undermine the whole enterprise, or see a deep need for rule-corrected solidarity.
The issue of selectivity is also a major concern throughout the world of professional
humanitarianism, feeding on the multiple layers of imperfection and complexity
that characterise it, not least those explored in the previous section. Indeed, at
every level of humanitarian engagement, charges of selectivity are a preferred way
of attacking its coherence.
Ian Smillie and Larry Minear argue that at the heart of the lively debate over
the moral necessity of humanitarian action lies “the unevenness of the response to
emergencies, with human need going largely unaddressed in some crises while
being inundated with attention and resources in others”. They go on to say that the
“humanitarian imperative is difficult to take seriously when its application is so
tattered”.^103 Jan Egeland, the former head of OCHA, notes in his recent memoir that
the successful fund-raising response to the 2004 tsunami “represents an astonishing
$7,100 for every affected person, as opposed to only three dollars per head actually
spent on someone affected by floods in Bangladesh in 2004.”^104 Less extreme, but
still noteworthy, is the varying level of funding different crises receive, as set out in
real-time by OCHA in their comprehensive online funding summaries.^105 These
disparities underscore the extent to which the professional humanitarian sector is
at the mercy of the wider social context in which humanitarian concerns are
expressed and support for action formulated. The fact that even in highly controlled
and institutionalised contexts, professional humanitarianism is not at full liberty to
determine its own priorities according to the principles it sets itself. Instead, it has
to negotiate the more fickle and contingent play of empathetic responses.
Some professional humanitarian actors resist this. Famously, in the
aftermath of the 2004 Tsunami, MSF quickly shut down its appeal as it had more
103
104 Smillie and Minear, The Charity of Nations , 1.
105 Egeland, A Billion Lives , 131.
OCHA, "Appeals & Funding", ReliefWeb. Available at
http://ocha.unog.ch/fts/pageloader.aspx; accessed on 18 June 2010. The Guardian recently
reported, for instance, that the World Food Programme’s efforts to deliver food aid in Niger
are hampered by substantial funding shortfalls. The Guardian, "Editorial: Food Crisis in the
Sahel: Unlearned Lessons", The Guardian (03 August 2010). Available at
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/aug/03/eastern-sahel-food-crisis-aid;
accessed on 03 August 2010.
marcin
(Marcin)
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