Former United Nations under-secretary general for humanitarian affairs hopes his book will help ensure humanitarian issues are better understood and that needs are never subordinated to political ends
When John Holmes was given the top humanitarian job at the United Nations in 2007, relief organisations were sceptical. Holmes, a British diplomat for more than 30 years, had no relevant experience, they said.
Holmes himself was reluctant. He knew "nothing of humanitarian affairs", he admits in a new book, "The Politics of Humanity: The Reality of Relief Aid" – and in the typically understated manner of someone who's had a long career in diplomacy suggests "the UN did not have a great reputation as a place to get things done".
Nevertheless, Holmes accepted the role and during his three and a half years as U.N. under-secretary-general for humanitarian affairs, he more than made up for his lack of experience in conflict, famine, disease and disaster.
Travelling to 43 countries on 85 trips covering 300,000 miles, Holmes was at the helm of the U.N. humanitarian system when Cyclone Nargis struck Myanmar in 2008, when Sri Lanka's civil war ended in a bloodbath in 2009 and when Haiti was devastated by the biggest earthquake for 200 years in 2010.
He also writes about the particular difficulties of Darfur, South Sudan, Democratic Republic of Congo, Somalia, Gaza, Afghanistan and Pakistan.
The aim, Holmes says, is to help ensure humanitarian issues are better understood, needs are "never" subordinated to political ends and the right policies and resources are found to reduce suffering.
The book is, of course, filled with instances where humanitarian needs are downplayed, aid is politicised and suffering continues because of a lack of funding, vision or understanding from governments and donors.
In Darfur and Sri Lanka, Holmes has to contend with governments that show little intention of helping civilians caught up in the insurgencies or allowing them to be helped.
Sri Lanka, Holmes says, was probably his most testing challenge as U.N. emergency relief coordinator. "It dramatically illustrated the difficulties of providing humanitarian aid in a highly politicised setting, dealing with a strong, determined and largely hostile government," he writes.
In the book, Holmes defends his decision to withhold estimates of civilian casualties during the brutal, final military offensive against Tamil Tiger rebels – a move that prompted accusations of a cover-up.
He also defends the decision to pull international staff out of the rebel-controlled zone, which critics say effectively meant atrocities could be committed against civilians with impunity, in the absence of any witnesses.
Myanmar, Afghanistan and Pakistan are good examples of governments that are reluctant to allow in foreign aid and foreign aid workers because they see it as Western intervention masquerading as relief.
There are also challenges a-plenty in Somalia, Congo and Haiti where weak governance leads to volatile, violent conditions for any aid operations.
Holmes also tackles the bigger themes of food insecurity, disaster risk reduction and how the pursuit of justice can complicate the pursuit of peace.
Looking to the future of humanitarianism, Holmes gratifyingly touches on almost all the issues we raised in our Future of Aid series. He warns that humanitarian crises are likely to grow, especially because of climate change, and asks for more investment in local response.
He bangs the drum for a new business model that brings together governments, the private sector and civil society and calls for better disaster preparedness and for technology to be exploited to greater effect.
Finally, Holmes says, “if there is one piece of advice I would offer, above all to Western governments, it is the need to understand much more profoundly the roots of conflict and political problems, in all their complexities, and not try to fall prey to simplistic diagnoses and solutions. The nuances are important.”
Here are some of my favourite quotes from the book:
On Democratic Republic of Congo:
Of all the crisis zones I visited, the DRC was the one which I was guaranteed to leave more depressed than when I arrived ... Those I saw on my visits to camps or villages in the worst-affected areas were more deprived and hopeless than any I came across elsewhere in the world – filthy and malnourished, with nothing to their names except the rags they wore
On the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) rebel group:
The LRA have killed and terrorised far more than Al Qaeda – it's just that their victims weren't Western citizens
On Somalia:
The problems we faced changed and evolved over time, but tended to become worse, rather than better
On South Sudan:
It cannot be beyond the wit of man to devise a system which combines short-term action, including the necessary quick wins and visible improvements, with a longer-term development plan, with both being worked on simultaneously
On Sri Lanka's warring sides:
Both sides had behaved abominably at times in the conflict – I constantly wondered how such charming people could have such a brutal streak
On Haiti:
It was a thankless business, trying to get the government to take decisions, pressing the agencies and NGOs to move faster, keeping restless donors pointing in the right direction, and managing the media
On ‘white men in shorts’:
The narrative sometimes seen in the British tabloids and one or two books that they spend all their time dining in fancy restaurants in the main cities and driving around in flashy white 4x4s, while the local people starve and struggle around them, has, in my experience, no serious basis in reality
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