International Humanitarian Action Research Articles

Security of Food, Civilians and Combatants Under Human Rights Laws in Times of War

Objective: The International humanitarian law addresses the tension between safeguarding people and preserving the rights of soldiers within the intricate context of armed conflicts. The proposal sets up an in-depth examination of the complex processes that support the public and armed forces within this crucial legal framework in times of conflict. The core proposal, traces the evolution of armed conflicts and international humanitarian law from their earliest days to their present-day manifestations. The Conventions of Geneva and their supplementary protocols form the basis that allows the safety of civilians and ensure the foods in war zones. The significance of differentiating between those fighting and those living in a war zone, a core premise of international humanitarian law, is clarified. The proposed concept of proportionality is investigated, bringing down the complex math that goes into balancing military requirements with the desire to prevent civilian injury. The theoretical framework offers instances taken from earlier times and current moments that illustrate the quiet interplay of these ideas. The implementation of international humanitarian law poses major challenges in an atmosphere marked by non-governmental organizations, unconventional strategies, and technological advances. The work analyzes these contemporary challenges and highlights the fuzzy boundary that divides combatants and people in this time of increased uncertainty. Migration, lack of food, mortality, and lifelong communal traumas often rush to the head when citizen safety is violated.
 
 Method: The security of Civilians based on Human Rights (SC-HR) of war emphasizes the core principles of humanitarian law even amid conflict, emphasizing the crucial function for international organizations and humanitarian actors in alleviating humanitarian pain.
 
 Result: The proposal provides an expression of the fundamental rights of combatants by explaining the safety measures and food provided to these individuals by international humanitarian law.
 
 Conclusion: This inquiry exposes the complex balancing act of contemporary combat as it tries to reconcile these liberties with the demands of the armed forces. The proposed method focuses on the processes employed for upholding international humanitarian law.

Гуманітарна діяльність в умовах війни в Україні

This article is devoted to the study of humanitarian action of the international and national actors in Ukraine. The urgency of the work is driven by the deepening of the humanitarian crisis against the background of the continuation of the active phase of the Russia-Ukraine war. The purpose of the article is to generalize the contextual changes of humanitarian action in Ukraine, including institutional, sectoral, managerial and other aspects. The novelty of the study consists in the formulation of proposals for the activation of humanitarian action in Ukraine at the national and local levels, which are rethought through the prism of the international humanitarian system and the features of humanitarian response in Ukraine. The desk research of open sources which is supported by a review of the latest thematic publications, operational summaries, data sets and their analysis is used for this purpose. An overview of the modern international humanitarian system, the main tools and mechanisms of humanitarian response is provided. International and domestic categorical apparatuses in the field of humanitarian action are compared. New dimensions of the humanitarian crisis, systemic challenges and operational problems of humanitarian response that arose after February 24, 2022 in Ukraine are summarized. The funding for humanitarian needs of Ukraine over the past decade has been analyzed, including interagency response plans for Ukraine for 2022 (the Flash Appeal and the Regional Refugee Response Plan). The humanitarian response at the international and national levels has been studied. It has been concluded that humanitarian action in Ukraine is based on reliable tools, mechanisms and models of the international humanitarian system, as well as on its own humanitarian traditions and initiatives. Together, they ensure the effectiveness and efficiency of humanitarian response and contribute to unprecedented financial support for Ukraine in the global dimension. Thanks to this, in a fairly short time, a new space for humanitarian action began to form in Ukraine, in which the presence of international and national humanitarian actors was expanded and the interaction of humanitarian actors was improved.

Unravelling Humanitarian Narratives

International humanitarian actors, such as non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and United Nations agencies, often focus on gender norm change when conducting gender analysis among refugees and internally displaced persons. Dominant humanitarian narratives about gender in research reports, assessments and technical guidance reveal an underlying belief that displacement is causative – an external, intervening force. In such analysis, colonial and neoliberal ideologies may influence how refugees’ lives are represented, resulting in depictions of lack of modernity, tradition and culture as overarching (yet ill-defined) forces, and women and girls as vulnerable by default. Such analysis is frequently ahistorical, presented without analysis of the pre-displacement situation. This paper explores and challenges humanitarian narratives about gender norm change during displacement. It is based on feminist ethnographic research in Jordan with Syrian women and men as well as interviews with humanitarian workers. The paper demonstrates that assumptions about lack of empowerment of Syrian women and men may be misguided, identifying both subtle and more overt forms of Syrian women’s and men’s resistance’ to expected norms. It urges humanitarian actors to use ‘resistance’ as an alternative to analysing ‘change’, recognise heterogeneity within populations, resist ‘rapid’ data collection, challenge paternalistic and colonial stereotypes, and reflect complexity in analysis.

Impediments to localization agenda: humanitarian space in the Rohingya response in Bangladesh

The article spotlights the impediments of the localization agenda in the Rohingya response in Bangladesh through the notion of humanitarian space. The Rohingyas rely entirely on material aid and humanitarian services in the camps, mainly stemming from international actors committed to the localization agenda, which, however, has not been effectively implemented. Drawing on the definition of humanitarian space as an arena, we investigate the main negotiations within humanitarian space in the Rohingya response and how they impede the realization of the localization agenda. We conducted secondary data analysis on reports published by organizations involved and validated the findings with ten telephone interviews with organizations in Bangladesh. We identified three main negotiations. First, negotiation on the nature of the partnership between local and international humanitarian actors, including the debates on the definition of “local”; second, negotiation concerning the characteristics and appreciation of local capacity; and third, the negotiation related to constraints within the operating environment for humanitarian actors in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh. We conclude that the lens of humanitarian space is necessary for further understanding the dynamics impeding localization in the Rohingya response in particular and humanitarian action in general.

Covid-19 and Urban Migrants in the Horn of Africa: Lived Citizenship and Everyday Humanitarianism

This article focuses on the everyday humanitarianism of migrant communities in three cities in the Horn of Africa: Nairobi, Addis Ababa, and Khartoum. It is framed around the concept of lived citizenship, defined as a means to secure wellbeing through everyday acts and practices. Based on an analysis of comparative interview data among Eritrean and Ethiopian migrant communities in each city, the article argues that the Covid-19 pandemic has impacted lived citizenship practices to different degrees, linked to previous forms of precarity, and the means and networks of coping with those. Disruptions of transnational support networks resulted in a turn towards local networks and everyday practices of solidarity. These forms of everyday humanitarianism range from spontaneous to more organised forms, united by a perceived lack of involvement by international humanitarian actors and the local state. The article raises important questions in relation to transnational humanitarian action in a global crisis.

Humanitarianism at home

Australia has faced various unprecedented challenges in recent years: the extended bushfire season of 2019–20, wide-spread and increasingly severe storms and flooding, and the grave health and socio-economic impacts of the global COVID-19 pandemic. Such events have prompted greater awareness of our shared vulnerability to disasters. They have also exacerbated food insecurity, homelessness, poverty, family violence, and increased the vulnerability of refugees and people seeking asylum in Australia. Where disasters and similar issues are identified in low-income countries, they are typically framed in terms of humanitarian need and may even be the subject of international humanitarian action. Why is it then, that the language and practices of humanitarianism are not ordinarily applied in Australian settings? What indeed is humanitarianism when it is not international? What, if anything, do international experiences of humanitarianism have to offer in Australian contexts? This paper describes a research program that has been prompted by these questions and shares some preliminary findings concerning the perspectives of Australian practitioners on the relevance of humanitarian values, knowledge, and practices in Australia.

Faith in localisation? The experiences of local faith actors engaging with the international humanitarian system in South Sudan

Localisation, as it aims to shift power in the humanitarian system, will involve the increased inclusion of local faith actors, those national and local faith-affiliated groups and organisations that are often first, and last, responders in crises and have been responding in humanitarian contexts for many years, but often in parallel to humanitarian coordination mechanisms. In primary research in South Sudan with local faith actors and international humanitarian actors, this article aims to examine the inroads and barriers to local faith actor involvement in the humanitarian system and the realisation of localisation with local actors such as these. The research is based on an ethnographic study in which researchers were imbedded in a humanitarian project that aimed to help bridge divides between local faith actors and the international humanitarian system. The findings are based on one-on-one and group interviews with 89 participants from a range of international and local, and faith and secular, organisations. Findings indicate that local faith actors are active in responding to crises and want to be linked to the humanitarian system, but they feel distanced from it and pigeonholed as local faith actors. Formalisation through the appropriate registration systems and then training and networking with the humanitarian system helped them build legitimacy and feel confident to participate in humanitarian coordination. International humanitarian actors can help bridge barriers by understanding and connecting with the local faith actors and challenging their own assumptions about who local faith actors are.

Building Africa’s Homegrown Humanitarian Systems: Restoration as an Alternative to Localization

Many humanitarian actors now recognize that it is crucial to build response structures on the basis of the norms, knowledge, and institutions of those affected by disasters. Currently, this concept has been captured through the term localization. However, the use of localization both as a term and process has so far been done without critical reflection on the traditional meaning of the term, and the impact of its historical application. It has also come about without proper historicization of the broader localization process and how this related to historical antecedents. This paper problematizes localization as a troubled term that describes a concept that has been applied in the past to help erode the homegrown humanitarian initiatives that Africans started. It draws attention to how international humanitarian actors established themselves in Africa as a process of localization which eventually contributed to the erosion of the homegrown initiatives that they interacted with. Given its historically erosive effects on homegrown initiatives, localization, the paper argues, is a troubled term that cannot be redeemed or repurposed for the current attempt to build humanitarian action on homegrown structures. A more reflective and appropriate term is restoration, which not only recognises this history of erosion, but repairs historical mistakes, and ensures that homegrown structures are built in a sustainable manner that avoids a repeat of those mistakes. Restoration in practice should be based on self-determination, and will depend on the leadership of African states, their ability to create a conducive environment for homegrown NGOs to thrive, and the successful synergies they build with other restoration processes across the continent. International actors will have to intentionally reconcile themselves with their erosion footprints, exercise restraint, and scale back their involvement so that local actors can gain the space to evolve. The paper concludes that all this starts with the ability of those leading the process to build homegrown structures to imagine an alternative humanitarian future.

The International Committee of the Red Cross and support for civilian self-protection in Colombia

ABSTRACT How can international humanitarian actors support civilians in their efforts to protect themselves during armed conflicts? This study analyzes the wartime interactions between international organizations and communities with a particular focus on the International Committee of the Red Cross’s (ICRC) community-based protection activities. Although civilians are often viewed as weak and vulnerable noncombatants, the ICRC and other humanitarians can provide communities with crucial backing to implement nonviolent self-protection strategies. I examine these ICRC-community interactions in the municipality of El Bagre in northern Colombia in 2017 during a period of active contestation between ELN insurgents and BACRIM neo-paramilitary groups as the FARC insurgents withdrew from the area. Through participant-observation during an ICRC delegation deployment as well as interviews with civilians and ICRC staff, I find that the ICRC sharing of protection tactics, facilitation of inter-community cooperation, and other technical assistance catalyzed the civilians’ agency and their innovative efforts to avoid, negotiate with, or protest the armed groups. The civilians’ successes and perceptions of security were often amplified because of ICRC involvement. The insights suggest future research agendas and approaches for protecting civilian populations in Colombia and beyond.

Understanding the cognitive gap between humanitarians and survivors during humanitarian operations

PurposeThis article intended to add clarity about the role of symbolic constructions used by humanitarian executives and disaster survivors to relate with one another. Design/methodology/approachA total of 30 purposefully sampled decision-makers were interviewed using a semi-structured questionnaire. The conversations were transcribed in full and analyzed using a deductive approach. The article undergoes an analysis of the institutional logics that are used by both collectives in the aftermath of a disaster. Data from field research trips to Mexico, Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, and Mozambique were also used. Research limitations/implicationsConsidering the limited amount of data collected, the findings of this article cannot be considered representative of the global humanitarian community. But it provides crucial insights to open a new field of research that has not received enough attention yet: the role of symbolic constructions in the relationship between different collectives during international humanitarian interventions. FindingsThe research supports that disasters affect the cognitive structures of international humanitarian actors and local stakeholders alike but in different ways. Because of this, their post-disaster institutional systems are unarguably different. ImplicationsConsequently, how they perceive and interpret the new post-disaster reality is different, having important implications in the way they relate.

Competing authorities and norms of restraint: governing community-embedded armed groups in South Sudan

International humanitarian actors and academics continue to struggle to understand armed group conduct and how to restrain this conduct when it violates moral, legal and humanitarian norms. Armed g...

Healthcare governance during humanitarian responses: a survey of current practice among international humanitarian actors

BackgroundLarge international humanitarian actors support and directly deliver health services for millions of people in crises annually, and wield considerable power to decide which health services to provide, how and to whom, across a vast spectrum of health areas. Despite decades of reform aiming to improve accountability in the sector, public health practice among humanitarian actors is not heavily scrutinized in either the countries where they are headquartered or those where they provide healthcare. We surveyed current healthcare governance practice among large international humanitarian actors to better understand what organisations are doing to ensure oversight and accountability for health services in humanitarian responses.MethodsThe term ‘healthcare governance’ was defined and categorised into seven domains: implementation of health management information systems (HMIS) and use of resulting data; professional development of health sector staff; audits of health service performance; management of clinical incidents; evidence-based practice; pharmaceutical supply; and beneficiary engagement. Senior health professionals at 32 leading international actors providing humanitarian health services were contacted between July and August 2019 to complete a 109-question online survey about their organisation’s practice in these domains.ResultsRespondents from 13 organisations completed the questionnaire. Healthcare governance practices were undertaken to varying degrees by all organisations but were often driven by donor requirements and external factors rather than improvement of programme performance. Common strengths were the inclusion of governance in organisational policies, high availability of technical guidelines, and close monitoring of pharmaceutical services. Recurring weaknesses were poor beneficiary engagement, inconsistent use of health information for decision making, unsystematic implementation of healthcare audits, inconsistent management of clinical incidents, and lack of training and professional development opportunities.ConclusionsTo our knowledge, this is the first study to describe healthcare governance practice among humanitarian actors. Leading international humanitarian healthcare providers are already implementing many healthcare governance activities; however, these are inconsistently applied and generally not reflective of systematic policies or earmarked organisational resources. There is a need for sector-wide consensus on how the humanitarian sector defines healthcare governance, the domains that constitute it, which actors in the humanitarian system are implicated, and how malpractice should be systematically addressed.

Mapping Complex Systems: Responses to Intimate Partner Violence Against Women in Three Refugee Camps

Armed conflict and forced migration are associated with an increase in intimate partner violence (IPV) against women. Yet as risks of IPV intensify, familiar options for seeking help dissipate as families and communities disperse and seek refuge in a foreign country. The reconfiguration of family and community systems, coupled with the presence of local and international humanitarian actors, introduces significant changes to IPV response pathways. Drawing from intensive fieldwork, this article examines response options available to women seeking help for IPV in refugee camps against the backdrop of efforts to localize humanitarian assistance. This study employed a qualitative approach to study responses to IPV in three refugee camps: Ajuong Thok (South Sudan), Dadaab (Kenya), and Domiz (Iraqi Kurdistan). In each location, data collection activities were conducted with women survivors of IPV, members of the general refugee community, refugee leaders, and service providers. The sample included 284 individuals. Employing visual mapping techniques, analysis of data from these varied sources described help seeking and response pathways in the three camps, and the ways in which women engaged with various systems. The analysis revealed distinct pathways for seeking help in the camps, with several similarities across contexts. Women in all three locations often “persevered” in an abusive partnership for extended periods before seeking help. When women did seek help, it was predominantly with family members initially, and then community-based mechanisms. Across camps, participants typically viewed engaging formal IPV responses as a last resort. Differences between camp settings highlighted the importance of understanding complex informal systems, and the availability of organizational responses, which influenced the sequence and speed with which formal systems were engaged. The findings indicate that key factors in bridging formal and community-based systems in responding to IPV in refugee camps include listening to women and understanding their priorities, recognizing the importance of women in camps maintaining life-sustaining connections with their families and communities, engaging communities in transformative change, and shifting power and resources to local women-led organizations.

Disaster Governance in Conflict-Affected Authoritarian Contexts: The Cases of Ethiopia, Myanmar, and Zimbabwe

Disaster governance in conflict areas is of growing academic concern, but most existing research comprises either single case studies or studies of a variety of country contexts that group all types of conflict together. Based on three case studies, this article offers a middle-ground scenario-based approach, focusing on disaster governance in authoritarian contexts experiencing low-intensity conflict. Low-intensity conflict is characterized by intense political tensions and violence that is more readily expressed in ways other than direct physical harm. Inspired by Olson’s (2000) maxim that disasters are intrinsically political, this article explores the politics of disaster response by asking what is at stake and what happened, unpacking these questions for state, civil society, and international humanitarian actors. Using data from a total of one year of qualitative fieldwork, the article analyzes disaster governance in 2016 drought-ridden Ethiopia, marked by protests and a State of Emergency; 2015 flooded Myanmar, characterized by explosive identity politics; and 2016–2019 drought-ridden Zimbabwe, with its intense socioeconomic and political turbulence. The study’s findings show how framing and power processes in disaster governance—comprising state and non-state actors—largely lean toward the state, with the consequence that political interests, rather than needs assessments, steer who and what will be protected from disaster impact.

A proteção aos Agentes Humanitários Internacionais: o caso do Sudão do Sul

Este artigo aborda o tema da proteção dada aos agentes humanitários internacionais que se encontram em zonas de conflito, atuando em Organizações Não-Governamentais (ONGs) ou Organizações Internacionais (OIs), uma vez que eles são constantemente alvos de ataques pelas partes conflitantes. Por meio de um estudo de caso e uma pesquisa documental, histórica e bibliográfica, objetiva-se entender qual a relevância da assistência humanitária para os civis nesses locais e o quão problemáticas são as ações cometidas contra esses servidores que ali estão para prover ao menos o mínimo necessário para a sobrevivência da população. Utiliza-se o caso do Sudão do Sul que está vivenciando um intenso conflito e em que dados apresentam índices alarmantes sobre as necessidades de sua população, mas onde, ainda assim, os agentes humanitários acabam sendo atacados ao realizarem seu trabalho. A partir desse caso, demonstram-se os problemas acarretados pela falta de proteção e segurança para os servidores humanitários, o que também afeta a população civil.

The relationship between armed conflict and reproductive, maternal, newborn and child health and nutrition status and services in northeastern Nigeria: a mixed-methods case study

BackgroundArmed conflict between the militant Islamist group Boko Haram, other insurgents, and the Nigerian military has principally affected three states of northeastern Nigeria (Borno, Adamawa, Yobe) since 2002. An intensification of the conflict in 2009 brought the situation to increased international visibility. However, full-scale humanitarian intervention did not occur until 2016. Even prior to this period of armed conflict, reproductive, maternal, neonatal, and child health indicators were extremely low in the region. The presence of local and international humanitarian actors, in the form of United Nations agencies and non-governmental organizations, working in concert with concerned federal, state, and local entities of the Government of Nigeria, were able to prioritize and devise strategies for the delivery of health services that resulted in marked improvement of health status in the subset of the population in which this could be measured. Prospects for the future remain uncertain.MethodsInterviews were conducted with more than 60 respondents from government, United Nations agencies, and national and international non-governmental organizations. Quantitative data on intervention coverage indicators from publicly available national surveys (Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS), Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys (MICS)), National Nutrition and Health Surveys (NNHS)) were descriptively analyzed.ResultsOverall, indicators of low reproductive, maternal, neonatal, and child health (RMNCH) status and intervention coverage were found in the pre-intervention period (prior to 2016) and important improvements were noted following the arrival of international humanitarian assistance, even while armed conflict and adverse conditions persisted. Security issues, workforce limitations, and inadequate financing were frequently cited obstacles.ConclusionIt is assumed that armed conflict would have a negative impact on the health status of the affected population, but pre-conflict indicators can be so depressed that this effect is difficult to measure. When this is the case, health sector intervention by the international community can often result in marked improvements in the accessible population. What might happen upon the departure of the humanitarian organizations cannot be predicted with an appreciable degree of certainty.

Do Non-State Armed Groups Have a Legal Right to Consent to Offers of International Humanitarian Relief?

Abstract During non-international armed conflicts, fighting parties have repeatedly denied international humanitarian relief to the civilian population under their territorial control leaving them at the brink of starvation. Debates on criminal accountability for violating the prohibition of the use of starvation against the civilian population as a method of warfare have yet to address the question of ownership of the right to consent to offers of international humanitarian relief before criminalising their denial. In respect of such right to consent at the strategic level, there are divergent interpretations on the application of the principle of symmetrical rights and obligations of fighting parties in the realm of international humanitarian relief. Humanitarian and state-centric perspectives, respectively, grant or deny non-state armed groups an independent right to consent to offers of international humanitarian relief. The humanitarian perspective argues that the asymmetry of such right in favour of the government party to the conflict and at the expense of the non-state armed groups is no longer justified, especially when the right of control at the operational level (after an offer has been accepted) is equally bestowed upon all parties to the conflict. The state-centric perspective defends the exclusive right of the government party to the conflict and fears that an equal right to strategic consent for non-state armed groups would increase their legitimacy. This study argues that neutrality upheld by international humanitarian relief actors, including impartial humanitarian bodies, such as the ICRC, and the Security Council gives rise to an interdependent exercise of the right to strategic consent by all fighting parties instead.

The Haiti Humanitarian Response Course: A Novel Approach to Local Responder Training in International Humanitarian Response.

Countries most affected by disasters are often those with limited local capacity to respond. When local capacity is overwhelmed, international humanitarian response often provides needs-based emergency response. Despite global progress in education and the development of international humanitarian response standards, access to training and integration of local actors in response mechanisms remains limited. In May 2017, the Haiti Humanitarian Response Course (HHRC) was implemented in Mirebalais, Haiti to increase local capacity and allow for effective future engagement with international humanitarian actors in a country prone to disasters. In collaboration with the Hôpital Universitaire de Mirebalais' (HUM; Mirebalais, Haiti) Department of Medical Education and Emergency Medicine (EM) residency program, four physicians from the Division of Global Emergency Care and Humanitarian Studies at Brigham and Women's Hospital (Boston, Massachusetts USA) facilitated the course, which included 53 local physicians and staff. Following 15 hours of online pre-course preparation, through didactics and practical small-group exercises, the course focused on key components of international humanitarian response, minimum standards for effective response, and the roles of key response players. The course was free to participants and taught in English and French. The HHRC reduced the barriers often faced by local actors who seek training in international humanitarian response by offering free training in their own community. It presents a novel approach to narrow critical gaps in training local populations in international humanitarian response, especially in environments prone to crises and disasters. This approach can help local responders better access international humanitarian response mechanisms when the local response capacity is exhausted or overwhelmed. The HHRC demonstrates a potential new model for humanitarian and disaster training and offers a model for similar programs in other disaster-prone countries. Ultimately, local capacity building could lead to more efficient resource utilization, improved knowledge sharing, and better disaster response.

Enacting the ‘civilian plus’: International humanitarian actors and the conceptualization of distinction

AbstractThe civilian-combatant frame persists as the main legal lens through which lawyers organize the relationships of conflict zone actors. As a result, little attention has been paid in international legal scholarship to different gradations of ‘civilianness’ and the ways in which some civilians might compete to distinguish themselves from each other. Drawing attention to international humanitarian actors – particularly those working for NGOs – this article explores the micro-strategies these actors engage in to negotiate their relative status in war. Original qualitative empirical findings from South Sudan illuminate the way in which humanitarians struggle over distinction with individuals working for the UN peacekeeping mission, UNMISS. As is shown, humanitarian actors are doing away with a static civilian-combatant binary in their daily practice. A more fluid logic informs both their self-conceptualization and their interactions with others who share the operational space. Humanitarian actors envision civilianness as a contingent concept, and they operate according to a continuum along which everything is a matter of degree and subtle gradation. As civilianness is detached from the civilian, any given actor might acquire or shed civilian-like, or combatant-like, characteristics at any moment. The distinction practices that humanitarian actors enact can be understood as a bid for legibility, so that they might be rendered intelligible in international law and in the eyes of other actors as a special kind of civilian – the ‘civilian plus’.

The ‘third gender’ in Afghanistan: a feminist account of hybridity as a gendered experience

ABSTRACTThis article offers a significant contribution to critical peace studies and feminist peace studies by exploring an undertheorized manifestation of hybridity and friction in Afghanistan from a feminist perspective. It focuses on female international humanitarian actors, their use of the term ‘third gender’ to describe their perceived position, and their experiences of performing their gender in hybridised ways. Using original interview data, it argues that the particularly gendered experiences of these actors are key to recognising the gendered nature of peacebuilding and the intersections between feminist approaches and critical peace concepts.