Since the complex emergencies of the 1990s, humanitarian agencies have placed increasing emphasis on the protection of civilians during armed conflict. In spite of this, there is a consensus among humanitarians that outcomes are falling short of intentions, and that the increased emphasis on protection by humanitarian actors has failed to yield a corresponding improvement in the security of the civilian population.The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) are two of the most important humanitarian agencies for the protection of civilians, and both have protection at the heart of their mandates. Protecting Civilians in War explores how organizational history, structure, and culture affect how each organization goes about protection, and highlights the ways in which their resulting approaches to protection areinherently limited.Whereas existing explanations for shortcomings in humanitarian protection tend to blame factors external to humanitarian agencies, the focus of this book is on the organizations themselves, and their understandings of protection. While acknowledging the importance of other actors in determining the level of civilian security or insecurity, the analysis in this book focuses on the ways in which the ICRC and UNHCR conceptualise and practise protection in order to add another layer to ourunderstanding of why protection outcomes are so often so disappointing. Based on research in Geneva, Colombia, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Myanmar, it examines headquarter-level policy and the way that such policy is translated into practice on the ground.

This is an open access title available under the terms of a CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 International license. It is free to read at [Oxford Scholarship Online and offered as a free PDF download from OUP and selected open access locations. Through a combination of detailed case studies of humanitarian emergencies and thematic chapters which cover key concepts, actors and activities, this book explores the work of the largest international humanitarian agencies. Its central argument is that politics play a fundamental role in determining humanitarian needs, practices, and outcomes. In making this argument, the book highlights the many challenges and dilemmas facing humanitarian agencies in the contemporary world. It covers significant ground-temporally, geographically and thematically. The book is divided into four sections, providing a wide-ranging survey of contemporary international humanitarianism. The first section begins by presenting chapter-length case studies of the international responses to eleven humanitarian emergencies from the 1960s to the present day across Africa, Asia, the Caribbean and Europe; the second explains key concepts and trends in international humanitarianism; the third discusses how the work of international humanitarian agencies interacts with a range of other actors-including media, celebrities, donors, states, civil society, military forces and armed groups-who have significant impacts on humanitarian response and outcomes; and the fourth turns to the operations and activities undertaken by aid agencies on a daily basis. Ideally suited as a high-level introduction for students of international humanitarianism, the empirical detail and lucid analysis additionally make The Politics and Everyday Practice of International Humanitarianism an invaluable point of reference for more established scholars.

Since the complex emergencies of the 1990s, humanitarian agencies have placed increasing emphasis on the protection of civilians during armed conflict. In spite of this, there is a consensus among humanitarians that outcomes are falling short of intentions, and that the increased emphasis on protection by humanitarian actors has failed to yield a corresponding improvement in the security of the civilian population.The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) are two of the most important humanitarian agencies for the protection of civilians, and both have protection at the heart of their mandates. Protecting Civilians in War explores how organizational history, structure, and culture affect how each organization goes about protection, and highlights the ways in which their resulting approaches to protection are inherently limited.Whereas existing explanations for shortcomings in humanitarian protection tend to blame factors external to humanitarian agencies, the focus of this book is on the organizations themselves, and their understandings of protection. While acknowledging the importance of other actors in determining the level of civilian security or insecurity, the analysis in this book focuses on the ways in which the ICRC and UNHCR conceptualise and practise protection in order to add another layer to our understanding of why protection outcomes are so often so disappointing. Based on research in Geneva, Colombia, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Myanmar, it examines headquarter-level policy and the way that such policy is translated into practice on the ground.

This is an open access title available under the terms of a CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 International license. It is free to read at [Oxford Scholarship Online and offered as a free PDF download from OUP and selected open access locations.Through a combination of detailed case studies of humanitarian emergencies and thematic chapters which cover key concepts, actors and activities, this book explores the work of the largest international humanitarian agencies. Its central argument is that politics play a fundamental role in determining humanitarian needs, practices, and outcomes. In making this argument, the book highlights the many challenges and dilemmas facing humanitarian agencies in the contemporary world. It covers significant ground-temporally, geographically and thematically. The book is divided into four sections, providing a wide-ranging survey of contemporary international humanitarianism. The first section begins by presenting chapter-length case studies of the international responses to eleven humanitarian emergencies from the 1960s to the present day across Africa, Asia, the Caribbean and Europe; the second explains key concepts and trends in international humanitarianism; the third discusses how the work of international humanitarian agencies interacts with a range of other actors-including media, celebrities, donors, states, civil society, military forces and armed groups-who have significant impacts on humanitarian response and outcomes; and the fourth turns to the operations and activities undertaken by aid agencies on a daily basis. Ideally suited as a high-level introduction for students of international humanitarianism, the empirical detail and lucid analysis additionally make The Politics and Everyday Practice of International Humanitarianism an invaluable point of reference for more established scholars.

Through a combination of detailed case studies of humanitarian emergencies and thematic chapters which cover key concepts, actors and activities, this book explores the work of the largest international humanitarian agencies. Its central argument is that politics play a fundamental role in determining humanitarian needs, practices, and outcomes. In making this argument, the book highlights the many challenges and dilemmas facing humanitarian agencies in the contemporary world. It covers significant ground-temporally, geographically and thematically. The book is divided into four sections, providing a wide-ranging survey of contemporary international humanitarianism. The first section begins by presenting chapter-length case studies of the international responses to eleven humanitarian emergencies from the 1960s to the present day across Africa, Asia, the Caribbean and Europe; the second explains key concepts and trends in international humanitarianism; the third discusses how the work of international humanitarian agencies interacts with a range of other actors-including media, celebrities, donors, states, civil society, military forces and armed groups-who have significant impacts on humanitarian response and outcomes; and the fourth turns to the operations and activities undertaken by aid agencies on a daily basis. Ideally suited as a high-level introduction for students of international humanitarianism, the empirical detail and lucid analysis additionally make The Politics and Everyday Practice of International Humanitarianism an invaluable point of reference for more established scholars.

Since the complex emergencies of the 1990s, humanitarian agencies have placed increasing emphasis on the protection of civilians during armed conflict. In spite of this, there is a consensus among humanitarians that outcomes are falling short of intentions, and that the increased emphasis on protection by humanitarian actors has failed to yield a corresponding improvement in the security of the civilian population.The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) are two of the most important humanitarian agencies for the protection of civilians, and both have protection at the heart of their mandates. Protecting Civilians in War explores how organizational history, structure, and culture affect how each organization goes about protection, and highlights the ways in which their resulting approaches to protection areinherently limited.Whereas existing explanations for shortcomings in humanitarian protection tend to blame factors external to humanitarian agencies, the focus of this book is on the organizations themselves, and their understandings of protection. While acknowledging the importance of other actors in determining the level of civilian security or insecurity, the analysis in this book focuses on the ways in which the ICRC and UNHCR conceptualise and practise protection in order to add another layer to ourunderstanding of why protection outcomes are so often so disappointing. Based on research in Geneva, Colombia, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Myanmar, it examines headquarter-level policy and the way that such policy is translated into practice on the ground.

This is an open access title available under the terms of a CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 International license. It is free to read at [Oxford Scholarship Online and offered as a free PDF download from OUP and selected open access locations. Through a combination of detailed case studies of humanitarian emergencies and thematic chapters which cover key concepts, actors and activities, this book explores the work of the largest international humanitarian agencies. Its central argument is that politics play a fundamental role in determining humanitarian needs, practices, and outcomes. In making this argument, the book highlights the many challenges and dilemmas facing humanitarian agencies in the contemporary world. It covers significant ground-temporally, geographically and thematically. The book is divided into four sections, providing a wide-ranging survey of contemporary international humanitarianism. The first section begins by presenting chapter-length case studies of the international responses to eleven humanitarian emergencies from the 1960s to the present day across Africa, Asia, the Caribbean and Europe; the second explains key concepts and trends in international humanitarianism; the third discusses how the work of international humanitarian agencies interacts with a range of other actors-including media, celebrities, donors, states, civil society, military forces and armed groups-who have significant impacts on humanitarian response and outcomes; and the fourth turns to the operations and activities undertaken by aid agencies on a daily basis. Ideally suited as a high-level introduction for students of international humanitarianism, the empirical detail and lucid analysis additionally make The Politics and Everyday Practice of International Humanitarianism an invaluable point of reference for more established scholars.

Since the complex emergencies of the 1990s, humanitarian agencies have placed increasing emphasis on the protection of civilians during armed conflict. In spite of this, there is a consensus among humanitarians that outcomes are falling short of intentions, and that the increased emphasis on protection by humanitarian actors has failed to yield a corresponding improvement in the security of the civilian population.The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) are two of the most important humanitarian agencies for the protection of civilians, and both have protection at the heart of their mandates. Protecting Civilians in War explores how organizational history, structure, and culture affect how each organization goes about protection, and highlights the ways in which their resulting approaches to protection are inherently limited.Whereas existing explanations for shortcomings in humanitarian protection tend to blame factors external to humanitarian agencies, the focus of this book is on the organizations themselves, and their understandings of protection. While acknowledging the importance of other actors in determining the level of civilian security or insecurity, the analysis in this book focuses on the ways in which the ICRC and UNHCR conceptualise and practise protection in order to add another layer to our understanding of why protection outcomes are so often so disappointing. Based on research in Geneva, Colombia, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Myanmar, it examines headquarter-level policy and the way that such policy is translated into practice on the ground.

This is an open access title available under the terms of a CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 International license. It is free to read at [Oxford Scholarship Online and offered as a free PDF download from OUP and selected open access locations.Through a combination of detailed case studies of humanitarian emergencies and thematic chapters which cover key concepts, actors and activities, this book explores the work of the largest international humanitarian agencies. Its central argument is that politics play a fundamental role in determining humanitarian needs, practices, and outcomes. In making this argument, the book highlights the many challenges and dilemmas facing humanitarian agencies in the contemporary world. It covers significant ground-temporally, geographically and thematically. The book is divided into four sections, providing a wide-ranging survey of contemporary international humanitarianism. The first section begins by presenting chapter-length case studies of the international responses to eleven humanitarian emergencies from the 1960s to the present day across Africa, Asia, the Caribbean and Europe; the second explains key concepts and trends in international humanitarianism; the third discusses how the work of international humanitarian agencies interacts with a range of other actors-including media, celebrities, donors, states, civil society, military forces and armed groups-who have significant impacts on humanitarian response and outcomes; and the fourth turns to the operations and activities undertaken by aid agencies on a daily basis. Ideally suited as a high-level introduction for students of international humanitarianism, the empirical detail and lucid analysis additionally make The Politics and Everyday Practice of International Humanitarianism an invaluable point of reference for more established scholars.

Through a combination of detailed case studies of humanitarian emergencies and thematic chapters which cover key concepts, actors and activities, this book explores the work of the largest international humanitarian agencies. Its central argument is that politics play a fundamental role in determining humanitarian needs, practices, and outcomes. In making this argument, the book highlights the many challenges and dilemmas facing humanitarian agencies in the contemporary world. It covers significant ground-temporally, geographically and thematically. The book is divided into four sections, providing a wide-ranging survey of contemporary international humanitarianism. The first section begins by presenting chapter-length case studies of the international responses to eleven humanitarian emergencies from the 1960s to the present day across Africa, Asia, the Caribbean and Europe; the second explains key concepts and trends in international humanitarianism; the third discusses how the work of international humanitarian agencies interacts with a range of other actors-including media, celebrities, donors, states, civil society, military forces and armed groups-who have significant impacts on humanitarian response and outcomes; and the fourth turns to the operations and activities undertaken by aid agencies on a daily basis. Ideally suited as a high-level introduction for students of international humanitarianism, the empirical detail and lucid analysis additionally make The Politics and Everyday Practice of International Humanitarianism an invaluable point of reference for more established scholars.