Help or Hurt? Humanitarian Aid
For over a century, the humanitarianism has represented compassion, courage, goodness, and heroism. It remains so in many ways today. Most of us feel compelled to donate or volunteer when we see images of a starving child, a displaced refugee, or when we hear news about a war-torn or natural disaster affected regions. It is heartwarming to know that there are so many organizations and individuals who so selflessly and courageously rush to help those in need. One of those organizations — the United Nations — is a global entity, which has been dedicated to help countries and groups of people actively since 1945. One of the purposes of the United Nations, as stated in its Charter, is "to achieve international co-operation in solving international problems of an economic, social, cultural, or humanitarian character" (Deliver). In fact, one of the first projects of UN has been rebuilding Europe after the affects of World War II. International communities nowadays rely on the UN to coordinate humanitarian relief in places where natural and man-made disasters have taken place, and the governments cannot effectively respond themselves.
The level of international humanitarian response rose to a record …show more content…
Lack of local partnering by international organizations (IOs). Large aid organizations, like Red Cross and USAID are reluctant to hire local workers, not only on the top level, but even at lower levels, such as construction, clean up, or distribution jobs. They argue that locals’ lack of accountability and capacity does not let the organization grant them contracts. At the same time, organizations that worked closely together with the local Haitians reported success. For example, Cordaid hired local forces to rebuild houses and also purchased local materials for the job. Not only the housing goals were almost met, but this type of venture also increased the sense of union and kinship in a community that recently experienced devastation
For over a century, the humanitarianism has represented compassion, courage, goodness, and heroism. It remains so in many ways today. Most of us feel compelled to donate or volunteer when we see images of a starving child, a displaced refugee, or when we hear news about a war-torn or natural disaster affected regions. It is heartwarming to know that there are so many organizations and individuals who so selflessly and courageously rush to help those in need. One of those organizations — the United Nations — is a global entity, which has been dedicated to help countries and groups of people actively since 1945. One of the purposes of the United Nations, as stated in its Charter, is "to achieve international co-operation in solving international problems of an economic, social, cultural, or humanitarian character" (Deliver). In fact, one of the first projects of UN has been rebuilding Europe after the affects of World War II. International communities nowadays rely on the UN to coordinate humanitarian relief in places where natural and man-made disasters have taken place, and the governments cannot effectively respond themselves.
The level of international humanitarian response rose to a record …show more content…
Lack of local partnering by international organizations (IOs). Large aid organizations, like Red Cross and USAID are reluctant to hire local workers, not only on the top level, but even at lower levels, such as construction, clean up, or distribution jobs. They argue that locals’ lack of accountability and capacity does not let the organization grant them contracts. At the same time, organizations that worked closely together with the local Haitians reported success. For example, Cordaid hired local forces to rebuild houses and also purchased local materials for the job. Not only the housing goals were almost met, but this type of venture also increased the sense of union and kinship in a community that recently experienced devastation