Responding to Humanitarian Crises

There are always humanitarian crises somewhere in the world. We just don’t know about all of them. Lancaster University’s Dr Nonhlanhla Dube, an ‘accidental humanitarian’ turned expert humanitarian logistician, joins us to fill in the gaps in our knowledge on the humanitarian sector, particularly on refugees.  We think about how we learn of humanitarian crises around the world, how our knowledge can be limited by what the media in our home countries reports on, and where there might be ‘hidden’ issues in parts of the world we do not think about – including Noni’s home country of Zimbabwe. We learn what events trigger a humanitarian effort and how long-term issues can tip over to require larger and more immediate responses; consider the Boxing Day Tsunami of 2004 and its effects on 2.3 million people in many countries around the Indian Ocean; and look at how ‘CNN disasters’ can affect why some funding appeals are more successful than others. Noni tells us about examples of good practice in response operations, how long-term planning is essential, why adapting tents according to your needs plays such a key role, where refugees comes from, how some people can spend most of their lives in a refugee camp, and what individuals and businesses can do to help when a disaster happens. And we discuss problems and challenges with disaster responses; where good intentions can go wrong; why local people and their needs and perspectives can be ignored by international organisations; and the impact of aid cuts because of political shifts worldwide. Read about Noni’s work on improving emergency response efforts for refugees here: https://doc.your-brochure-online.co.uk/Lancaster-University_FiftyFourDegrees_Issue_19/34/ An example of organisation that supports people at times of disaster is Doctors without Borders: https://msf.org.uk/who-we-are Rawls’ veil of ignorance is explained here: https://ethicsunwrapped.utexas.edu/glossary/veil-of-ignorance Episode Transcript