1.1 Humanitarian aid Foundations and History

1.
1 HUMANITARIAN AID:
FOUNDATIONS AND HISTORY
Block 1 - Humanitarian aid, Development Aid and the European Voluntary
Humanitarian Aid Corps
Module 1 - Humanitarian aid: Foundations and History

1.1 Humanitarian aid: Foundations and History
General Objectives and Content
Welcome to Module Humanitarian aid: Foundations and History.
The module introduces you to the basic terminology of

humanitarian aid and provides an overview of the historical roots
of humanitarianism as well as more recent developments in the
field of humanitarian aid.
You might ask yourself:
 What is the difference between humanitarian aid,

humanitarian action and humanitarian relief?
 In how far is humanitarian aid more than the

distribution of relief supplies?
 What are the principles guiding humanitarian

action?
At the end of the module you will be able to:
 Critically compare different definitions of

humanitarian aid
 Indicate the dimensions of humanitarian need
 Describe key historical developments in

humanitarian aid
1
W HAT I S HU M A NI TA R I A N A I D ?
Different terminologies, definition of humanitarian

aid and new developments
There are fundamental differences between humanitarian

aid and development cooperation.
What do you think are the most important distinctions

among...
Humanitarian aid Humanitarian response
Humanitarian action Humanitarian relief
Humanitarian assistance
2
When you started to be interested in humanitarian

aid and began reading about it you might have
realised that there is a wide range of terminologies
being used interchangeably to describe more or less
the same complex of meaning – Humanitarian aid,
humanitarian action, humanitarian assistance,
humanitarian response, humanitarian relief.
Indeed, different actors use the terms differently. Some prefer to use one
specific term, e.g. the European Commission predominantly uses the term
"humanitarian aid“, the German Federal Foreign Office in its English
translations uses the term "humanitarian assistance“ (although in German
the term aid – "Hilfe“ – is being used) and the Good Humanitarian Donorship
Initiative (GHD) which also developed an influential definition (see next
section) uses the term "humanitarian action“.
3
- Comparing the different terms, no systematic

differences are to be discovered in the use of these
terms. For example, while some actors use the term
"humanitarian aid“ to refer to the overall framework
and the term „humanitarian action“ in the context of
specific projects, others use „humanitarian action“ just
in the opposite way to delineate the general
framework. The term „humanitarian aid“, next to
„humanitarian relief“, is certainly the most traditional
term which is also used in some of the most influential
policy documents and guidelines, e.g. the European
Consensus on Humanitarian Aid (see Module B2.4)
and the Code of Conduct, developed by the Red Cross
and Red Crescent Movement (see Module B1.2). It
has been criticised for implicating a certain notion of
„passiveness“ and „helplessness“ of the „receivers“.
In order to ensure coherency with EU terminology, in the

following sections the term "humanitarian aid“ will be used.
4
W HY I S HU M A NI TA R I A N A I D I M PO R TA NT ?
Introduction
Raluca is a girl interested in understanding the reasons for

humanitarian aid and the extend of needs and the moral and
ethical foundations of humanitarian aid.
"I found a quote by the United

Nations Office for the
Coordination of Humanitarian
Affairs that made me imagine
how the situation in the
Democratic Republic of the
Congo would look like without
humanitarian aid and with
sufficient funding to meet the
projected requirements."
Read it too!
5
"An estimated 19.6 million people are in need of assistance and protection
across the Democratic Republic of the Congo, a country beset with some of
the world’s most acute and prolonged crises. Acute levels of humanitarian
need stem from overlapping crisis drivers, including armed conflict and
violence, epidemics and natural disasters.
In the last four years, the number of people requiring humanitarian aid has
almost tripled, rising from 7.3 million in 2017 to 19.6 million in 2021. Yet
during this same period, the percentage of people targeted against people
in need has decreased dramatically from 92 per cent to 49 per cent.
Since 2018, annual funding received has been less than half of the
projected requirements, or even a third – only 36 per cent of required funds
were contributed in 2021.
Consecutive years of funding shortfalls have deepened the humanitarian

crisis in DRC. In 2021, only one in three former child combatants was able
to access a socioeconomic or education reintegration package. Nutritional
surveys have been drastically cut back, limiting malnutrition updates in
underserved areas. Food security needs are not being met and rations are
being halved."
Source: UN OCHA
6
Global Humanitarian Overview
A total of 37 consolidated appeals were published by UN OCHA presenting an overview of the

needs and the financial requirements.
Source: UN OCHA, Global Humanitarian Overview 2022 – At a glance
Humanitarian Needs are on the rise. According to the Global Humanitarian
Overview (GHO), which is the world’s most comprehensive assessment of

humanitarian needs, 274 million people were in need of humanitarian assistance and
protection in 2022, 39 million more people than in the year before. In order to meet
the needs of the most vulnerable 183 million people, United Nations Office for the
Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UN OCHA) estimated that around €41 billion
would be required.
7
Due to a combination of different global trends the challenges

for the humanitarian system are increasing:
8
COVID-19 has claimed at least 1,8 million lives in those countries covered
by the GHO and an additional 20 million people have been pushed into
extreme poverty. Testing, diagnosis and treatment have decreased for HIV,
tuberculosis and malaria, while COVID-19 continues to disrupt global
education. Due to the pandemic, the gender-poverty gap is widening and
gender-based violence has increased substantially.
9
Climate–related disaster events are becoming more frequent and variable,

humanitarian aid must adapt to the fact that the major tipping point for
climate has already passed.
10
Civilians are increasingly targeted by political conflicts, with new

battlefields emerging in Ethiopia and Ukraine and numerous ongoing
protracted crises, like in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Central
African Republic, Syria and Yemen.
11
More than 1 per cent of the world’s population is now displaced and less
and less people are able to return home.
12
Hunger is on the rise and the level of food insecurity is unprecedented. 43

countries around the world faced the possibility of famines in 2022.
13
Optional reading
Regional Overview
In 2022, humanitarian needs were noted by UN OCHA in 63 countries. Most

humanitarian needs were recorded in the Middle East and North Africa and West and
Central Africa due to protracted crises, but there have been also sharp increases in
needs in Asia and the Pacific, Latin America and the Caribbean and Southern and
Eastern Africa.
The five countries with most people in need are Syria (34,1 million including the
region), Afghanistan (30,1 million including the region), the Democratic Republic of the
Congo (27,0 million), Ethiopia (25,9 million) and Yemen (20,7 million).
In Syria, ten years after the beginning of the crisis, basic service delivery such as
healthcare, shelter, and food is hampered by damaged infrastructure, lack of critical
supplies and insufficient income.
In Afghanistan needs have increased dramatically after the international troops left the
country. Repeated economic shocks, political turmoil and the worst drought in 27 years
have cause severe food insecurity and require life-saving assistance to prevent disaster.
The Democratic Republic of the Congo is one of the most complex and protracted
humanitarian crises in the world, characterised by population movements (more than
1,6 million people displaced), acute food insecurity (nearly 2,1 million), acute
malnutrition, epidemics and protection issues.
Ethiopia is facing climate shocks in combination with an unprecedented level of

conflict and a deteriorating economy. A total of 4,2 million people is internally
displaced, most of them seeking shelter in urban areas.
In Yemen, 16,2 million people are facing acute food insecurity and, despite mitigation
efforts, hunger remains a key challenge in the country. Notwithstanding the
humanitarian efforts of the international community, 40 percent of the population has
inadequate access to food. (UN OCHA 2022)
14
Humanitarian imperative
The question “Why is humanitarian aid important?” can be

answered quite simply: because there is humanitarian need and
there is a moral duty to help. The humanitarian imperative
comes first.
But supporting those in need in times of armed conflict is not just a moral duty, it is a legal
obligation anchored in International Humanitarian Law (see Module B.1.2: Humanitarian
Principles and values). Accordingly, the Code of Conduct of the Red Cross and Red
Crescent Movement and NGOs in Disaster Response Programmes states:
“The right to receive humanitarian assistance, and to offer

it, is a fundamental humanitarian principle which should be
enjoyed by all citizens of all countries. As members of the
international community, we recognise our obligation to
provide humanitarian assistance wherever it is needed.
Hence the need for unimpeded access to affected
populations is of fundamental importance in exercising
that responsibility. The prime motivation of our response to
disaster is to alleviate human suffering amongst those least
able to withstand the stress caused by disaster.
When we give humanitarian aid it is not a partisan or
political act and should not be viewed as such.”
- (IFRC 1995); (see Module B 1.2 for more information on the Code of Conduct)
15
Without humanitarian aid, many families, communities, and even

entire countries may fall deep into a cycle of poverty that carries
anumber of domino effects that can last for generations.
Humanitarian aid seeks to offset the immediate effects of a crisis
to reduce this greater risk.
After receiving their food aid, Rosa Elvira and her family go back to their house to cook tortillas
and beans.
16
- Try to complete this sentence:

The humanitarian imperative...
 is mentioned in the Code of Conduct of the Red
Cross and Red Crescent Movement and NGOs in
Disaster Response Programmes
 refers to the right to receive humanitarian aid
 means that aid should be provided without
discrimination between or within affected
populations
 means that the prime motivation of humanitarian
aid is to alleviate human suffering caused by
disasters
 condemns violence and war
 is mentioned in the Code of Conduct of the Red

Cross and Red Crescent Movement and NGOs
in Disaster Response Programmes;
 refers to the right to receive humanitarian aid;
 means that the prime motivation of

humanitarian aid is to alleviate human suffering
caused by disasters.
17
HI S TO R I C A L R O OT S O F HU M A NI TA R I A N A I D
The Story of an Idea
During the 19th century the

way of writing and reporting
on war changed.
Instead of focusing on the

triumph of the victorious
powers, many observers
reported on suffering and
death, for example how
primitive and brutal the
transport of the wounded was
or how precarious the
conditions in the military
hospitals were.
In how far was this, in your opinion, important for

the development of humanitarian aid?
18
The humanitarian aid and the humanitarian system as we know it today can be traced back to the 19th
century. Due to industrialisation, the character of wars had changed. Witnesses perceived them as even more
brutal and devastating. In combination with changes in the way of reporting on war and raising public
attention this led to important developments. Amongst others the famous nurse, Florence Nightingale, pushed
for reforms of ambulance services during wars and few years later, the businessman Henry Dunant, who
witnessed the battle of Solferino, initiated the founding of the first humanitarian organisation - the International
Committee of the Red Cross -and the emergence of international humanitarian law.
Forerunners of humanitarian aid in the 19th century
The commitment to the abolition of slavery and torture, as well as a growing

institutionalisation of charity for the poor and the sick in social organisations, were important
for the development of the humanitarian idea in the 19th century. In parallel, a first wave of
globalization opened the view on the rest of world and news from the remotest corners of the
earth were soon familiar to every newspaper reader.
At the beginning of the 19th century, forerunners of early forms of humanitarian aid targeting
people affected by disasters already existed. For example, the U.S. Government passed its first
“Foreign Aid Bill”, which allowed to provide aid to victims of a major earthquake in Venezuela.
Famines in India (1837-1838) and Ireland (1845-1849) led to first efforts to provide aid on a
large scale.
Another important step paving the way for humanitarian aid was the so called Lieber Code.
International lawyers refer to the „Lieber Code“, written to govern the conduct of Union forces
during the American Civil War, as the first example of the codification of the laws of war. It was
developed by the German-American Franz Lieber (1800-1872), a professor at Columbia
University in New York. In 1861 he drafted a military service regulation for U.S. President
Lincoln, which contains strict rules of conduct for soldiers, such as how to deal with wounded
enemy soldiers. The Lieber Code first went into effect for Union troops during the American
Civil War (1861-1865) in 1863, but was far from being always respected. One provision stated,
"Every captured wounded enemy shall be medically treated, according to the ability of the
medical staff”. Unlike the first Geneva Accord (GA) of 1864, this was not an international treaty,
but a set of rules specifically written for Union soldiers. However, it had a great influence on
the evolution of international humanitarian law (Slim 2008).
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Florence Nightingale and the foundation of modern nursing
Modern humanitarian aid with its constituent principles emerged primarily in response to the
suffering of soldiers in the wars of the 19th century. On the battlefields of Europe there was
hardly any medical aid for the wounded. If wounded were evacuated and cared for at all, it
was only those in their own camp. If the army had to flee, the wounded were usually left to
fend for themselves.
In the Crimean War (1853-1855), for example, conditions for the wounded were appalling. The
well-known war correspondent William Howard Russell described the situation in the
newspaper The London Times as follows:
“There is a lack of bandages and nurses. Not even linen for making bandages for the wounded
is available. The dead lay side by side with the living. No attention is paid to decency or
cleanliness; the foul, disgusting stench could at best escape outside through the cracks in
walls and roofs, poisoning the atmosphere”.
In the face of such descriptions, it became clear that different rules applied in the wars of the
machine age. Trenches, armoured ships and siege artillery showed how industrialisation
changed battlefields and that an enormous logistics was required to hold one's ground. This
included a sanitation force capable of caring for the wounded and sick. But the Crimean War
lacked almost everything in this regard.
This situation also outraged the then 34-year-old Florence Nightingale, who moved to
Crimea with a group of nurses and cared for about 5,000 wounded in a military hospital.
Together with her fellow nurses, Florence Nightingale soon ensured order, taking on the
British military administration with her tenacity: the nurses ensured cleanliness and hygiene,
cleaned floors, changed bed linen. A hospital kitchen and a laundry were set up. Like Henry
Dunant a few years later, who is considered the founding figure of the Red Cross, Florence
Nightingale held the view: "Suffering lifts its victim above normal values. While suffering
endures there is neither good nor bad, valuable nor invaluable, enemy nor friend. The victim has
passed to a region beyond human classification or moral judgments and his suffering is a
sufficient claim".
After her return, she wrote letters, talked to politicians, and wrote books about how hospitals
should be run ("Notes on Hospitals"). She also advocated new, modern, nursing principles
("Notes on Nursing"). Her example became a milestone not only for the medical profession,
but for modern nursing in general (Stark 2020).
20
Henry Dunant and the founding of the ICRC
The final deciding event that led to the founding of modern humanitarian aid was the battle of
Solferino, the decisive battle between the Empire of Austria and the Kingdom of Piedmont-
Sardinia and its ally France. The businessman Henry Dunant experienced the consequences of
the battle in Italy in 1859: wounded soldiers lay close together on roadsides, in squares and
churches.
Dunant witnessed the horror of the greatest battle of that time in all its brutality.
Dunant forgot the original purpose of his travel, and dedicated himself to caring for the
wounded as well as the dying. He washed dirty wounds, distributed food and water, gave
encouragement. Dunant also provided supplies of bandages and food. Because professional
help was lacking everywhere, Dunant called on local communities to help - women, children
and men all pitched in. "Sono tutti fratelli" - we are all brothers - they said, and cared for every
injured person, regardless of nationality.
When Dunant learned that the French were holding Austrian doctors captive, he sought out the
French ruler and managed to get Austrian doctors to participate in the relief effort. Along with
Dunant, these volunteers practiced for the first time what would later become principles of the
Red Cross: that all wounded soldiers are to be treated neutrally and equally (DRK n.d).
Henry Dunant processed his memories of the experiences in Italy in his book "Un souvenir di
Solferino" (A Memory of Solferino). Even today it is considered a literary masterpiece with
which he stirred up the society of the time in Europe. In his book, Dunant first describes the
political context and provides detailed information about the military and war strategies. Then,
in a dramatic epic, he describes the course of the battle and the slaughter on the battlefields,
how primitive and brutal the transport of the wounded was, or how precarious the conditions in
the military hospitals were.
Dunant devoted the last pages to his vision: "Would it not be possible, in time of peace, to found
a voluntary organization whose purpose should be to have the wounded cared for in time of war
by enthusiastic and self-sacrificing volunteers especially fitted for such work?" (Dunant, 1862).
He concluded his book with an appeal to establish relief societies for the wounded in various
countries of Europe.
The response was tremendous. A second edition appeared just four months after the first and
became a bestseller. Only a short time later, a body of five was formed in Geneva with the
name "Permanent International Committee", later to become the International Committee of
the Red Cross (ICRC). In 1864 Dunant also initiated the adoption of the Geneva Convention for
the Amelioration of the Condition of the Wounded and Sick in Armed Forces in the Field. This
Convention marks the start of the Geneva tradition of humanitarian law: the 1907 Hague
Convention, the 1949 Geneva Conventions and the 1977 Additional Protocols (see Module
B1.2: Humanitarian Principles and values).
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Recap
Congratulations!
After completing this module, you are now able to...
understand that International Humanitarian Law and the International

Committee of the Red Cross marked the beginning of modern humanitarian
aid.
You can download the copyright of the images on the course website
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1.

Module 1 - Humanitarian aid: Foundations and History

General Objectives and Content

Welcome to Module Humanitarian aid: Foundations and History.

The module introduces you to the basic terminology of

You might ask yourself:

 What is the difference between humanitarian aid,

 In how far is humanitarian aid more than the

 What are the principles guiding humanitarian

At the end of the module you will be able to:

 Critically compare different definitions of

 Indicate the dimensions of humanitarian need

 Describe key historical developments in

Different terminologies, deﬁnition of humanitarian

There are fundamental differences between humanitarian

What do you think are the most important distinctions

Humanitarian aid Humanitarian response

Humanitarian action Humanitarian relief

When you started to be interested in humanitarian

- Comparing the different terms, no systematic

In order to ensure coherency with EU terminology, in the

Raluca is a girl interested in understanding the reasons for

"I found a quote by the United

Consecutive years of funding shortfalls have deepened the humanitarian

Global Humanitarian Overview

A total of 37 consolidated appeals were published by UN OCHA presenting an overview of the

Humanitarian Needs are on the rise. According to the Global Humanitarian

Overview (GHO), which is the world’s most comprehensive assessment of

Due to a combination of different global trends the challenges

Climate–related disaster events are becoming more frequent and variable,

Civilians are increasingly targeted by political conflicts, with new

Hunger is on the rise and the level of food insecurity is unprecedented. 43

In 2022, humanitarian needs were noted by UN OCHA in 63 countries. Most

Ethiopia is facing climate shocks in combination with an unprecedented level of

The question “Why is humanitarian aid important?” can be

“The right to receive humanitarian assistance, and to offer

Without humanitarian aid, many families, communities, and even

- Try to complete this sentence:

 is mentioned in the Code of Conduct of the Red

 refers to the right to receive humanitarian aid;

 means that the prime motivation of

The Story of an Idea

During the 19th century the

Instead of focusing on the

In how far was this, in your opinion, important for

Forerunners of humanitarian aid in the 19th century

The commitment to the abolition of slavery and torture, as well as a growing

Florence Nightingale and the foundation of modern nursing

Henry Dunant and the founding of the ICRC

After completing this module, you are now able to...

understand that International Humanitarian Law and the International

You might also like