What comes to mind when you think of humanitarianism?
You might picture a war-torn Middle Eastern country, or children starving in Africa. Perhaps you even think of disaster relief closer to home, like a hurricane.
Our conception of humanitarianism largely centers around humanitarian aid for tragedies. A Google search of ‘humanitarian’ returns articles about asylum seekers on the southern border of the United States, mass gun violence and kidnappings in Nigeria, and a COVID-19 surge in Yemen.
But what does ‘humanitarian’ really mean?
Humanitarian can be defined as, “having concern for or helping to improve the welfare and happiness of people.” Merriam-Webster defines a humanitarian as, “a person promoting human welfare and social reform” and lists philanthropist as a synonym.
‘Humanitarian’ is a relatively young word. While it’s root is ‘human,’ the word ‘humanitarian’ came into use with the abolitionism and social reforms of the 19th century. In Empire of Humanity: A History of Humanitarianism, Michael Barnett explores the history of humanitarianism. He finds that humanitarianism arose with the ideas of charity, philanthropy and compassion.
Today, the word ‘humanitarian’ is usually tied to the words ‘crisis’ and ‘aid’. Our use of the word reflects a broken approach to human suffering: a ‘humanitarian crisis’ occurs, and ‘humanitarian aid’ is sent to fix it. Repeat.
Humanitarianism comes down to the word human, and it has a close cousin in human rights. While humanitarianism has been relegated to a small corner of the worst instances of human suffering, human rights span everything from water to work. In fact, the United Nations recognizes 30 equal and inalienable human rights that should be proactively protected and ensured. Meanwhile, humanitarianism reacts to disaster after it strikes.
Humanitarianism has been pigeonholed to solely apply to mass tragedies and disasters. But the definition of humanitarian points to a broader understanding– one that considers all human welfare, not just tragedy.
‘Humanitarian crises’ don’t happen in a vacuum. Accelerating natural disasters are spurred by human-caused climate change. Political infighting and ethnic clashes result in wars. Modern slavery occurs in the supply chains of consumer goods.
What if humanitarianism broke out of the ‘crisis and aid’ framework to challenge the prevailing systems and mechanisms that produce human suffering?
By limiting the scope of humanitarianism to the worst of disasters that afflict humanity, we ignore the situations and factors that contribute to them. We ignore the fact that the core of humanitarianism, human wellbeing, is inseparable from everything else.
To truly help those in the most need, we need a more holistic view of humanitarianism. The band-aid approach of ‘crisis and aid’ is too narrow to confront humanity’s most pressing challenges.
On Monday, look for the first article in Novel Hand’s new occasional series, The Humanitarian Side of Everything. Not everything is a humanitarian crisis– but everything is connected to human wellbeing.
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