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    1.5.1 Humanitarian Principles
    • 07 Dec 2023
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    1.5.1 Humanitarian Principles

    • Updated on 07 Dec 2023
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    Article summary

    Four humanitarian principles govern the work of all humanitarian actors, including the activities of the FSC:  

    1. Humanity - human suffering must be addressed wherever it is found, with particular attention to the most vulnerable.
    2. Neutrality - humanitarian aid must not favour any side in an armed conflict or other dispute.
    3. Impartiality - humanitarian aid must be provided solely on the basis of need, without discrimination.
    4. Independence - the autonomy of humanitarian objectives from political, economic, military, or other objectives.

    These principles shape the foundations for humanitarian action and define what humanitarian aid is: delivering life-saving assistance to those in need, without any adverse distinction. They distinguish humanitarian aid from other activities, for example those of political, religious, ideological, or military nature. Adherence to the humanitarian principles facilitates access and acceptance and helps humanitarian workers carry out their work effectively. 

    Derived from the core principles of the International Committee of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement (ICRC), the principles of humanity, neutrality, and impartiality were endorsed in General Assembly resolution 46/182 in 1991, while resolution 58/114 of 2004 added independence as a fourth key principle underlying humanitarian action.

    Since then, the commitment to these principles has been incorporated into several documents at institutional level. For example:

    • The Code of Conduct for the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movements and NGOs in Disaster Relief, which provides a set of common standards for organisations involved in humanitarian activities (in 2021, there are 905 NGO signatories to the Code of Conduct).

    The humanitarian principles are also at the core of:  

    • The Core Humanitarian Standard (CHS).
    • The Humanitarian Charter and the Sphere handbook.

    What is the FSC Coordinator’s role? The FSC Coordinator must comply with and should promote FSC partners’ compliance with humanitarian principles. There can be multiple pressures on humanitarian actors to compromise humanitarian principles, such as providing humanitarian aid as part of efforts to achieve political/religious/social ends. Maintaining principled humanitarian action in the face of these pressures is an essential task, but not an easy one. 

    Some examples include:

    • Humanitarian access and targeting (for both geographic areas and beneficiaries) are typically areas in which all humanitarian principles can be challenged, and the FSC should promote targeting criteria that respect humanitarian principles. 
    • The independence principle can also be at stake when the assessment and analysis of the food security situation, based on which the humanitarian response is planned, is influenced by different stakeholders; the FSC can play a role in promoting a food security analysis inclusive of multiple stakeholders (see, for instance, the role of the FSC in the IPC/CH).
    • The nexus approach often implies working closely with or through government-led systems (e.g. government social safety nets). This can entail certain risks (mostly related to the impartiality principle) in conflict-torn countries, and FSC teams should be careful to support its operationalization in a principled way (see 10.2).

    Resources:

    For additional information see also: 

    • The Humanitarian Charter states the ethical and legal principles that inspired the creation of the Sphere movement i.e. the right to life with dignity, the right to protection and security, and the right to receive humanitarian assistance on the basis of need. 
    • The Sphere handbook, which incorporates humanitarian principles, the core humanitarian standard, and technical standards. The Sphere standards are grounded in the beliefs, principles, duties, and rights declared in the Humanitarian Charter (1.5.5).
    • The Core Humanitarian Standard (1.5.5).
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