Humanitarian Negotiations Revealed: The MSF Experience - Couverture souple

Couverture souple

ISBN 10 : 0231703155 ISBN 13 : 9780231703154

Editeur : Columbia Univ Pr, 2012

Synopsis

Humanitarian Negotiations Revealed Published to coincide with the 40th Anniversary of MSF, this book reveals the realpolitik behind NGO work Full description

A propos du livre

Revue de presse :

'A controversial new book produced by one of the world's best-known aid agencies, Médecins sans Frontières, lifts the lid on the often deeply uncomfortable compromises aid organisations are forced to make while working in conflicts.' --Guardian

'Whilst MSF has acquired a reputation for speaking out on behalf of the victims of conflicts and disasters, this fascinating and timely book shows that this tradition, always rather ambiguously adhered to, is today very much under threat. Longstanding concerns that public declarations will jeopardise MSF s aid operations have now been supplemented by concerns that these declarations will add weight to calls for military intervention and for prosecutions in international courts, thereby further jeopardising MSF operations on the ground. Meanwhile, a range of governments in conflict-affected countries are reining in free speech through formal contracts with NGOs. Using a series of illuminating case studies, the book highlights the shifting dilemmas faced by aid workers. It brings out the perennial dangers of silence and stresses the continuing need to highlight the hidden victims of just wars (whether these are civil wars, Western wars, or both). The book also exemplifies MSF s traditions of self-criticism and internal disagreement, traditions that in an age of public relations and self-promotion are now more valuable than ever.' --David Keen, Professor of Conflict Studies, London School of Economics and Political Science

'Thank goodness for MSF. Where else would we find such candour and self-criticism? Laid out here are unblinking accounts of the dilemmas facing the humanitarian agencies in a chaotic world, and clear-eyed appraisals of how MSF tries, and sometimes fails, to respond with its principles intact. Let s hope the other relief agencies are paying attention.' --Peter Gill, Journalist and author of Famine and Foreigners: Ethiopia since Live Aid

Présentation de l'éditeur :

From international NGOs to UN agencies, from donors to observers of humanitarianism, opinion is unanimous: in a context of the alleged 'clash of civilizations', our 'humanitarian space' is shrinking. Put in another way, the freedom of action and of speech of humanitarians is being eroded due to the radicalization of conflicts and to the reaffirmation of state sovereignty over aid actors and policies. The purpose of this book is to challenge this assumption through the analysis of the events that have marked MSF s history since 2003 (when MSF published its first general work on humanitarian action and its relationships with governments). It addresses the evolution of humanitarian goals, the resistance to these goals and the political arrangements that overcame this resistance (or that failed to do so). The contributors seek to analyze the political transactions and balances of power and interests that allow aid activities to move forward, but that are usually masked by the lofty rhetoric of 'humanitarian principles'. They focus on one key question: what is an acceptable compromise for MSF. This book seeks to puncture a number of the myths that have grown up over the last forty years since MSF was founded and describes in detail how the ideals of humanitarian principles and 'humanitarian space' to operate in conflict zones are in reality illusory. How in fact it is the grubby negotiations with varying parties, each of whom have their own vested interests, that may allow organisations such as MSF to operate in a given crisis situation or not.

À propos de cette édition

• Éditeur: Columbia Univ Pr
• Date d'édition: 2012
• ISBN 10: 0231703155
• ISBN 13: 9780231703154
• Reliure: Broché
• Nombre de pages: 287