Humanitarian space and international politics

Running head: CONCEPTS IN HUMANITARIAN ASSISTANCE
CONCEPTS IN HUMANITARIAN ASSISTANCE: A CASE STUDY OF DEMOCRATIC
REPUBLIC CONGO
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Author’s Note:

1CONCEPTS IN HUMANITARIAN ASSISTANCE
As opined by Keenan (2018), the ever-increasing number of natural and man-made
disasters that the different nations of the world are facing had made the construct of humanitarian
assistance an imperative one. Gallardo et al. (2015) are of the viewpoint that the construct of
humanitarian assistance can be defined as the material or the logistics aid or assistance which is
being offered to the people who are in need by the United Nations (UN) and the other first world
nations of the world. More importantly, it had been seen that because of the turbulent or thee
volatile political or the economic conditions of the different nations like Syria, Iraq, Congo and
others the first world nations along with the material or the logistics aid are also required to offer
the people from these nations asylum aid (Minear 2019).
In this relation, it needs to be said that this is being done by the UN and the other first
world nations of the world so as to offer a safe or a congenial environment to the asylum seekers
wherein they would be able to fulfill their basic psychosocial needs in the best possible manner
(Olivius 2016). However, the major problem arises because of the fact that the crisis-hit nations
in the present times are not getting adequate amount of funding and other kinds of humanitarian
aids or assistance from the UN and the other first world nations for offering the required relief
services to the people of their nation (Gentilini 2016). This in turn had substantially aggravated
the situation or the condition within the crisis-hit nations while increasing the plethora of
problems or the challenges faced by the people. For instance, the Democratic Republic of Congo
is one of the most important examples of the crisis-hit nations which over the years had failed to
receive the adequate amount of relief or humanitarian assistance from the UN or the different
first world nations of the world. The purpose of this paper is to undertake an analysis of the basic
concepts of the humanitarian assistance which is being offered by UN and the first world nations

2CONCEPTS IN HUMANITARIAN ASSISTANCE
to the crisis-hit nations through the usage of the case study of the Democratic Republic of
Congo.
The Democratic Republic of Congo in the present times had become one of the most
volatile nations in the continent of Africa on the score of different political issues as well as the
natural disasters that the concerned nation had faced over the years (Aembe and Dijkzeul 2019).
However, the major mad-made issue that the nation under discussion here is presently facing can
be attributed to the political strife that the concerned nation is facing presently. In this relation, it
needs to be said that concerned nation in the second half of the 20th century was the site of
different inter-racial and tribal wars which in turn adversely affected the status quo or the
stability of the concerned (Who.int 2019). More importantly, presently, it had been seen that the
different people of the concerned nation are openly rebelling against the presidential rule of
Joseph Kabila and his wish of becoming the President of the nation once despite the mandates of
the constitution of the nation and also against the wish of the common people (Nrc.no 2019).
This in turn had led to much bloodshed in the nation under discussion and thereby adversely
affected the quality of lives by the citizens of the concerned nation. As a matter of fact, it had
been seen that the fundamental or the basic rights of the people of the nation had been curbed
down in a substantial manner and the situation in the nation is almost coterminous with the one
prevalent in the nation of Syria (Icvanetwork.org 2019). In addition to these, it had been seen
that the nation over the years had also suffered various other problems like cholera, Ebola and
others which had added to the issues or the problems faced by the individuals of the concerned
nation (Unocha.org 2019).
Moreover, because of the internal strife within the concerned nation more than 4.49
million people of Congo had to be displaced to the neighboring nations of Africa and also to the

3CONCEPTS IN HUMANITARIAN ASSISTANCE
different first-world nations in addition to the more than 13 million people affected by the violent
incidents in the nation (Aembe and Dijkzeul 2019). In addition to these, around 20,501 UN
personnel are presently working in the concerned for offering different kinds of humanitarian
aids or assistances along with the $1.7 billion humanitarian assistance or aids that had already
been offered by the UN and the other first world nations like USA, UK, Canada, Australia and
others (Icvanetwork.org 2019). However, the problem arises because the funding or the other
kinds of assistance offered by the UN or the other nations are not adequate enough for the
effective resolution of the issues faced by the nation under discussion here or for that matter its
people. In this relation, the words of Benedicte Giæver, the NORCAP Director are important to
note “We have people ready to support, but there's no money to spend. Instead, humanitarian
agencies have had to scale down their activities…..With the situation getting worse for the
people, we need to step up the humanitarian aid, not scale down” (Unocha.org 2019).
Furthermore, it had been seen that only 10% of the total funding which is needed by the
authorities of the nation Congo is being actually made available to them and this in turn had not
only adversely affected the quality of the relief services which are being made available to the
people of the concerned nation but also towards the ineffective resolution of the issue under
discussion here as well (Unocha.org 2019).
Oloruntoba, Hossain and Wagner (2016) are of the viewpoint that the primary motivation
of the different first world nations of the world like USA, UK, Australia, Canada and others for
indulging in different kinds of humanitarian activities is to offer the required help or assistance to
the people of the crisis-hit nations. More importantly, as discussed by Burkart, Besiou and
Wakolbinger (2016), these are also intended to help the crisis-hit nations to restore the power
balance within their framework which in turn is important from the perspective of the status quo

4CONCEPTS IN HUMANITARIAN ASSISTANCE
of the world. For example, it had been seen that the Syrian Crisis which had been going on since
2011 had adversely affected the power balance or the status quo of the Middle East and this in
turn had affected the stability of the not only the concerned region but also of the entire world
itself (Larson and Foropon 2018). Furthermore, the different kinds of humanitarian assistance
which are being offered to the crisis-hit nations is not only to extent the required humanitarian
support to them but also are modeled on the concepts of ‘Liberty, Equality and Fraternity” which
forms the central lacuna of the Constitution of the different nations of the world (Kraft and Smith
2019). Moreover, it had been seen that the magnitude of the humanitarian assistance as well as
the number of players or the actors who offer the same had increase since the Cold War. This can
be explained on the basis of the fact that the number of large-scale political, economic and other
kinds of issues faced by the different nations had increased in a substantially manner since that
time and also the formulation as well as the adequate usage of the “International Humanitarian
Law” (Pocock and Whitman 2016).
Tellier et al. (2018) are of the viewpoint that the “International Humanitarian Law” also
called by the name of “laws of armed conflict” is an international regulation that tries to regulate
the manner in which armed conflicts are being conducted between two nations or inside the
different nations. More importantly, as discussed by Tan and von Schreeb (2015), the focus of
this particular law is on the reduction of the harm or the damage to the individuals who do not
play an active role within the armed conflicts by way of offering the required humanitarian
assistance or the aid. Furthermore, it had been seen that the UN over the years had played a
pivotal role in the enhancement of the amount of the humanitarian assistance which is being
offered by the different individuals or the crisis-hit nations (Koddenbrock 2015). In this context,

5CONCEPTS IN HUMANITARIAN ASSISTANCE
it needs to be said that the concept of humanitarian assistance is also being mandated by the
different policies or the stipulations of the UN which it had formulated over the years.
As discussed by Labat and Sharma (2016), the “Office for the Coordination of
Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA)” of the UN is primarily responsible for overseeing the fact that
the stipulations of the concerned law are being followed by the different nations of the world and
also the required amount of assistance or aid is being offered to the people of these nations. In
addition to these, the four important departments of the UN, namely, “United Nations
Development Programme (UNDP)”, the “United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR)”, the
“United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF)” and the “World Food Programme (WFP)” are
entrusted with the work of assessing the needs of the people of in the crisis-hit nations and
thereby allocate adequate amount of resources to the help the nations to offer the required
assistance to the people (Bean, Yadavalli and Mpita 2016). In the particular context of the nation
of Congo, it had been seen that although the UN had implemented the “International
Humanitarian Law” and thereby tried to mitigate the damage caused by the crisis under
discussion here to the innocent people of the concerned nation yet at the same time it needs to be
said that the lives of the people of Congo had been adversely affected because of the same. More
importantly, although the UN had allocated around 20,501 UN personnel for offering the
required assistance to the people of the nation under discussion here in the face of the crisis that
it is presently facing yet at the same time it needs to be said that considering the magnitude of the
issue that the nation is presently facing this assistance is too little from the perspective of the
common people of Congo (Icvanetwork.org 2019).
Burkart, Besiou and Wakolbinger (2016) have noted that one of the most important ways
through which the UN and the other first world nations of the world offer humanitarian

6CONCEPTS IN HUMANITARIAN ASSISTANCE
assistance to the crisis-hit nations is by way of monetary aid or the funding that is being provided
by them. As discussed by Yamashita (2017), the funding or for that the monetary aid that is
being offered to the crisis-hit nations helps them to offer the required assistance to the common
people of their nation and also mitigate the damage caused by the crisis or the issues that they are
facing. However, in the particular context of the nation of Congo it had been seen that the UN
and the other first world nations had already provided more than $1.7 billion monetary assistance
to the nation of Congo yet this funding is not adequate enough to support the needs of the people
of the concerned nation (Who.int 2019). In this relation, it needs to be said that because of the
crisis more than 9.9 million people of the nation under discussion here do not have access to
adequate amount of food, 4.6 million children are malnourished, the rape victims and the
orphaned children are being able to get adequate relief services and others (Unocha.org 2019). In
this relation, the plea of Giæver wherein he urges the UN and the first world nations of the world
to increase the donations or the funding to Congo is important to note “Haven't the people of DR
Congo suffered enough? Millions of lives are at stake, and if not taken seriously, the situation
could get worse. Donors must step up their support” (Unocha.org 2019). In the light of these
aspects, it can be said that although the nation of Congo over the years had received a substantial
amount of humanitarian aid from UN and the first world nations of the world yet when
considered from the perspective of the issues that the nation of Congo is facing and their gravity
or magnitude it is not adequate.
Gallardo et al. (2015) are of the viewpoint that the “international humanitarian law” had
mandated different humanitarian principles that needs to be followed for the different kinds of
humanitarian assistance which is being offered to the crisis-hit nations. In this relation, it needs
to be said that there are four important principles, namely, humanity, neutrality, impartiality and

7CONCEPTS IN HUMANITARIAN ASSISTANCE
operational independency which needs to be followed. For instance, the entity of humanity
dictates that the assistance or the aid which is being offered to the crisis-hit nations should be on
the basis of the aspect of humanity rather than for the attainment of any other ulterior motive
(Olivius 2016). As discussed by Oloruntoba, Hossain and Wagner (2016), this can be explained
on the basis of the fact that in the recent times there are various nations which have offered aid or
assistance to the crisis-hit nations with the ulterior aim of building or establishing military
industrial complexes in the concerned nations. However, at the same time it needs to be said that
this act on the part of the countries rather than resorting the status quo within the crisis-hit
nations or for that matter resolving the issues faced by them had aggravated the situation even
further (Kraft and Smith 2019). More importantly, the primary objective of the UN and the first
world nations behind the assistance or the aid which is being offered to the crisis-hit nations
should be to safeguard life as well as improve the quality of the life of the common people of the
concerned nation. For example, in the particular context of the nation of Congo, it needs to be
said that the basic idea behind the assistance or the aid offered by the UN and also the other
nations like Australia, UK, USA, Canada and others was to help the people of the nation of
Congo to overcome the issues faced by them and also to safeguard life in the concerned nation
(Aembe and Dijkzeul 2019).
As discussed by Bean, Yadavalli and Mpita (2016), the first world nations and the
international bodies like UN and others are also required to be neutral or for that matter not take
any sides in the hostility or the conflict which takes place among the nations or among the
different factions within any nation. Furthermore, Tan and von Schreeb (2015) are of the
viewpoint that the humanitarian assistance providers need to be complete impartial and the
assistance that they offer should be modeled on the basis of the need of the situation rather than

8CONCEPTS IN HUMANITARIAN ASSISTANCE
on favoritism. This is important since taking any particular side is likely to intensify or for that
aggravate the issues faced by the nations rather than effectively resolving the same. This even
becomes apparent from the case of Congo wherein it had been seen that the UN and the other
nations despite the substantial amount of relief aid or assistance offered by them they had not
taken any specific sides or for that shown any favoritism (Yamashita 2017). More importantly,
the aid or the assistance that had been offered to the nation of Congo over the years had been
completely based on the gravity or the magnitude of the issues faced by the concerned nation
rather than favoritism shown by the UN or the other nations.
According to Larson and Foropon (2018), the humanitarian assistance or the aid which is
being offered by the UN and the first world nations should be independent of the economic,
political, social and other factors which affect the crisis-hit nations. This is important since often
it had been seen that there are various independent actors which offer humanitarian services
taking these factors into consideration rather than the aspect of humanity and this in turn rather
than solving the issues faced by the crisis-hit nations aggravates the same ever further (Pocock
and Whitman 2016). However, within the particular context of the humanitarian assistance or the
aid that had been offered to the nation of Congo over the years it can be said that the UN and the
first world nations had followed the principle of operational independence (Tellier et al. 2018).
Thus, it had been seen that the humanitarian aid that had been offered to Congo had been
completely independent of the economic, political, social and other factors which affect the
concerned nation. In the light of these aspects, it can be said that although the humanitarian
assistance which had been offered to the Congo had not been adequate yet at the same time it
needs to be said that are in compliance with the humanitarian principles.

9CONCEPTS IN HUMANITARIAN ASSISTANCE
To conclude, the humanitarian assistance or the aids offered by the UN and the first
world nations to the crisis-hit nations had been greatly instrumental in resolving the issues faced
by these nations and also helped in safeguarding the lives of the common people of these nations
as well. Furthermore, the different kinds of humanitarian aids or the assistance which are being
offered by the UN and the other nations needs to be modeled as per the different humanitarian
principles like humanity, neutrality, impartiality, operational independence and others. This is
important since the effective usage of these concepts is likely to help the humanitarian service
providers to offer the right of assistance or aid to the crisis-hit nations. However, in the present
times it had been seen that there are various nations like Congo and others which had failed to
receive the right amount of funding or monetary aid for the resolution of the issues or the
problems faced by them. These aspects of the construct of humanitarian assistance become
apparent from the above discussion of the same in the particular context of the nation of Congo
and the humanitarian assistance received by it over the years.

10CONCEPTS IN HUMANITARIAN ASSISTANCE
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11CONCEPTS IN HUMANITARIAN ASSISTANCE
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