Editorial (Humanitarian Aid on the Move No. 25)

In a way, this year’s discussions carried on from where we had left off last year, as we decided, once again, to question the very nature of humanitarian action. But this time, rather than viewing it in relation to quality, we approached it from a much more political angle. After more than half a century of existence in its ‘modern’ form, there is currently a great deal of criticism of the humanitarian sector, including criticism of the concepts of neutrality, impartiality and independence. The question of its politicisation is increasingly being raised. Various stakeholders – particularly in the ‘South’ – now see it as a commercial sector like any other, serving national interests and a globalised ultra-liberal ideology.

In the words of Haitian film-maker, Raoul Peck, (who made ‘Assistance mortelle’, a highly critical documentary on international aid to Haiti after the 2010 earthquake, and who was the country’s Minister of Culture in 1996-97), could this be the “end of political innocence” for our sector? We borrowed this quote from one of the speakers at the Spring School, Bertrand Bréqueville, who also features in this issue of Humanitarian Aid on the Move. Many of the other speakers at the various round tables have also written articles for this 25^th edition: representatives from French NGOs, from Haiti and from the Burmese diaspora in France. Without forgetting an article by a Groupe URD researcher who is not yet… 30 years old!