Humanitarian Policy Research Articles

Representing Refugee Women: Gender and Work in Three Kenyan Camps

Representations of refugee women as "poor," vulnerable," and "helpless" are often caricatures inattentive to the innovations and survival strategies they employ. Combined with the relatively few images and impressions of refugee women’s experiences available, women relief workers, and scholars have limited understanding of their worlds across time and space. This articles aims to 1) discuss the politics, power relations and problems of representing refugee women; 2) illustrate selected daily routines, concerns and income learning strategies of Somali refugee women in Kenya; and 3) argue that the “local capacity” or indigenous skills of this group have not been fully recognized. Astute humanitarian policy and practice should not only promote “building local capacity” – a term often heard in relief circles today - but it should identify, mobilize and support the kinds of local capacity identified in the Kenyan camps of Ifo, Hagadera and Dagahaley.

Disseminating international humanitarian law in Colombia: Dissemination is everyone's job—a firsthand report by an ICRC delegate

At an ICRC seminar on training and information techniques a few years ago an instructor described the position of a dissemination delegate within an ICRC delegation, and hence of dissemination work in general, as follows:“Within an ICRC delegation, the delegate responsible for disseminating international humanitarian law generally has his office at the end of a long corridor, right at the back between the office supplies cupboard and the toilets. But most of the time you won't find him there, as he (or she) is constantly out giving courses or suchlike, either at military installations or universities or among the National Red Cross Society's volunteers. And when you do find him for a short while in his office, he's fiddling around with scissors, paper and glue trying to put together a leaflet or a poster, or perhaps even a small brochure. His colleagues, the delegates dealing with the distribution of relief supplies, the tracing service or prison visits, smile indulgently when they see the dissemination delegate busy with work like that. They speak well of him because he regularly reads the International Review of the Red Cross and knows the ins and outs of international humanitarian law and ICRC policy; he is a good talker, so he always has to step in where armed protagonists in local conflict fail to observe the rules protecting the civilian population. He must often beware of being torn to pieces and is expected to be everywhere at once, because what he does, he alone can do. Many ICRC delegates admire the dissemination delegate; sometimes he gets called “the professor”, “the clown” or “the artist”. His work is a one-man show, and yet those delegates who distribute rice, visit prisoners or try to trace missing persons could not and would not want to do his job themselves.”

Refugee Flow or Brain‐Drain? The Humanitarian Policy and Post-Tiananmen Mainland Chinese Immigration to Canada

The humanitarian policy that the Canadian government implemented in response to the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown changed a migration system primarily based on personal networks into a brain drain. Post-Tiananmen mainland Chinese immigrants (MCIs) were better educated than those arriving in Canada previously. Among the post-Tiananmen MCIs, those who landed under the policy were better educated than those landing in other categories. The analysis suggests that post-Tiananmen MCIs represented a brain-drain rather than a refugee flow, that the humanitarian policy implicitly contained ideological and human capital concerns in addition to humanitarian concerns, and that Canada benefited from the policy by obtaining human capital as well as satisfying its humanitarian obligations and ideological aspirations. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Refugee flow or brain-drain? The humanitarian policy and post-Tiananmen mainland Chinese immigration to Canada.

"The humanitarian policy that the Canadian government implemented in response to the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown changed a migration system primarily based on personal networks into a brain drain. Post-Tiananmen mainland Chinese immigrants (MCIs) were better educated than those arriving in Canada previously. Among the post-Tiananmen MCIs, those who landed under the policy were better educated than those landing in other categories. The analysis suggests that post-Tiananmen MCIs represented a brain-drain rather than a refugee flow, that the humanitarian policy implicitly contained ideological and human capital concerns in addition to humanitarian concerns, and that Canada benefited from the policy by obtaining human capital as well as satisfying its humanitarian obligations and ideological aspirations."

Military Humanitamnism and the New Peacekeeping:An Agenda for Peace?

Summaries This article examines the rise of the military humanitarian policy of the United Nations since 1992 and outlines the new military doctrine on peacekeeping. First it explores how a military based approach to the increasing number of complex political emergencies emerged as a deliberate policy within the United Nations in the new humanitarian era after the Cold War. Second, it looks at various NGO reactions to this new era. Third, it compares the very different nature of today's UN peacekeeping operations with its Cold War predecessors. Fourth, it examines current British Army doctrine of ‘wider peacekeeping’ and its emphasis on the principle of consent. Finally, it takes the view that the new peacekeeping is here to stay and that the main challenge facing all those involved in humanitarian assistance is to further refine its basic principles and techniques.

Humanitarian Policies and Strategies: The International Conference on the Former Yugoslavia

Humanitarian Policies and Strategies: The International Conference on the Former Yugoslavia

Quichua‐Castilian bilingualism in the Ecuadorian Sierra

This paper will explore issues of bilingualism in the Ecuadorian Sierra. To a degree, the paper has been stimulated by the discontent manifested by the Sierra Indians in the protest marches and blockades of November 1992; in their turn these were provoked by the 500 year anniversary of South America's discovery. To develop the study, attention must be directed to the precedents of bilingualism in the Sierra, how it happened, of what it consisted and how it developed. The impact of bilingualism on Indian education, especially as it is manifested in the rural primary school, needs also to be viewed through a lens which reveals the competition between the Castilian and Quichua languages and the subsequent linguistic interference that has occurred. The humanitarian and democratic policies of recent Ecuadorian governments has resulted in new emphasis being laid on the modernisation and education of the Sierra Indian. Problems encountered in rural literacy programmes are explored in the context of the assumptio...

Control of the transmission of Vibrio cholerae and other enteropathogens by foods originating from endemic areas in South America and elsewhere as a model situation

The cholera-pandemic raging in South and Middle America and endemic cholera in other countries call for measures of health protection of the local population, but particularly with respect to the young, old, pregnant and immunocompromised citizens of countries importing food from the areas where the disease has struck. Instead of harshly barring importation, a more humanitarian policy is recommended, relying on assistance of areas presenting risks, with the introduction of and adherence to rigorous measures of longitudinally integrated microbiological safety assurance. This model is equally applicable to other enteric diseases transmitted by food. Examples are given of how canned foods of neutral pH, fishery products, vegetables and certain fruits should be processed for safety. Importation monitoring strategies, linked to this proactive approach to consumer protection, are briefly summarized.

Humanitarian policy and operational activities: The ICRC's humanitarian mandate as reflected in its work in Greece and throughout the world

In May 1991, Mr. Cornelio Sommaruga, President of the ICRC, spent some time in Greece at the invitation of the Hellenic Red Cross (see IRRC, No. 283, July–August 1991). While there, he was asked by the Jean-Gabriel Eynard Greek-Swiss League to give a lecture in connection with the 700th anniversary of the founding of the Swiss Confederation. The subject of the lecture was “The ICRC's humanitarian mandate as reflected in the light of its activities in Greece and throughout the world”. The President's purpose was to remind his hearers of the work done in Greece by Swiss delegates of the ICRC. who might be regarded as “humanitarian Hellenists”, and. in his words, “to retrace some stages in the journey made by the International Committee of the Red Cross in company with the Hellenes, in order to throw light on certain aspects of the beautiful and difficult mission of the Red Cross”.

Protection of the civilian population and the prohibition of starvation as a method of warfare: Draft texts on International humanitarian assistance

Armed conflict is often accompanied or followed by the outbreak of famine. The legal foundations of global humanitarian policy for dealing with famine are reviewed in this article, with special attention to conflict situations and their aftermath. The existing law is examined first, and then recent proposals in the form of drafts and expert studies which seek to develop legal instruments or policy relating to international humanitarian assistance are considered.

Humanitarian Policy and Operational Activities: The ICRC's responsibilities in connection with the Middle East conflict

In its January-February 1991 issue, the Review informed its readers of the successive representations made by the ICRC from the outbreak of the Middle East conflict both to the States party to the conflict and to the other States to remind them of their obligations under the Geneva Conventions. In particular, the ICRC sent a note verbale on 14 December 1990 to the 164 States party to the Conventions, together with a Memorandum on the applicability of international humanitarian law, and launched appeals to the belligerent States on 17 January and 1 and 24 February 1991.

Humanitarian policy and operational activities: ICRC activities for refugees and displaced civilians

The Red Gross has been involved with refugees for many years, in fact ever since the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement began assisting the victims of wars, revolutions and other disturbances. All the Movement's institutions take part at some stage in dealing with refugees, deportees and persons displaced within their own countries, for instance by providing protection in the countries of origin at the time of exile, setting up reception facilities in transit or first asylum camps and supplying material and medical aid, or by carrying out tracing activities and organizing family reunifications, not forgetting the support lent to those engaged in the often interminable and humiliating procedure of applying for asylum.

The ICRC's humanitarian policy and operational activities

The current war in the Middle East shows the extent to which the world is now beset by disruption and uncertainty. The humanitarian work of the ICRC is obviously seriously affected by this situation. Being particularly sensitive – both by its nature and because of its mandate – to the state of international affairs, the ICRC is having to cope not only with the immediate effects of an international conflict but also with the implications in humanitarian terms of internal conflicts and disturbances which continue to prevail in many regions and which equally require the constant presence of delegates from our institution.

Providing health and social services to illegal alien families: a dilemma for community agencies.

Proposals for dealing with illegeal migration from Mexico to the United States generally do not recognize it as an international social problem. The proposals also present contradictory solutions. Amnesty, a humanitarian policy, is being suggested as well as increased restrictions and punishments, a policing policy. However, in the absence of a comprehensive national policy, community social and health care programs must provide services to illegal aliens. This article attempts to document some of the issues that illegal immigration presents for community agencies.

Humanitarian Policy and Pragmatism: Some Case Studies of the Red Cross

EVERY HUMANITARIAN ACTION TAKES PLACE WITHIN A POLITICAL context. This means that all humanitarian organizations, such as those which operate under the sign of the Red Cross, must devise a humanitarian policy which will be valid in the long term, based on a thorough analysis of the political context, the characteristic features of an epoch, the structures of political societies, the interaction of profound forces and the world political system. This humanitarian policy in its turn entails the development of a humanitarian strategy which is distinct from the tactical moves imposed by the diversity of situations and crises. Neglect of this work of reflection results in contradiction and confusion and, worse still, humanitarian activity can be degraded into a tool of politics.

Humanitarianism and Racial Subordination: John Mackenzie and the Transformation of Tswana Society

the controversy over the nature of colonial administration, especially as it affected Africans. This paper will examine the proposals submitted by one of the era's leading protagonists, the missionary John Mackenzie, for solving what Europeans in South Africa called the native problem. Although his concepts were never implemented, they have continued to attract the attention of historians; opinion in South Africa about Africans and the way they should be governed has been influenced by Mackenzie's ideas to the present day. As Anthony Sillery put it, "Mackenzie's importance does not lie so much in what he did as in what he said .... Where Mackenzie's aims were not pursued his prophecies of doom came true with dramatic suddenness."2 The implication of this argument is that had Mackenzie's policy proposals been adopted the African experience under British rule would have been fundamentally different. According to Ake Holmberg, "It was a humanitarian policy since there can be no doubt that the protection of the Bechuana was the core of it."'3 I propose to show, however, that while Mackenzie's scheme was more humanitarian than those submit-

Confronting Total War: A “Global” Humanitarian Policy

All humanitarian action takes place in a political context, and has, therefore, a political content. This means that all “humanitarian” organizations, such as those operating under the sig of the Red Cross, have a duty to define a humanitarian policy which will be valid in the long term, based on a thorough analysis of the political context, the main characteristics of an epoch, the political societies of our time, and the world political system. Such a humanitarian policy entails in turn the development of a humanitarian strategy which is distinct from the tactical moves imposed by varying crises. Neglect of this work of reflection leads to contradiction and confusion and, worse still, the degradation of humanitarian action to the level of a political instrument.

Peaceful Coexistence and International Cooperation

The persistent struggle waged by the Soviet Union and the other socialist countries for peaceful coexistence among states with differing social systems has greatly increased the authority of this humanitarian policy in the eyes of the peoples of the world. Belligerent appeals for an outright rejection of peaceful coexistence heard less and less frequently, even among the ideologists of imperialism. They compelled to adapt themselves to the situation and to camouflage themselves with the masks of the peacemaker. Bourgeois professors of social science say they for peace and peaceful coexistence. However, these concepts sometimes given such a distorted interpretation that all real content evaporates. Peaceful coexistence and the cold war, we read, for example, in the words of the British professor, Hugh Seton-Watson, are literally the same thing. (1) [All quotations from non-Russian sources retranslated from the Russian.] Thus, a single sentence suffices, by an act of sophistry, to tr...

Trends in Native Policy in the Belgian Congo

There are two conceptions of the policy which should govern a colony; on the one hand the purely selfish view of the coloniser who considers the subdued land merely a source of inexhaustible wealth, on the other the more moral conception of the coloniser who recognizes the duties besides the privileges attaching to the colonial contract, and in view of the great benefits he derives from the colony feels duty-bound to adopt a liberal attitude towards the natives and to use every effort in raising their moral standards and promoting their economic advancement. Experience shows this humanitarian policy to be the one which is the most beneficial to the interests of the metropolis. This has been evidenced in the Belgian Congo. Belgium is a new-comer in colonial enterprise. When in 1908 she received the Congo from her King, Leopold II, she had none of the colonial traditions with which nations such as Great Britain and the Netherlands can pride themselves. She firmly intended however to redress the errors committed by the Independent State but lacked the necessary experience. The direct administration, the policy of assimilation were in existence over a long period. It was desired to turn the Congo natives into black-skinned Belgians and rapidly change them into citizens understanding European customs, obeying Belgian laws, accepting Belgium's institutions, assimilating our technological, individualistic and Christian civilization. This was a very ambitious policy scornful at the same time of the existing state of affairs. This is the conquest stage and that of the period immediately following on it; every colony has passed through this stage, even the colonies of States more expert than Belgium was. Colonials are very often strongly prejudiced regarding the hereditary and irremediable inferiority of the Negro race. When they arrive in Africa, entirely ignorant of the native tongue and customs, they are unable to conceive the existence of any social organization, and therefore deny it. It nevertheless exists. The tribes do not all live in the same manner; some are hunters, others agriculturists or shepherds. There is always, however, a great similitude in the main features of their political systems and social life. They are, further, characterized by a strong spirit of collectivism. They have a judiciary organization which is very practical and almost entirely of a civil nature: a marriage or a murder both entitle the clan to compensation inasmuch as it is thereby deprived of one of its members. The right to hold land is determined by the occupying and effective exploiting of the latter. Many other rules govern the tribe, namely, the inheritance laws, marriage laws, religious beliefs, all of which however of too complex a nature to be described briefly. There is also an economic organization where the function of each mem-

A Recent Deployment of the Latin Americas in Support of a Diplomatic and Humanitarian Policy Initiated by the American Government

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