Cash distribution – alongside clear humanitarian "floor" targets in the revised Millennium Development Goals, more sustainable local partnerships and better use of evidence overall – could be part of a vital renewal of the humanitarian sector.
Humanitarian floor targets could mean, for example, that education or health levels in fragile states or level 3 emergencies are given due priority by establishing minimum outcome levels alongside the aspirations for improved overall provision for the poorest.
The operations director of the UN Office of Humanitarian Affairs, John Ging, in November chastised international donors for providing just 40% (now 46%) of the funding sought for a $120m£94m4m) humanitarian appeal targeting the 750,000 Haitians still in need of support.
Women are crucial in fighting poverty, providing effective humanitarian relief, targeting development assistance and cooperation, improving the condition of children, improving school attendance, conflict resolution and building sustainable peace.
Through the Water and Environmental Sanitation Working Group, UNICEF is coordinating water and sanitation humanitarian interventions targeted at vulnerable populations in the country.
Unfortunately, as 2007 drew to a close, the security situation in the region continued to decline, and humanitarian workers were targets of violence and abduction.
In the ethnic and religious conflicts of the past decade, however, where civilians are often the primary targets, humanitarian law has usually been brushed aside.Nevertheless, largely because of the resulting barbarities, the 1990s have also seen the most concerted attempts since the Nuremberg and Tokyo trials to bring perpetrators of war crimes and crimes against humanity to justice.
Why did the humanitarian workers become targets of violence?
The military roots of these technologies make their use suspicious to armed groups and render local humanitarian staff "legitimate targets".
"The sole aim is the relief of humanitarian suffering by targeting and disrupting the further use of chemical weapons," he told MPs.
