Humanitarian aid has probably been, for many years, one of the most universally accepted action or movement mobilized all around the globe. Not only is it supported by the public opinion, but it is also renowned as the most genuine good thing going on in our present society. Politically as well as economically, it is widely endorsed and not to mention that it has the most favorable media image available out there.

On the other hand, there has been a reverse effect to this so called good action. Through the years, the idea of a neutral humanitarian action has morphed into a more politically involved aspect of our society.

Through our field of study, we have come to discover a personal interest for international issues. Within a blog post, we intend to re-evaluate the nature of humanitarian aid by questioning the ethical place it occupies in our society and then review the negative aspects.

Obviously, the idea of natural disasters being the main cause of most humanitarian aid implication is irrelevant. However, nowadays, the human effect on these disasters is unceasingly rising to the point where we may come to believe that we are the actual instigators of our own environmental problems. On top of that is the fact that we are now the cause of many environmental debates and conflicts around the globe revolving around the fair distribution of natural resources. There are also situations where conflicts erupt in assumption that ecological measures are not sufficiently respected or are sometimes taken too lightly. Maybe many years ago we could have stated that natural disasters are causes that are free of our influence but today, to state such a thing would be outdated and in a way hypocritical.

The second circumstance in which humanitarian action is needed is the many political conflicts going on around the globe. Whether we speak of States conflicting against masses of the population according to either ideological or religious differences, the non respect of international law or the government’s lack in providing for the basic needs of the population, violence keeps rising and causing civil wars in which non-governmental organizations come in aid to help the people.

The goal of humanitarian aid is to save lives and restore the individual to a state of capability of choice. The main idea of helping people in need implies that any individual indifferent from race, sex as well as religious views has the right to be taken in consideration. We speak here of universality and secularity. However, we cannot deny the fact that human aid organizations may question the causes related to the situations they are asked to take part in. They may modify their priorities but yet again, the important thing is to remember that in the end, it is the best interest of the people that must be kept in mind.

In a similar vein, human aid organizations are detached from any political involvement of the victims in need. They act in relation to the victim as a man and only as such. Their intent is to remain independent of any political group as well as indifferent from the press and the public opinion. Their aim is to stay far from the new trend in which the humanitarian action is controlled by the government. Sadly, a huge amount of pressure is put on aid agencies by governments to work in the same direction as them. The idea of a country in which these organizations could move towards moral deeds without any constraints from the State is unfortunately unlikely going to happen.

Humanitarian crises keep on appearing at an amazing rate. The problem here is that while aid is offered to most of them, every time a new situation appears, the previous one is often returned to an earlier state of non-awareness. People are left in awful situations and it takes an enormous amount of time for them to find a minimum of well-being or comfort. This is the critique given to aid agencies. We criticize the fact that they do not offer any sustainable solutions but yet again we forget that it is the governments’ role to ensure that the short term solutions already established are changed into long term solutions.

Also, reports show that while many conflicts are going on all around the world, only few receive the necessary amount of aid by donors. In a 2003 report on present crises around the world, the international Federation highlighted the actual problem in which donors and aid agencies overly engage in media interventions associated with political and strategic conflicts rather than cases that are more subtle but still as important. ‘’ In April 2003, the department of defense of the United States invested 1.7 billion dollars in helping in the reconstruction program in Irak while at the same moment, 1 billion dollars were missing for the Worldwide Food Program.’’ We can assert without doubt that this pattern is morally questionable. Of course it is not the case of all organizations but we still need to rethink the methods and the intentions of our governments.

As it has been said, humanitarian aids should be reconsidered to evaluate its good efficiency, as well as its benefits regarding today’s society. To conclude, many advocates of humanitarian aids still claim its importance in our role as equal human beings. Therefore, rules should be established to ensure the safety of citizens regarding pollution and all other environmental causes to decrease our impact on natural disasters.

In addition, the definition of humanitarian aid is; one who is devoted to the promotion of human welfare and the advancement of social reforms, and the ones who faultily pretend to act only for the wellbeing and security of others shouldn’t be engaged in any political aspects, no matter what they affirm.

Finally, there is no need to blame humanitarian aid since the main goal of this action is to help our future. No one has the right to prevent others from the help they need since afterward, they will the ones helping others. Everyone should be doing so in the objective of helping others and not for their self-image