Humanitarian Aid Paper

Humanitarian Aid Paper

Humanitarian aid refers to logistic and material assistance to people who need help in various parts of the world. The major purpose of humanitarian aid is to alleviate suffering and save lives during and after emergencies (Canyon et al., 2020). However, some form of humanitarian aid alleviates suffering indirectly. For instance, development aid helps reduce developmental structure problems and improves the economic well-being of a society in general. Thus, humanitarian aid can take place in the short term as emergency relief and in the long term through developmental projects. Notably, this paper will discuss various types of humanitarian assistance and debate the merits and demerits of offering humanitarian assistance to low-income countries.

Types of Humanitarian Assistance

Food

Various types of humanitarian assistance exist in contemporary society and are utilized yearly to help millions of people from human displacements, extreme weather, natural disasters, and conflicts. Food aid is the first type of humanitarian assistance that is identified. Most disasters that affect people result in a shortage of food for individuals. Thus, it becomes essential for humanitarian agencies to distribute food items to ensure the affected families can feed themselves since food is an essential need for survival. Lack of food aid can result in unwanted outcomes such as malnutrition and even death. According to Smith et al. (2020), food aid applies to any form of crisis that may occur, and in dire crises such as extreme weather, droughts, and famine, food aid becomes the primary humanitarian assistance required. Notably, this is so because such crises destroy food access, and starvation’s anger increases.

Non-Food Items

Non-food items are another form of humanitarian assistance that is required during crises. Non-food assistance covers a wide range of items that may be required by people who face crises. Common examples of non-food items distributed as humanitarian assistance include cooking equipment, hygiene kits, and clothes. For a given crisis, the exact number and type of non-food items to be offered as humanitarian aid depends on the nature of the crisis. Therefore, there is a need to assess the crisis to ascertain the most important items the affected constituents require.

Shelter

Another type of humanitarian assistance is shelter. Shelter assistance is an important humanitarian aid because disasters cause people to lose their homes. For instance, the recent earthquake in Turkey and Syria left millions of people without a place to shelter (Trias & Cook, 2023). The disaster required humanitarian aid in the form of materials to rebuild homes and camps where displaced individuals could shelter for the short term. Shelter as a form of humanitarian assistance is important because it ensures that people’s health and protection are ensured. Shelter assistance is one of the crucial types of humanitarian assistance because it ensures that families with children maintain a sense of community.

Healthcare

Another type of humanitarian assistance entails healthcare assistance. Disasters that necessitate the need for humanitarian aid affect access to quality healthcare by individuals. Notably, disasters damage important healthcare facilities while crucial healthcare personnel such as nurses and doctors are displaced. Thus, supplying medical equipment and drugs through healthcare assistance becomes essential. Healthcare assistance is offered through rehabilitation, drug donations, training, and the running of medical clinics.

Water and Sanitation

Water and sanitation are the other forms of humanitarian assistance offered during disasters. Notably, this form of assistance becomes necessary because disasters leave people unable to access good sanitation and clean water. Addressing this issue not only helps people to survive but also reduces the risk of disease spread. Humanitarian crises often limit people’s access to clean water and sanitation products, which can trigger diseases such as cholera. Oxfam, CARE International, and WaterAid are examples of humanitarian organizations offering water and sanitation assistance.

Education

Education is another type of humanitarian assistance offered by international firms. Millions of children across the globe are disrupted by disasters, disrupting education and thus making emergency education a necessary humanitarian aid (Wood & Frazier, 2020). The right to education for all children should be protected even when there are displacements due to conflicts. At times, disasters destroy schooling infrastructure and displace teachers from schools. Humanitarian assistance to help alleviate this problem often involves providing emergency educational programs for schooling individuals. Also, the aid entails working with local authorities to re-establish schools and the education system.

Telecommunications

The final type of humanitarian aid that is identified entails telecommunications. Telecommunications are often destroyed and affected when disasters occur, and people are left with no internet and phone lines. However, it is essential to note that it is at such times that telecommunication between people is important to help communicate with the affected communities. Thus, international bodies engaged in providing emergency telecommunication as urgent humanitarian aid.

The Debate of Advantages and Disadvantages of Humanitarian Aid to Low-Income Countries

The identified types of humanitarian assistance have positive impacts on low-income countries. However, negative implications are associated with such assistance, which is often cited in criticizing humanitarian aid. This section assesses the ends to establish whether humanitarian aid is beneficial. Humanitarian assistance reduces suffering and saves lives, which is a major advantage. Notably, this is one of the main arguments that support humanitarian assistance. During disasters, the affected people are left to desperately yearn for assistance with humanitarian aid, ensuring that the crisis’s adverse effects are reduced. Examples of adverse effects include suffering and death. Low-income countries thus benefit from assistance in the form of saved lives and limited suffering for their citizens. Primary types of humanitarian aid, such as providing shelter, water, food, and sanitation, directly impact saving people’s lives. However, this is criticized because there is no guarantee of success. As a disadvantage, the various forms of humanitarian aid offered to low-income countries do not guarantee that lives will be saved in crises like war. Critics base their argument on this aspect.

Another advantage of providing humanitarian assistance to low-income countries is that it is associated with the morality of the society. Essentially, providing humanitarian aid to low-income countries is a moral obligation to international bodies and high-income countries. According to Stumpf et al. (2023), an ethical point of view should be taken when helping people in need across various parts of the world. In the case of disasters, international bodies and high-income countries are morally obligated to help their lower-income counterparts. Essentially, countries with higher income levels have significant expertise and resources that can be used in responding to humanitarian crises. It would be unfair if such resources were not used to help fellow humans in dire need. However, those against this argument believe that constant help from international bodies and rich countries makes low-income countries dependent on aid. Notably, this dependency is a disadvantage associated with offering humanitarian assistance to low-income countries. It is important to ensure that assistance is offered so that no dependence will be created. For instance, low-income countries can be empowered to be independent in the long term through undertaking developmental assistance.

Another advantage in favor of humanitarian assistance is the ability to improve the capacity of low-income countries to respond to humanitarian crises. In providing humanitarian assistance, the local actors are empowered with the knowledge and skills to respond to crises. If future disasters of a similar nature occur, low-income countries will be placed in a better position to respond without assistance from other nations. While providing humanitarian assistance, international bodies acquire local staff and partner with local non-governmental organizations to help people in need. Over time, these approaches make the communities better and more self-reliant in addressing needs. According to Seddighi (2020), there is a strong track record in capacity building in low-income countries through humanitarian assistance. Indonesia and the Philippines are cited as some countries that have become more self-reliant through increased capacity. However, this advantage is undermined by rampant corruption among low-income countries. Humanitarian assistance sometimes ends up in the hands of corrupt individuals and fails to help the intended people. It is to this disadvantage critics do not support humanitarian assistance offered to low-income low-income countries.

Humanitarian assistance to low-income countries can create peace in those nations. Notably, this is achieved through reduced conflicts. For instance, many wars in low-income countries that result in crises that prompt the need for humanitarian assistance have their source of lack of resources, poverty, and exclusion. When humanitarian assistance is offered to such countries, the societies become more inclusive across their social and political dimensions. Additionally, humanitarian aid plays a role in reducing climate change, which has been at the core of scarce resources that people in low-income countries fight for to sustain their livelihoods. The end result of addressing these problems through humanitarian aid is improved stability and peace in those countries. However, the need for peace is not always achieved through humanitarian assistance to low-income countries. For this reason, the funds spent on humanitarian efforts are considered misuse of funds that could have been used to further develop the donating countries. One reason behind this argument is that humanitarian assistance does not reach most people, and many remain in need. Thus, their continued strife that disrupts peace in their countries persists.

Another advantage of humanitarian assistance is improving trade and alleviating poverty in societies across low-income countries. The assistance of people through humanitarian aid removes them from life-threatening situations and leads them to stable conditions whereby they can engage in economic activities such as creating goods and services. Additionally, humanitarian aid offered during disasters helps people endure economically harsh times and recover quickly to resume trading activities. Essentially, this benefits not only the low-income countries but also the developed nations where international market supply chains remain undisrupted. Providing basic items such as food and shelter in the form of humanitarian assistance prevents adverse events such as malnutrition and lack of education. Notably, this has a positive impact on the societies of low-income countries. However, Roepstorff (2020) notes that humanitarian assistance to promote trade and alleviate poverty has the disadvantage of not being a long-term solution. Additionally, it is not sustainable to depend on donor funding to stabilize trade and reduce poverty in society because humanitarian assistance can never be enough compared to the needs of low-income countries.

The last advantage that humanitarian assistance creates in low-income countries entails creating sustainable change and reducing global diseases. Essentially, humanitarian assistance creates sustainable change when chronic issues are addressed through assistance. For instance, when people are pulled out of emergencies, they undertake measures that will help them in the future to avoid the repeat of such needs. Additionally, humanitarian assistance has an advantage for low-income countries in the fight against diseases in the effort by international bodies and rich nations to prevent the spread of the disease to their territories. The outbreak of Ebola in West Africa in 2013 is an example whereby humanitarian assistance was directed at containing the situation in the countries in the region (Le Marcis et al., 2019). As a result, assistance played a role in fighting and eradicating Ebola. The same can be cited for other diseases in other low-income countries. On the contrary, measuring the sustainable change brought by humanitarian assistance is difficult. Also, the fight against diseases in certain low-income countries fails to be based on impartiality and neutrality core humanitarian principles. Thus, it becomes biased, putting a taint on humanitarian assistance efforts.

Conclusion

Humanitarian assistance is an important element in society that helps save lives and respond to various societal needs. It takes various forms described above as the types of humanitarian assistance. Examples include food, non-food items, healthcare, education, and water assistance. Notably, these crucial humanitarian assistance examples help low-income countries solve urgent problems and create long-term impacts on society. This paper discusses the advantages and disadvantages of humanitarian aid. Numerous advantages are cited to support the continued provision of humanitarian assistance to low-income countries. On the contrary, some disadvantages are used by critics to advocate against humanitarian assistance to low-income countries. A trade-off between the two sides indicates that humanitarian assistance to low-income countries is more beneficial, even considering the disadvantages. Thus, humanitarian assistance to low-income countries should continue, and measures to reduce its disadvantages should be established.

References

Canyon, D. V., Ryan, B. J., & Burkle, F. M. (2020). The rationale for military involvement in humanitarian assistance and disaster relief. Prehospital and disaster medicine, 35(1), 92-97.

Le Marcis, F., Enria, L., Abramowitz, S., Saez, A. M., & Faye, S. L. B. (2019). Three acts of resistance during the 2014–16 West Africa Ebola epidemic: a focus on community engagement. Journal of Humanitarian Affairs, 1(2), 23-31.

Roepstorff, K. (2020). A call for critical reflection on the localization agenda in humanitarian action. Third World Quarterly, 41(2), 284-301.

Seddighi, H. (2020). Trust in humanitarian aid from the earthquake in 2017 to COVID-19 in Iran: a policy analysis. Disaster Medicine and Public Health Preparedness, 14(5), e7-e10.

Smith, J., Tran, A. L., & Compston, P. (2020). Review of humanitarian action and development engineering education programs. European Journal of Engineering Education, 45(2), 249-272.

Stumpf, J., Besiou, M., & Wakolbinger, T. (2023). Assessing the value of supply chain management in the humanitarian context–An evidence-based research approach. Journal of Humanitarian Logistics and Supply Chain Management, 13(1), 1-9.

Trias, A. P. L., & Cook, A. D. (2023). Military humanitarian and disaster governance networks in Southeast Asia: Framework and analysis. Disasters, 47(1), 205-241.

Wood, E. X., & Frazier, T. (2020). Decentralized humanitarian aid deployment: Reimagining the delivery of aid. Journal of Humanitarian Logistics and Supply Chain Management, 10(1), 1-20.

ORDER A PLAGIARISM-FREE PAPER HERE

We’ll write everything from scratch

Describing types of humanitarian assistance (AID). Debate the advantages and disadvantages of providing AIDS

Humanitarian Aid Paper

to low-income countries and support your argument with scholarly literature.