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…
Only a few years ago, the idea of preserving education as a central part of all humanitarian efforts was but an afterthought in the minds of aid workers. Nicolai and Triplehorn (2003) state that it was the 1990 's when this crucial truth that education is the right of every child finally germinated and became the soul of humanitarian aid. This demonstrates the high degree of significance and worth that humanitarian aid organizations now place on continuing education in war-ravaged societies…
Mercy Corps is a humanitarian aid agency whose main goal is help those struck by disaster. Mercy Corps is all over the world. They are stationed in places like South Sudan, Libya, Lebanon, Haiti, Myanmar, India, Uganda, United States, and Syria, just to name a few. (Mercy Corps website CITE) The reasons for needing aid in these countries include natural disasters and man-made disasters. Natural disasters include earthquakes, tsunamis, volcanic eruptions, floods, avalanches, droughts, storms…
This quote from a Nepalese affected by the Earthquake in 2015, shows that the international humanitarian system needs a fundamental reorientation from supplying aid to supporting and facilitating communities' own relief and recovery priorities. In addition Nigel Fisher, a former Humanitarian Coordinator talks in this Video, how listening to the voices of local communities affected by disaster is essential and a very important part of humanitarian response. “People who are affected and people…
Often times, we see advertisements of known celebrities such as Angelina Jolie encouraging people to help Africa. How severe is poverty in Africa? Many literatures would mention that Africa is the poorest continent on the planet. The graver reality is that majority of the world’s population is not aware of the devastating effects of poverty, people living in poverty suffer from hunger and are prone to diseases. Donating to Africa is not only a call for civic mercy but more of a humanitarian aid…
the horror of the Srebrenica hospital. Fink provides no accommodations for those who are squeamish: when she describes a “mélange of red blood, yellow fat, pink skin, and silver instruments,” she wants to make sure her audience understands in sickening detail the consequences of war, both on its victims and on the inexperienced and overworked medical personnel (Fink 140). When Fink describes Belgian MSF surgeon Piet Willems as “elbow-deep in blood,” barely able “to clear away an amputated arm…
policy that should be undertaken is an increase in the Syrian admission quota and humanitarian aid. Refugee Crisis Context According to the BBC, in early 2011, unrest arose in Syria due to the fatally violent action taken to stop pro-democracy demonstrators which led…
epitome of freedom and democracy – a metaphorical pillar of hope and modernity. The hegemonic nature that nation-states, such as America, has carefully cultivated has allowed them to enjoy international influence in all aspects: political, economic, cultural and societal. Dominance in these areas have enabled Western nation states to shape the idea of what is ‘good’ off of their own ideals and values; thus creating, in contrast, a ‘bad’ to reflect the differences of other countries. These…
the nearby region, there are 2.7 million internally displaced people (IDPs) and 120,000 refugees in the country. The Food Security Cluster is led by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and WFP to support service delivery and facilitate strategic decision-making of the Humanitarian Coordination Team for humanitarian response, it can ensure efficient and coordinated delivery of humanitarian assistance in DRC. 3. Feeding in school projects support the early recovery of…
emergency medical aid to people affected by conflict, epidemics, disasters, or in exclusion from health care.Their mission is expressed through their hard work to make this world a better place. They work hard and have undying love and care for people in need. They recognized that millions of people are without health care; MSF (French term for Doctors without borders) is out to lower that number and save lives. Although, MSF is not just restricted to providing healthcare, they also provide a…