Editorial No. 3

Hope amid the crises

Recently, good news has been in short supply. Journalists and civil society leaders continue to disappear or to be assassinated in the Russian Federation, the situation in the Caucasus remains explosive both in the north (Chechnya, Dagestan and Ingushetia) and the south (Georgia and Nagorny-Kabarach). The crises in Darfur, Somalia and the DRC drag on. More and more often, humanitarians are denied access to populations in distress, and at the same time, they are increasingly the target of violence and banditry, making their work increasingly dangerous.

Of course, all is not completely without hope. Although the return of El Nino in the southern hemisphere is due to bring flooding and hurricanes to South America and drought to the Southeast Asian peninsulas, disaster preparation plans are being put in place, something which simply did not happen ten years ago. And though stability remains an ongoing challenge in Afghanistan, elections were able to take place there despite the violence and intimidation.

With other dangers on the horizon, like the SARS and H1N1 epidemics, the impacts of climate change and the global economic crisis, which is already undermining resilience and international solidarity, one might be tempted to simply give up. Alternatively, we can put our shoulders to the wheel and resist. The humanitarian sector has always been dynamic and capable of adapting itself. Humanitarian Aid on the Move aims to reflect this multi-faceted quality, and is grounded in the idea that collective progress will only come as a result of individual progress.

François Grünewald