Thematic Focus: Humanitarian Assistance

News: World Humanitarian Day, 19 August 2024

This year's theme is "Act for Humanity." From the Aid Worker Security Report: "In 2023, more aid workers died by violence than in any previous year on record, with 280 fatalities reported in 33 countries. More than half of these deaths (163) were aid workers killed in the first three months of the conflict in Gaza, mostly as a result of airstrikes."

- World Humanitarian Day: UN demands action as aid worker deaths hit record high (OCHA, Aug. 2024) [text]

- Honouring humanitarian workers around the world (OHCHR, Aug. 2024) [text]

- Humanitarians in the line of fire: when acting for humanity proves deadly (ODI Insights, Aug. 2024) [text] 

- Open Letter to the Member States of the UN General Assembly, on behalf of the IASC Principals (Aug. 2024) [text]

- What is World Humanitarian Day and why is it important? (WEF Blog, Aug. 2024) [text]

- "World Humanitarian Day: What it means to be an aid worker today," UN News, 19 Aug. 2024 [text]

Short pieces:

Filling the Gap: Refugee-to-Refugee Aid and the Role of Faith Actors in Humanitarian Settings (Wilson Center, Aug. 2024) [text]

"IRC cuts staff amid budget shortfall," The New Humanitarian, 7 Aug. 2024 [text]

"Save the Children to cut hundreds of jobs as funding gap looms," The New Humanitarian, 12 Aug. 2024 [text]

Reports & journal articles:

Guidance Note: Humanitarian Action for Different At-Risk Groups in Displacement (Japan International Cooperation Agency, April 2024) [text via ReliefWeb]

- Synthesizes findings from the "Research on the Evolving Humanitarian Action for Forced Migration" project.

"Imperfect relief: Challenges to the impartiality and identity of humanitarian action," International Review of the Red Cross, FirstView, 25 March 2024 [open access]

"It's all relative: The origins, legal character and normative content of the humanitarian principles," International Review of the Red Cross, FirstView, 17 Aug. 2023 [free full-text]

"Moral Distress in Humanitarian Aid Workers: How Decolonising Aid Benefits Us All," Intervention: Journal of Mental Health and Psychosocial Support in Conflict Affected Areas, vol. 22, no. 1 (April 2024) [open access]

"Practice versus perception: A discussion of the humanitarian principle of independence in the context of migration," International Review of the Red Cross, FirstView, 25 March 2024 [free full-text]

"'Sticking together while standing one's own ground': The meanings of solidarity in humanitarian action," International Review of the Red Cross, FirstView, 20 March 2024 [open access]

"Translating survivor-centredness into pedagogical approaches to training on sexual violence in conflict and emergency settings: A case study," International Review of the Red Cross, FirstView, 22 Jan. 2024 [open access]

Related post:

- Thematic Focus: Humanitarian Assistance (6 Aug. 2024)