Defining Humanitarianism
Michael Barnett and Thomas G. Weiss, the authors of Humanitarianism in Question: Politicals,
Power, Ethics, define humanitarianism as “an altruistic desire to provide life-saving relief; to
honor the principals of humanity, neutrality, impartiality, and independence; and to do more
good than harm.” Furthermore Barnett and Weiss provide seven core principles of humanitarianism
as defined by Jean Pictet of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC):
humanity, impartiality, neutrality, independence, voluntary service, unity, and universality.
Power, Ethics, define humanitarianism as “an altruistic desire to provide life-saving relief; to
honor the principals of humanity, neutrality, impartiality, and independence; and to do more
good than harm.” Furthermore Barnett and Weiss provide seven core principles of humanitarianism
as defined by Jean Pictet of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC):
humanity, impartiality, neutrality, independence, voluntary service, unity, and universality.
Some Humanitarian IssuesPoverty Hunger/Malnutrition/Famine Disease Armed Conflict including Genocide Natural Disasters/Hazards Refugees and Internally Displaced people |
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Top ten humanitarian crises of 2009 as determined by Doctors
Without Borders
Democratic Republic of Congo – Unrelenting violence stalks civilians throughout the east
Somalia - Endure violence and lack of access to healthcare
Sudan - Precarious situation for people in Southern Sudan and Darfur
Sri Lanka - Thousands injured during the final stage of the decades-long civil conflict
Pakistan - Civilians suffer from violence and neglect; 2 million displaced
Afghanistan – Politics of aid leaves many Afghans cut off from humanitarian assistance
Yemen – Civilians trapped in violent war in the north
Malnutrition – totally inadequate funding for undernourished children
AIDS - millions in need of treatment
Neglected diseases - lack of R&D and treatment
Somalia - Endure violence and lack of access to healthcare
Sudan - Precarious situation for people in Southern Sudan and Darfur
Sri Lanka - Thousands injured during the final stage of the decades-long civil conflict
Pakistan - Civilians suffer from violence and neglect; 2 million displaced
Afghanistan – Politics of aid leaves many Afghans cut off from humanitarian assistance
Yemen – Civilians trapped in violent war in the north
Malnutrition – totally inadequate funding for undernourished children
AIDS - millions in need of treatment
Neglected diseases - lack of R&D and treatment
Some Humanitarian Crises of 2011
Drought in Horn of Africa: The late response by the international community to the early warning signs of a
severe drought in the Horn of Africa largely contributed to thousands of
needless deaths from malnutrition
Inadequate international response to cholera in Haiti following 2010 Outbreak: During the year
following the October 2010 outbreak of the cholera epidemic in Haiti, nearly 500,000 have become
ill and more than 6,500 people have died as the country is unable to stop the spread of the disease
260,000 displaced people require emergency assistance in South Sudan: Citizens of South Sudan, a country
facing chronic shortages of food and health care, fled fighting between northern and southern Sudanese military
forces only to find shortages of food, shelter, and clean water
Lead poisoning in Nigeria: With the CDC calling it “the worst case of acute lead poisoning they have on
record”, more than 400 children have died in Nigeria due to lead poisoning
linked to illegal gold mining
Drug Companies Push Up Prices for Patients in Middle-Income Countries: Facing decreasing profits from high priced drugs coming off-patent, drug companies are “refusing to extent standardized price discounts” to middle-income countries
such as Brazil, India and Thailand where HIV patients can’t afford the high costs of AIDS medicines
Effect of Libyan conflict on its children: Morethan 2 million children of Libya are confronted not only by the physical
dangers of weapons, landmines and remnants of war, but also the emotional trauma as their
lives are disrupted and any sense of normalcy is lost
Violence against women in the Democratic Republic of the Congo: “The Democratic Republic of Congo has one of the highest rates of rape in the world, with one recent report from the American Journal of Public Health, estimating
that a woman is raped almost every minute”
Need for increased funding of HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment: While data released by the UNAIDS indicates a slow-down in the rate of HIV/AIDS deaths due to early treatment, the number of people put on treatment,
especially in countries with high rates of infection, must increase dramatically, but this can only happen
through additional funding for treatment programs
Syria’s bloody crackdown on dissents: The regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, which has
violently suppressed its own citizens through “patterns of summary execution, arbitrary arrest, enforced
disappearance, torture, including sexual violence, as well as violations of children’s rights” has claimed more than
3,500 lives during the period March through November 2011
Shortage of benznidazole leaves Chagas patients without treatment: Chagas disease, which the WHO estimates infects eight to ten million people and kills 12,500 people each year, is an endemic in Latin America, however thousands of
people with the disease in Paraguay will go untreated due to a shortage of benznidazole, the first-line drug used in most countries to treat the disease