"Do No Harm": The Rise of New Humanitarianism

How we understand humanitarianism has been changing. People have been reconsidering whether we should be more selective in terms of who we give aid to after the Rwandan genocide of 1994. Since the Kosovo War in 1998-1999, there are claims that militaristic interventions are now often "dressed up" as humanitarian interventions, leading some actors to question the principles of humanitarianism. Neutrality has also become an issue. Humanitarians act on short-term scale to alleviate suffering and save lives, but move in and move out. The prevalent idea now is that humanitarian actions shouldn’t just “do no harm,” but should “do good,” and should build development.

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