Humanitarian assistance: goals, principles and interesting facts

2024 Author: Henry Conors | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-12 02:41

Humanitarian assistance is the provision of voluntary gratuitous assistance to the population affected by various emergency situations: military operations, natural disasters, etc. The main purpose of such events is to alleviate the plight of people in a disaster.

History of occurrence

In the 18th-19th centuries. missionary organizations in Europe and North America were engaged in preaching Christianity in distant countries and providing assistance. Thanks to the activities of religious communities, residents of developed countries realized the importance of humanitarian assistance and began to provide them with financial support.

An important stage in the development of international humanitarian law is the emergence of the "Red Cross". The first international committee of this organization met in 1863. The Red Cross began its activities during the Franco-Prussian War (1870-1871). He provided assistance to the victims and organized postal communication between prisoners of war and their families.

Humanitarian aid appeared in the Russian Empireeven earlier: at the beginning of the Crimean War (1853), at the suggestion of Grand Duchess Elena Pavlovna, the Ex altation of the Cross Community of Sisters of Mercy appeared. The organization provided assistance to the wounded on the battlefield.

The Geneva Conventions, adopted from 1864 to 1949, form the basis of international humanitarian law. They established the principles according to which assistance is provided to combatants and civilians in time of war.

The significance of humanitarian aid increased after the 2 world wars, when many states were in a state of ruin. Established in 1945, the United Nations has set as its goal the strengthening of world peace, the development of international assistance to restore the economies of countries.

In the 1960s. the attention of the international community shifted to developing countries that got rid of colonial dependence and needed economic assistance.

Humanitarian organizations within the UN

Since the end of World War II, the United Nations and its specialized agencies have been central to the support organization. She is still involved in humanitarian aid to this day.

1. The Office for Coordination is a structural subdivision of the UN Secretariat. This body is responsible for mobilizing various organizations to provide humanitarian assistance in a specific situation. It has at its disposal the Emergency Response Fund (CERF), which provides operational material support to the affected regions.
2. ProgramUnited Nations Development Organization is engaged in the reconstruction of regions affected by natural disasters.
3. The World Food Program provides assistance in all refugee situations.
4. UNICEF is committed to protecting children in situations that threaten their survival.

NGOs

In addition to the most famous humanitarian organization - the Red Cross, there are other international associations that provide assistance. Doctors Without Borders is an organization that works both during armed clashes and in peacetime. It is engaged in the provision of affordable medical care: vaccination, the implementation of preventive measures, and work in hospitals. Amnesty International provides assistance to people in prisons and prisoners of war.

Goals

According to Article 1 of the UN Charter, one of the tasks of international cooperation is the joint resolution of social, cultural, economic and humanitarian problems. In addition, the international community is committed to the development of human rights and freedoms. Humanitarian assistance is an operational tool aimed at achieving these goals. In emergency situations, it solves the following tasks:

1. Ensure the survival and he alth of people affected by natural disasters, military conflicts, man-made disasters.
2. Restore independent operation of life support services.
3. Return tonormal economic activity and infrastructure.

Principles of delivery

The activities of the Red Cross and the Red Crescent have developed 7 principles for the provision of humanitarian assistance: humanity, neutrality, impartiality, voluntariness, independence, universality and unity. The Geneva Conventions highlight the principles of humanity and impartiality that characterize humanitarian action.

• Humanity is the sole purpose of any medical or social assistance. The purpose of humanitarian action is to protect the individual.
• Impartiality requires that assistance be given without any preference based on race, religion or political beliefs. First of all, assistance should be provided to those who need it most.

Other principles also apply to humanitarian action, but are subject to various controversies.

• Independence. The activities of the organization must be free from financial, ideological, military pressure.
• Neutrality. If the subject provides assistance to victims of hostilities, he may not be interested in a military conflict. Relief actions should not be interpreted as hostile to any party to the conflict.

The Operational Principles apply to specific humanitarian assistance activities. They give organizations the rights and responsibilities to effectivelyhelp in a specific situation.

• Free access to victims of armed conflict.
• The right to provide he alth care anytime, anywhere.
• The right to help the population in case of lack of vital resources.
• Control over the distribution of aid depending on existing needs.

Events

Humanitarian assistance is provided through the following operations:

1. Informing government agencies, public associations and international organizations, as well as joining forces.
2. Direct provision of medical and material assistance to the affected population. Providing medicine, food, shelter, etc.
3. Organization of access for humanitarian organizations to the victims.
4. Providing technical equipment for emergency response.

Problems

The provision of humanitarian assistance by the state in a military conflict is a situation that always causes a lot of controversy. In the conditions of armed confrontation, it is difficult to assess the true intentions of the state, which provides support to the victims. In some cases, this or that country takes these actions, guided by its geopolitical interests, for example, wanting to increase its influence in a foreign region, to interfere in the internal affairs of another state. In international law, there is the concept of humanitarian intervention, which means foreign intervention indomestic policy of the country in order to protect human rights and end the threat to security. Examples of this phenomenon include the following situations:

• NATO intervention in the 1995 Bosnian War and 1999 Yugoslav conflict
• British, French and US intervention in the civil war in Libya (2011).

Humanitarian aid in Russia

The Ministry of Emergency Situations acts on behalf of Russia in international cooperation in emergency response. The body operates on the basis of international agreements of the Russian Federation concluded with the UN, NATO, ICDO, the EU, the UAE and other countries. According to the report on the results of the activities of the Ministry of Emergency Situations in 2017, Russia sent humanitarian aid to the population of Yemen, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Vietnam, Sri Lanka, Cuba, and Mexico. A total of 36 operations were performed. The Ministry of Emergency Situations of Russia helps foreign states in extinguishing fires, clearing mines, and evacuating seriously ill people. The Russian Federation sent 13 convoys of humanitarian aid to the south-east of Ukraine, to the zone of armed clashes.