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Global Humanitarian

Assistance

 

 

The aim of Global Humanitarian Assistance is to compile all the existing data to keep track of all the financial resources used for humanitarian assistance purposes. They substantiate their point for the importance of such an organization by the following arguments:

 

  • Every individual defines "humanitarian assistance" in their own way;

  • There are large numbers of people involved in humanitarian activities, but not all their attempts are taken into consideration;

  • They set up the first source that brings reliable data and analysis.

 

This organization is inextricably linked to the UN. However, in contrast with the constructive criticism directed at UN Aid, Global Humanitarian Assistance sets its priorities in a right way.

According to David Chandler’s book The Road to Military Humanitarianism: How the Human Rights NGOs Shaped a New Humanitarian Agenda, modern NGOs swayed from individuals and human’s needs to the legitimate base and politics[2]. In other words, they want to provide coherent legal framework in the first place instead of focusing on grievances that people might have.

 

However, Global Humanitarian Assistance remains one out of few organizations, which still defines humanitarian aid in a proper way and shapes its the content putting an emphasis on human needs and future perspectives in that area.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Links to the sources used:

 [1] Global Humanitarian Assistance. The 2014 UN appeal. Different process, greater needs. Kerry Smith, Sophia Swithern. December 2013. Page 4.

[2] Benavides B. Reviewing Chandler’s Critique of NGOs’ “New Humanitarian Agenda”: a Push for Self-Sustainability. Dec. 12th, 2012. Retrieved from http://www.lgjf.org/2012/12/reviewing-chandlers-critique-of-ngos-new-humanitarian-agenda-a-push-for-self-sustainability/

[3] Defining Humanitarian Assistance. Retrieved from http://www.globalhumanitarianassistance.org/data-guides/defining-humanitarian-aid

[4] Kopinak D. Humanitarian Aid: Are Effectiveness and Sustainability Impossible Dreams? // The Journal of Humanitarian Assistance, March 10, 2013. Retrieved from http://sites.tufts.edu/jha/archives/1935

 

In their interpretation, humanitarian assistance is “aid and action designed to save lives, alleviate suffering and maintain and protect human dignity during and in the aftermath of emergencies”[3]

The concept revolves around human dignity which remains the principle concern for the organization. Choosing between Emergency/Relief and Rehabilitation/Development Organizations Global Humanitarian Assistance provides the information according to the latter principle. Janice Kopinak emphasizes the following principles of Rehabilitation/Development Organization[4] which can also be applied to GHA activity:

 

  • They focus on slow pace humanitarian activities (for example, ongoing resolution of the crisis in Central African Republic which was mostly neglected by other organizations);

  • They touch upon long-term projects (displacement crisis in Columbia unfolding since 1996);

  • They tend to emphasize proactive rehabilitation activities (situation in Uganda, moving away from grave crisis, but still lacking in structural transformation);

  • They provide multidimensional perspective (during Arab Spring they introduced data on material relief, emergency food aid and communications relief);

  • Actions mean root causes for GHA (again, in Uganda they aim not only at eradicating poverty but also at establishing new institutions to alleviate the causes of poverty);

  • Low Media Attention (GHA reports do not receive broad news coverage);

  • Their target is capacity combined with sustainability (GHA means to bring into spotlight some cases that assist gradual development from the bottom).

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