12 March 2019
- RSIS
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- International Humanitarian Assistance: What Must Change
International Humanitarian Assistance: What Must Change
Last December, at a Mass in Dublin, congregants were asked to pray for the victims of the Anak Krakatau tsunami in Indonesia and for countries to be generous in coming to their aid. As someone who has observed the humanitarian scene for two decades, I knew the second part would not be necessary.
The disaster was of a scale well within Indonesia’s ability to cope. Besides, even when confronted with a greatly more devastating earthquake in Sulawesi a few months earlier, Indonesia accepted only very limited and targeted assistance. What then is the place of international humanitarian assistance in today’s world?
… The future of international humanitarian assistance is in continuing to search for more and better ways to integrated access for crisis-affected people.
Dr Catherine Bragg, a former UN assistant secretary-general for Humanitarian Affairs, was a visiting fellow at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS), Singapore.
RSIS / Online
Last updated on 12/03/2019
