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Keynote presentations Two keynote addresses were presented during the first morning. The first, by Antonio Donini (Feinstein Center) provided a broad philosophical, ethical and political overview of the current context of humanitarian work around the globe. The second was a more operational look at security issues facing humanitarian practitioners presented by Peter Muller (UNOCHA Pacific).
A summary of their presentations is provided below.
1. Humanitarianism in the 21st Century – Lessons from Afghanistan and other recent crises Antonio Donini, Senior Researcher, Feinstein Center
Mr Donini's address explored the challenges faced by humanitarian actors in the 21st century, based on his recent experience of working in Afghanistan as well as other crises in Sudan, Sri Lanka and Somalia.
His talk set the stage by exploring what is humanitarianism today, before addressing some broader considerations about what this all means for the future.
In setting the stage, Donini addressed some of the broader philosophical, strategic and ethical issues around working in insecure environments. He started by exploring the concept of humanitarianism, arguing that it is a concept that is fraught with ambiguities that attempts to address three different realities: an ideology, a movement, and a profession. Humanitarianism is a diverse banner of concepts usually defined according to the 'eye of the beholder'. He described modern humanitarianism as a political economy in which actors compete for influence, space and market share and that there is a visible, multi-million dollar face of humanitarian action behind which is hidden a range of realities and discourses which influence our notions and practice of humanitarianism. Donini contends that humanitarians have crossed the threshold of power – that they are no longer marginal but are part of a multi-million dollar institutional set-up which is linked to powerful forces in the world.
The profession of humanitarianism has seen dramatic growth and transformation in the last two decades, evolving from being a marginal and non-intrusive activity to become a central feature of north-south relations. This landscape is further complicated by the integration of development, human rights and advocacy into the scope and practice of humanitarian work.
The group of actors involved in humanitarian action has also become increasingly complex. From the original founders of the humanitarian movement, including faith based organisations, new trends and players have emerged in the last ten years, particularly from the private sector and the military. The role of the military has become an important extension of interventions, beyond their role to protect civilians under military occupation as mandated by the Geneva Convention. There are now private companies who save lives through their financing of humanitarian action who operate outside the usual standards of accountability and transparency. This group includes the increasingly influential non-traditional donors such as China, India, Gulf States and Islamic charities, and the governments and local communities of countries affected by crisis.
Donini addressed the motivations of the individuals who call themselves humanitarians – stating that they can be very different. In broad terms, humanitarianism is about three 'Cs' – compassion, change or containment – and traditionally there have been two 'souls' in the humanitarian ethos – one focusing on the values of compassion and charity, the other on change and transformation. The third one of containment has appeared in recent years, and while humanitarian action in support of political objectives is not new, Donini argues that the breadth and depth of manipulation, as well as the tightening web of connections with global political agendas, is a new trend.
In discussing what this all means for the future of humanitarian action, Donini predicted three megatrends: - humanitarian assistance is up, humanitarianism is down
- universalism is down, sovereignty/nationalism is up
- conflict is down, 'natural' disasters are up.
Humanitarian action has become a huge business in the global market place – worth $15-$18b a year, 15% of ODA and growing. Humanitarianism is a growing enterprise that employs over a quarter of a million people and where structure and institutionalisation are replacing voluntarism and solidarity. Donini states that assistance has grown exponentially and that the pressure to act like a business will challenge our ability to maintain some kind of respect for the principles of neutrality, impartiality and independence.
Dononi then argues that the crises in Afghanistism, Sudan and Sri Lanka are defeats for humanitarianism because the humanitarian action is perceived as a form of imperialism, forcing sovereign states to a direction they don’t want to go. He contends that in the coming decade, humanitarians will be confronted with issues of sovereignty and nationalism as never before, particularly with the emergence of new and powerful actors such as Brasil, China, India.
The increased vulnerability of populations to climate change, technological disasters, urbanisation, demographic shifts and so forth will be the future focus of humanitarian agencies. This will require them to address vulnerability more comprehensively and develop new skills to respond to the changing nature of crises – more urban; more unpredictable; and less linked to displacement. This has implications for the scope and shape of a humanitarian enterprise that is still based on Cold War and post-Cold War assumptions of what constitutes a crisis.
Donini closed his presentation by identifying four key challenges for the future of humanitarian action:
- Independence – what can we do to address perception that we are aligned with military agendas?
- Universality – if we are perceived as northern and western how far will we go to change this perception?
- Perceptions and definitions are important – we use humanitarian term as a short cut that covers all sorts of realities. In Afghanistan the same agency will be working with govt in one part of the country and rebels in another. Does it make sense to have this multi-mandate or should we be more discerning in defining our niche?
- Challenge of Power – traditionally NGOs have developed in confrontation with the states – challenging the way they function; now we are a part of the state – will this remain? Are we essentially parallel with empire and globalisation or do we want to change and go back to basics, have a clearer separation?
2. Challenges for operating in insecure environments: A practitioner’s perspective
(Peter Muller, Regional Disaster Response Adviser (Pacific), UNOCHA) Mr Muller’s presentation addressed three key aspects of the challenges for operating in insecure environments: - The current context and key risks
- Operational practices, arrangements and innovations
- Options for the future: addressing constraints on access.
Muller outlined the increasing concern about the ability of humanitarian actors to reach populations affected by armed conflict in a timely manner as indicated by UN reports, information from the field and various consultations. The levels of violence experienced by humanitarians has been steadily increasing, with a peak in 2008 of 155 incidents with 260 victims of which 122 were killed, 76 were injured and 62 were kidnapped. Approximately 75 per cent of attacks on aid workers in the past half decade have occurred in seven countries - Afghanistan, Chad, Iraq, Pakistan, Somalia, Sri Lanka, and Sudan - and the majority of victims are NGO international staff and UN local contractors.
Muller then outlined the range of operational practices and arrangements that have been implemented in order to respond to this increasing risk:
- Liaison with all relevant state and non-state actors which included strategies such as developing a wide network of contacts.
- Reinforce common operating and humanitarian principles to enhance perceptions of neutrality, impartiality and independence and heighten acceptance as well as make the distinction between military interventions and humanitarian aid; and working through common standards, basic operating rules and agreed minimum frameworks.
- Negotiations to obtain security and access assurances through mechanisms such as formal agreements, local or informal agreements. These take time and there is a need to find a balance between short and medium term results.
- In order to obtain access during hostilities specific arrangements for security and access are important, such as humanitarian corridors, days of tranquility, temporary cessation of hostilities or 'humanitarian ceasefires'.
- Mitigating security risks through reducing exposure to risk (through restrictions on mobility), hardening humanitarian agencies as targets (compounds, vehicles, etc.) and the use of armed accompaniment such as national military, police, PK forces, multi-national forces, etc.
- Armed escorts and patrols – which is a last resort (IASC CM guidelines) as it affects perception of humanitarian actors and is difficult to reverse once implemented.
- Reducing the humanitarian footprint to reduce exposure and minimise visibility by operating 'under the radar' and focusing on areas for 'essential programming'.
- Remote management of activities funded by UN and INGO’s but without sustained presence and direct oversight. This generally requires using 'windows of opportunity' for assessments, 'hit and run' distributions implemented by local organisations and/or private contractors.
Muller concluded by proposing a number of ways that humanitarian actors can address these constraints on their access to humanitarian crises, which he described as the need for a collective improvement in our performance as humanitarian actors. These included:
- compiling and disseminating good practices and strengthen empirical evidence
- more coordinated efforts to enhance access
- a common approach and commitment to information sharing
- a common framework to inform decision-making based on a robust shared analysis
- greater emphasis on humanitarian negotiations, requiring a strategic effort towards sustained dialogue with non-state actors as well
- compliance with humanitarian principles.
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Julie Bishop address to Council 2010
Launch of The Global Mail news service
Feb 05, 2012