The Politics of Humanity

Recently, I had the opportunity to hear John Holmes (UN Under-Secretary–General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator between 2007 and 2010) speak in Oxford on ‘The Politics of Humanity’,  an honest evaluation of the world of humanitarian relief aid based on his recent book of the same name.

John Holmes in Oxford

John spoke of his experiences of missions to Sri Lanka, Darfur, and the DRC Congo and the challenge of being an emergency relief coordinator. ‘What was he supposed to be coordinating? The International humanitarian set-up is not a ‘system’ in any recognizable sense. Rather it is a collection of organizations and groups which have, over the years, been morally impelled to alleviate the world’s misery’. As the overall emergency relief coordinator, he had no authority to command the aid organization to do things in a certain way. His job was made more difficult by the diverse nature of humanitarian aid organizations with different mandates.

He saw crisis from both sides: the reality on the ground in some of the bleakest places on earth, as well as the strategic view from a comfortable diplomatic chair. He revealed the difficulty of being true to humanitarian principles, particularly in conflict settings where governments tried to use humanitarian aid for their own political aims. ‘Humanitarian relief must not be used for political or security purposes, still less withheld for such resources, or manipulated in other ways. Humanitarian aid is a moral imperative, not part of anyone’s stabilization strategy’.

In closing, he stated that of we must invest more in disaster risk reduction to have a reasonable chance of keeping pace with the growing need otherwise the world may face huge catastrophes without the means to tackle them effectively.

I recommend his book to anyone wanting to learn more about the challenges of applying humanitarian principles in a political world.