference point for humanitarian actors and the general public. 

GlobalMedic

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Formation	1998
Type	Disaster relief Capacity building
Headquarters	33 Belvia Road Toronto, Ontario M8W 3R2
Region served	Global operations
Parent organization	David McAntony Gibson Foundation (DMGF)
Staff	3
Volunteers	1,000+
Website	globalmedic.ca

GlobalMedic is a non-sectarian humanitarian-aid non-governmental organization based in Etobicoke, Toronto, Ontario, Canada and the operational arm of the David McAntony Gibson Foundation (DMGF), a registered Canadian charity. It provides disaster relief to large scale catastrophes around the world and also carries out humanitarian capacity building programs in post-conflict nations. Time magazine recognized the work of GlobalMedic in its 2010 Time 100 issue. Rahul Singh, a Toronto paramedic, founded the David McAntony Gibson Foundation in 1998 in honour of a best friend who lost his life the same year.

GlobalMedic has a roster of over 1,000 volunteers from across Canada that includes many professional rescuers, police officers, firefighters and paramedics who donate their time to respond overseas. The volunteers compose the Rapid Response Teams (RRTs) that operate rescue units designed to save disaster victims, Water Purification Units (WPUs) designed to provide clean drinking water; and Emergency Medical Units (EMUs) that use inflatable field hospitals to provide emergency medical treatment.

Since 2004, GlobalMedic teams have deployed to over 60 humanitarian disasters around the world.

Origins and volunteer training

GlobalMedic trainees being instructed on procedures inside an inflatable field hospital tent during one of its cross-Canada training sessions, June 2011.

 

Rahul Singh, a Toronto paramedic, created GlobalMedic in 1998 after seeing ineffective and wasteful relief efforts deployed in Nepal. Singh was touring the country when disastrous monsoon downpours triggered numerous mudslides, resulting in the destruction of several villages. Mr. Singh later noted in an interview that "There were inefficient relief efforts. I decided to do something to ensure efficient and immediate relief to disaster-struck people. After returning [to Canada], I founded GlobalMedic".

GlobalMedic later established annual Rapid Response training days near its Toronto headquarters and at several other locations across Canada. Recruiting is concentrated, but not restricted, to members of paramedic services, police forces and others in professional rescue service communities. Rapid Response training days typically involves groups of trainees receiving several lectures and demonstrations, and typically involves 'hands on' experience with the various inflatable hospital tents and water purification systems that are employed in the field. The large inflatable tent structures can be deployed in minutes after arriving in a disaster zone, allowing its medics to concentrate on providing immediate triage and emergency medical care. 

By June 2011, some 120 people attended GlobalMedic's annual training day near its Toronto headquarters, with attendance growing to approximately 150 trainees in 2013. Several other recruiting and training sessions were also being held cross-Canada annually.

Deployments

Trainees practice assembling and operating a Nomad water purification system (blue unit), capable of producing 100 litres of purified drinking water per minute being fed into in a canvas reservoir at left.

 

GlobalMedic volunteers make up the Rapid Response Teams (RRTs) that operate a Rescue Unit designed to save disaster victims; a Water Purification Unit (WPU) designed to provide clean drinking water; and an Emergency Medical Unit (EMU) that uses inflatable field hospitals to restore medical infrastructure. Since 2004, GlobalMedic teams have deployed to over 60 humanitarian disasters around the world. Responses have included hurricanes in Grenada and Guatemala; earthquakes in Pakistan, Indonesia, Peru, Haiti and Japan; tsunamis in Sri Lanka, the Solomon Islands and Japan; typhoons in the Philippines; floods in Pakistan, Bangladesh, Mexico, Sudan, Somalia and India; and complex humanitarian emergencies in Gaza, Libya and Somalia.

The deployment of its medical volunteers and its field hospitals and clinics are capable of treating hundreds of patients per day, The organization additionally identified that it can make an even greater post-disaster impact by preventing waterborne diseases from causing secondary disasters such as typhoid and dysentery epidemics. Such epidemics can occur after earthquakes that damage municipal or regional water treatment facilities and even, counter-intuitively, following severe hurricanes, typhoons or monsoons that flood large land areas with turbid, contaminated water. The organization and its volunteers work to help prevent secondary epidemics by having its WPUs both distribute decontamination tablets and by setting up portable water purification equipment which can render even completely contaminated water sources safe for humans. This is achieved by various methods, including filtration media, flocculation, chemical disinfection and the application of ultraviolet light (UV light), which breaks down the genetic code of almost all microorganisms. 

After arriving in a crisis area, motorcycles are sometimes employed to transport and set up small suitcase-sized Noah Trekker water purification units, due to their ability to circumnavigate damaged roadways and other rough terrain in order to reach outlying regions in need of aid. In areas without electrical power, the small purification units will operate off of a motorcycle's 12 volt battery with its engine running, able to purify about 200 litres of water per hour. 

Some of GlobalMedic's notable deployments include:

Typhoon Haiyan Philippines catastrophe, 2013

In the wake of Typhoon Haiyan which generated Category 5 winds that exceeded all previously recorded values, as well as a storm surge of more than 6 metres (20 feet) height that built up in 'mere minutes', large areas of the Philippines were heavily damaged. More than 5,000 dead, 1,600 people missing, and 23,000 injuries were initially reported in the first two weeks. Two months after the storm would see the confirmed death toll easily exceeding 6,000 with some 4 million people made homeless.

GlobalMedic had its first four-man team airborne to the Philippines a day after the disaster, soon establishing a headquarters and three teams based in key areas of the disaster zone, operating out of Iloilo, Cebu, and the worst hit location, Tacloban. Within 10 days over 20 rescuers and disaster responders were providing medical assistance and, of equal importance, safe drinking water using a Rainfresh AquaResponse10 water purification system and over 10 separate Trekker purification units. A larger Nomad water unit was also shipped to Tacloban, capable of purifying 100 liters of water per minute. Over 1.4 million water purification tablets were also shipped to the region as well from the organization's Toronto headquarters. Using connections established on five previous humanitarian relief missions in the Philippines, GlobalMedic had its water purification equipment flown to Tacloban and Ormoc on a private C-130 Hercules a day after their arrival.

Teams also initiated a Quick Intervention Project to deliver bags of rice and boxes of food obtained from within the Philippines, alongside of a water tankering program using tank trucks to speed the delivery of safe water to surrounding communities. Employing two tank trunks, its volunteers attempted to deliver clean water to some 50 communities surrounding Tacloban, but could only service three to four of them a day due to the demand at each location.

GlobalMedic also ordered an additional inflatable field hospital from Dynamic Air Shelters of Grand Bank, Newfoundland and Labrador for immediate shipment to replace a damaged district hospital in Sara on Panay Island. The 46 feet (14 m) by 56 feet (17 m) hospital tent structure was funded in part by the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador which contributed $151,000 for the unit. Critical medications, emergency shelters, tents and other supplies and assistance for the Philippines were also being received from partner charities and agencies, including Health Partners International of Canada, the Compassionate Service Society (CSS Charity) and the Léger Foundation in Quebec.

Included among the volunteer responders was Pipito Biclar, a Filipino doctor born in the region and who was serving as a Toronto EMS paramedic after arriving in Canada. The reports emanating from the disaster zone prompted Rahul Singh to comment "[the] situation on the ground is dire. We are in a race against time to stave off disease and keep people alive. If we fail to deliver, the suffering will be unimaginable."

The deployment became based at a temporary facility in Cebu, headed by Matt Capobianco, GlobalMedic's Manager of Emergency Programs. The Philippines response was joined by other GlobalMedic team members on assignment in India at the time the disaster occurred, and who then were quickly transferred to Tacloban. Among them was David Sakaki, a firefighter from Kamloops, British Columbia, who later returned to Canada and reported he was amazed that anyone had survived within the zone of destruction, which he had observed was spread out over great distances from the Filipino city. "The airport is gone. ... There’s no power... [the city] is just in ruins. There isn’t a building that’s untouched. It doesn’t matter how far out of Tacloban one drives, the degree of destruction is the same." Sakaki believed the number of fatalities would greatly exceed a projected estimate of 6,000 deaths.

By the end of November 2013, GlobalMedic had treated some 1,200 patients in their field hospitals. By the second half of January 2014 its staff and assistants had distributed more than five million water purification pills and also purified over 2.4 million litres of contaminated water—making it both safe to drink and palatable—with their dozen Noah Trekkers, a Nomad purification unit, as well as some 3,000 smaller household purification units produced by volunteers in Toronto and Montreal that month. Its medical staff were treating patients at a rate of 'hundreds per day' in its clinics, while other volunteers were helping to rebuild damaged medical facilities so they could resume their own operations. Fresh teams of medics and volunteers were being rotated into the disaster zone ever few weeks.

Horn of Africa drought, 2011–2012

Some of the approximate 2,000 Rainfresh Water Filtration units in kit form produced by GlobalMedic volunteers during the Fall of 2011, for emergency shipment to drought areas in Kenya and Somalia.

 

Between July 2011 and mid-2012, a severe drought affected the entire East Africa region, often referred to as the Horn of Africa drought. Said to be the worst in 60 years, the East Africa drought caused a severe water and food crisis across Somalia, Djibouti, Ethiopia and Kenya, threatening the lives and livelihoods of over nine million people.

GlobalMedic responded by freighting over 2.8 million Aquatab purification pills and PUR water cleansing sachets to Kenya and Somalia. The volunteer organization additionally produced over two thousand water filtration devices using large plastic food pails, converted by dozens of its volunteers in the borrowed warehouse space of a Mississauga, Ontario air freight company. The filtration kits were then matched with commercial Envirogard ceramic water filter cartridges.

Matt Capobianco demonstrating a small, four filter gravity-fed water purification unit, Toronto, June 2011

 

The components for two thousand filtration units were then marshaled together and shipped by intermodal containers to the drought region, with each kit able to provide the clean water needs of a large family. A GlobalMedic WPU team travelled to Africa and worked with local aid agencies, including the Compassionate Service Society, ADRA Kenya, ADRA Somalia, MATE and FCC Kenya, to distribute its purification supplies and filtration kits. The materials distributed by GlobalMedic's WPU team resulted in the provision of tens of millions litres of safe drinking water to the affected populations in three countries. Ten Emergency Medical Kits (EMKs) for the treatment of some 6,000 patients were also supplied to aid internally displaced refugees in Benadir and Mogadishu in Somalia.

Haiti earthquake catastrophe, 2010

GlobalMedic was one of the international relief organizations to respond to the 2010 Haiti earthquake. The organization worked with local partners to quickly provide emergency medical assistance and clean drinking water to people in the Carrefour district of Port-au-Prince. An initial Rapid Response Team, composed of paramedics, a doctor and an engineer traveled into the city with an inflatable field hospital tent structure, an Explorer and several Trekker water purification units, plus millions of water purification tablets.

The advance team arrived two days after the earthquake even though the country's airports were rendered unusable to any movements except military flights. They journeyed there by flying to the neighbouring Dominican Republic, and then taking an arduous 18-plus hours land route over chaotic roads in several rented trucks and a small bus. Among the advance group were Rahul Singh and Dr. Michael Howatt, who assisted throughout the night with surgeries at the Université Adventiste d'Haïti (Adventist University of Haiti) in the capital city starting shortly after his arrival there. A large capacity Explorer water purification unit was also set up within 12 hours of the group's arrival, drawing water from a ruptured swimming pool being filled with river-fed ground water.

Within a month of their first arrival GlobalMedic had distributed millions of Aquatab purification tablets, set up two inflatable field hospitals that were treating 300 patients a day, brought in satellite phones and radios, and set up some 64 water purification units including 62 portable Noah Trekkers dispatched daily by a team of 15 to 20 hired motorcyclists. Motorcycles were used extensively due to their ability to circumnavigate damaged roadways and rough terrain in order to reach outlying areas in need of aid. The Canadian organization ultimately treated over 7,000 patients, distributed over 10 million litres of clean drinking water, five million water purification tablets, and deployed 20 Canadian volunteer rescuers at a time in response to the Haiti earthquake.

Burmese cyclone and Sichuan, China earthquake, 2008

In May 2008 Cyclone Nargis sent a storm surge 40 kilometers up Myanmar's densely populated Irrawaddy river delta, causing catastrophic destruction and at least 138,000 fatalities. It was the worst natural disaster in the country's history, with allegations that government officials stopped updating the death toll after 138,000 to minimize political fallout. Relief efforts were slowed for political reasons as Myanmar's military rulers initially resisted large-scale international aid. Hampering the relief efforts, only ten days after the cyclone, nearby central China was hit by a massive earthquake, known as the Sichuan earthquake.

The powerful earthquake in Sichuan Province in May 2008 measured 8.0 M_w (surface wave magnitude), killing more than 69,000 people and leaving some 4.8 million people homeless, though the number may have been as high as 11 million. It was the strongest earthquake in China since 1950, and the 21st deadliest earthquake of all time when it occurred. 

Shortly after the Burmese cyclone, GlobalMedic's disaster relief staff were staged in neighbouring Thailand after being refused permission by the Burmese military government to enter the country to distribute aid and water purification supplies. After frustrating delays land routes were established from a town on the Thai border in order to transport aid to the disaster areas using Burmese partners. A portion of GlobalMedic's team was then unexpectedly diverted from Thailand into China's disaster zone, less than 48 hours after the massive Sichuan earthquake.

In Sichuan Province where more than 10 million people were affected, the quake damaged over 1,200 water treatment plants and more than 800 water storage tanks, as well as some 5,000 kilometres of buried water pipes. The earthquake and its aftershocks severely compromised the supply of safe drinking water. Operating from the provincial capital of Chengdu, GlobalMedic's team helped set up and operate some 140 Noah Trekker suitcase-sized purification units in the area, each capable of supplying safe drinking water for about 1,000 people. They also brought in a much larger Nomad purification unit with a flow rate of 100 litres per minute, capable of serving some 70,000 people. Its volunteer staff further coordinated the distribution of almost 22 million Aquatab water purification tablets, each capable of disinfecting a litre of contaminated water.

After being asked by the Chinese Government to provide disaster assistance, GlobalMedic worked with the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) on its aid delivery and coordinated directly with the Sichuan Water and Farmland Bureau. It then helped the staff of local water distribution utilities set up and maintain the purification equipment shipped to China, and to also distribute its water purification tablets.

GlobalMedic's efforts in China were lauded by Jim Karygiannis, M.P., a Canadian Member of Parliament, who joined in helping to load emergency supplies for shipment from the organization's Toronto headquarters, saying:

“

GlobalMedic is acting. These volunteers are generously giving of their personal time to help people in need. Their selfless acts of kindness exemplify the best of what makes us Canadians.

”

Acknowledgements and honours

For his work with GlobalMedic, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper presented Rahul Singh with the ICCC’s "Humanitarian of the Year Award" in 2006. Singh also became a recipient of "Canada’s Top 40 Under 40 Award" in 2009, and was named to the 2010 Time 100 list of "The World's Most Influential People". The Globe and Mail included him on the list of "Canadians changing the world", and he was chosen by the Toronto Star as one of 12 "Canadians changing the way we think."  In 2012, Singh was made a member of the Order of Ontario.

Following Singh being portrayed as among the world's 100 most influential people in 2010, he and GlobalMedic have been called "the face of Canadian relief efforts around the world".