Humanitarian Action and Ethics

From natural disaster areas to conflict zones, humanitarian workers today find themselves operating in diverse and difficult environments. While humanitarian work has always presented unique ethical challenges, such efforts are now further complicated by the impact of globalization, the escalating refugee crisis, and mounting criticisms of established humanitarian practice.

Featuring contributions from humanitarian practitioners, health professionals, and social and political scientists, this book explores the question of ethics in modern humanitarian work, drawing on the lived experience of humanitarian workers themselves. Its contributors have worked in some of the most difficult humanitarian situations today, and their experiences provide essential case studies that cover humanitarian work in countries ranging from Haiti and South Sudan to Syria and Iraq. It addresses issues such as gender-based violence, migration, and the growing phenomenon of “volunteer tourism.” Together, these contributions offer new perspectives on humanitarian ethics, as well as insight into how such ethical considerations might inform more effective approaches to humanitarian work.