This thesis presents how humanitarian aid workers were attracted, motivated, recruited, and prepared for fieldwork, and how they reported their work experience directly from the field and when they returned home. Data were derived from interviews with experienced aid workers, focus group discussions with presumptive aid workers, analysis of letters from aid workers in the field on MSFs homepages in Europe, and from interviews with recruitment officers at some of the main humanitarian organisations. Health professionals were attracted by the positive images of humanitarian action. They wished to work in teams with like-minded people, and to make a difference in the world. However, this image was not supported by the recruitment officers, or experienced aid workers, who described a complex reality in humanitarian action. The experienced aid workers instead had realised they learned more than they contributed. The recruitment system for relief workers would benefit from a more holistic approach, where personalities of the aid workers are more in focus. More time must be spent with the applicants, both recruited and returning aid workers, in order to improve the system. A socialisation approach could help identify the right personnel and to motivate current personnel to continue.

Indigenous communities living in Arauca department, a region located on the Eastern Plains of Colombia, are at an imminent risk of physical and cultural extermination -according to the orders 004 and 382 from the Constitutional Court of Colombia- due to a double vulnerability which stems from a historic structural violence dating from the creation of the nation-state and direct violence as a consequence of armed conflict. The physical extermination refers to the high mortality rates that this population suffers either by violence or natural death, while the cultural extermination is a result of both an accelerated process of acculturation and a progressive loss of culture, territory and respect from traditional authorities. This study, by analyzing the local context and the actions that have done harm, addresses the best practices for humanitarian interventions over the role of territory, culture, governance and autonomy as key factors for empowering community members to overcome, face or diminish the consequences of these vulnerabilities.

Afin d'examiner la réception des publicités sociales et humanitaires, cette étude pluridisciplinaire analyse trois dimensions initiales : savoir avec l'objet, faire/être avec l'objet et analyse de l'objet. Ce choix est justifié sur la base d'une méthodologie pluridimensionnelle basée sur les études culturelles. Nous essayons d'expliquer les processus de réception, d'interprétation, de négociation et les discours des individus. Le comportement des récepteurs des publicités sociale et humanitaire et le rôle de ces derniers sont au centre de notre intérêt. Cette étude est réalisée à deux échelles, une étude monographique basée sur les affiches de l'Unicef France et une étude globalisante sur la réception des publicités sociale et humanitaire au sens large du terme. / In order to study the reception of social and humanitarian advertisements, this pluridisciplinary study analyses three initial dimensions : knowing with the object, doing/being with the object and the analysis of the object. This choice has been justified on the basis of a pluridimensional methodology based on cultural studies. We aim at explaining the processes of reception, interpretation, negotiation and the discourse of individuals. The behavior of the receivers of social and humanitarian advertisements and the rôle of the later are the focal points of our interest. This study has been undertaken on two levels : a monographic study of Unicef France's posters and a more global study on the reception of social and humanitarian advertisements in the broad sense of the term.

This research examines the practice of Female Genital Mutilation/Circumcision (FGM/C) as a social phenomenon in Singida Region, Tanzania. The aim is to contribute to a deepened cultural anthropological understanding of the function and meaning behind the practice in Singida, and how it reacts to external factors of change, such as human rights-based laws and projects aiming to eradicate FGM/C. This was done by conducting an ethnographic field study, with the help of staff members from the Christian Council of Tanzania (CCT). Through the theoretical framework, aiming to grasp the complexity of FGM/C, aspects such as visible and invisible violence, patriarchal structures, social schemes, anomalies, change and rites, were analyzed on the collected material consisting of semi-structured interviews and participatory observations. From the conducted analysis, it was shown that FGM/C was a deeply imbedded cultural practice which purpose is to (1) enable women to consolidate to womanhood and ensure a full membership in society and (2) cure girls from a disease known as lawalawa. This is because the clitoris is believed to be connected to diseases and to enhance the risk of abnormal behavior that does not belong to womanhood. The thesis shows how lawalawa was fabricated as a reaction towards the ban on FGM/C in Tanzania and how it was used to (unknowingly or knowingly) justify the continuance of the practice. It was also showed that members of societies who engage in FGM/C, are likely to avoid abandoning FGM/C if possible, however change is achievable if it is implemented in a sensitive way with knowledge on local reaction towards external factors of change.

La perpétuation de l'islam sénégalais repose en grande partie sur l'enseignement musulman, traditionnellement réalisé dans des écoles coraniques (daara) par des maîtres reconnus pour leurs compétences religieuses. Des enfants leur sont confiés par leur famille, souvent pauvre en milieu rural. Une partie de ces écoles migre pour s'installer en ville, suite à divers bouleversements socio-économiques subis par le Sénégal depuis une quarantaine d'années. Certains de ces élèves deviennent alors des taalibe-mendiants : la quête majoritairement monétaire qu'ils pratiquent et les rapports entretenus avec leur maître sont basés sur des principes culturels et cultuels anciens, ayant muté depuis quelques décennies. L'élève coranique se situe au centre de différentes sortes d'échanges de prestations et de dons sur fond de baraka (grâce divine). Ce travail de recherches se propose d'expliciter les stratégies élaborées par les multiples acteurs sociaux – maîtres, chefs religieux, parents, population donnant l'aumône (sarax) suite à l'injonction d'un marabout devin/guérisseur…– interagissant dans ce phénomène, afin de comprendre les changements problématiques subis par ce type d'enseignement. L'utilisation de la théorie du don initiée par Mauss permet d'analyser l'évolution de la fonction sociale du taalibe-mendiant, qui ne doit pas être confondu avec un faxman (enfant des rues), présent lui aussi au Sénégal. / The perpetuation of Senegalese Islam is based in major part on Muslim teaching, traditionally fulfilled in Koranic schools (daara) by masters acknowledged for their religious skills. Children are entrusted to them by their families, often poor in rural environments. A certain amount of these schools migrate to settle in the city, due to various socio-economic changes experienced by Senegal in the last forty years. Some of these students then become taalibe-beggars: the quest mostly monetary they practice and the relationships maintained with their masters are based on ancient cultural and religious principles having mutated in recent decades. The Koranic student is at the center of various kinds of service and gift exchanges based on the baraka (divine grace) principle. This research aims to explain the different strategies developed by the multiple social actors – teachers, religious leaders, parents, people giving alms (sarax) following the injunction of a marabout diviner/healer ... – interacting in this phenomenon, so as to understand the problematic changes went thought by this type of teaching. The gift theory thought out by Mauss permit to analyze the taalibe-beggar social functions' evolution, which should not be confused with a faxman (children of the streets), also present in Senegal.

International negotiation competitions are not a new phenomenon. These competitionshave been growing in popularity worldwide and have several pedagogic benefits forthe participants. Unfortunately, so far have been targeted only to students from the lawor business fields excluding students from other fields, including the humanitarianstudents. These students are likely to follow a career where negotiations play a keyrole, nevertheless, they are not well prepared for it. The purpose of this thesis is toexplore these benefits and the transferability of these competition models to thehumanitarian sector. This thesis, therefore, seeks to answer the research question“What benefits can international negotiation competitions have for participants?” and“Could students in the humanitarian sector benefit from negotiation competitionsadapted to the challenges they are likely to face?”. The study comprises of bothquantitative and qualitative methodological approaches. An analysis of existingliterature was undertaken alongside a pre-study survey to humanitarian students, 15expert interviews and an online survey to participants to negotiation competitions.The thesis presents the opinions of a variety of experts and participants in negotiationcompetitions and reveals several benefits of participation in such events. Thesebenefits include: skill development, multicultural environment, simulation of realemotions, feedback from judges, networking opportunities and promotion of the field.The findings also suggest that the transferability of this model to humanitarian studentscould be not only possible but beneficial, yet some barriers could arise. Explanation ofpossible barriers to this implementation and possible solutions to mitigate them aredisclosed.

With over 19,200 asylum seekers living on its premises, the Moria refugee camp is operating way over its capacity of 3000 residents. Due to the uncontrolled, rapid growth of the camp, the existing sanitation infrastructure has fallen into disrepair under excessive usage. While the old toilets and showers are breaking down and lacking maintenance, creating new facilities has been slow, resulting in hundreds of people sharing one latrine. In this thesis, I analyze whether Moria‟s sanitation services meet the Sphere minimum standards and propose improvements based on the sustainable settlements framework. I argue that Moria is midst a protracted crisis. This means that in addition to meeting the minimum standards, the camp needs sustainable settlement planning for the many years it still has ahead of it. As a method, I use integrative literature review. The thesis finds that Moria cannot meet any of the Sphere standards as people live in a degrading, dangerous and unhealthy environment. Women and disabled people face additional challenges when using the few latrines, which are far away and have long queues. There is a risk of SGBV for vulnerable groups. Wastewater from Moria used to pollute a local stream until the sewage system was connected to a waste-processing plant in 2019, which is the only positive aspect that was found in the literature. However, broken pipes still create significant problems inside the camp. Seeing that waste is a problem on the tightly-packed camp, it is important that when new toilets are built they process excreta safely while saving space. I have introduced sustainable sanitation solutions that turn excreta into soil improver and energy. These toilets have long life-spans and are optimized to save space. They solve the problem of pollution and ideally, enhance the independence of their users, as excreta is turned into safe-to-handle products. To ensure that the users accept the new technologies, their engagement in the planning of the services is essential.

This thesis aims to explore why, and in what ways football is, and can be used within humanitarian action. I will discuss the reasons why football is particularly suitable, and how to build an effective program. I will take a closer look at peacebuilding and psychosocial support, how it connects to football and what attributes of the game that promotes a project’s success. The research is based on a literature study, and I have taken examples from both academic articles and other books. I have found a range of attributes that makes football particularly good to work with, including the physical aspect of the game, the joy it brings to the participants, and that it is a safe framed space where to explore new perspectives. That football is a team sport is essential when working with both peacebuilding and psychosocial support. The social platform football consists of is the foundation to cooperation and changing the view of ‘the other’. Moreover, it can build a sense of belongingness, not only to the players themselves but also to the team and the club which might be crucial in a volatile context such as forced migration. I partly challenge the idea that sport does not have any inherent positive factors for people’s well-being. I found the physical aspect and that it is teams that are winning, not individuals as reasons for this. But I also found, that creating an environment where the actors are autonomously motivated is the most important factor, not only to give optimal opportunity for the actors to perform in the best way but for their well-being as well.

The focus of this research is upon the measures that Swedish Crisis Management System carried out during the Covid-19 pandemic toward the shopping needs (i.e., food/groceries, medicines) of home-quarantined individuals (those who should stay at home according to the authorities’ recommendations because they were either elderly or regardless their ages, were in risk groups or had symptoms of disease). The research identifies the immediate responsible authority concerning this need and examines how this actor behaved and what measures took to address the shopping needs of home-quarantined. The interaction between this responsible actor and other social parties (e.g., humanitarian actors/civil society, and/or Local Communities), explored to illustrate whether the responsible actor had carried out its immediate duty or not. The outcomes of various operations that different social actors performed are analyzed and compared. For assessing the Swedish Crisis Management System and the measures carried out during the Covid-19 pandemic, five case studies conducted; the action of the municipalities in four cities (Örebro, Staffanstorp, Uppsala and Umeå) and one Community Initiative in Örebro (named Coronahjälpen, which launched and operated via a Facebook group) examined and compared. Additionally, the pattern exercised in more than a hundred cities explored. The relationship/interaction between state agents (mainly municipalities) from one side and Civil Society organizations or Community Initiatives is illustrated by applying one practical categorization of the relationship between state and Civil Society and one politico-economic categorization. For the latter, the Neo-liberal paradigm applied for such an analysis toward the relationships. Based on the primary and secondary data and the discussion upon them, the failure or success of the Swedish Crisis Management System during the Covid-19 pandemic regarding shopping needs of home-quarantined individuals was examined. In the conclusion part of the paper, a recommendation for such a system is provided.

Humanitarian organizations and research groups are increasingly considering the potential of integrating palliative care into humanitarian health responses. While studies on the topic frequently examine the obstacles of integrating palliative care into humanitarian action, the field is marked by notable research gaps, particularly concerning assessments of practice, the impact of guidelines, as well as critical inquiries into the moral and conceptual implications of a “humanitarian palliative care”. This thesis contributes to the latter of these research gaps by unpacking the discourses of palliative care and humanitarianism as imperatives, with attention to the ways in which the two may support or challenge each other.  The main research question, “How does humanitarian action take up palliative care as a humanitarian concern?”, is addressed through an anthropological lens. To shed light on the intangible, yet powerful, moral aspects of combining these discourses, this research method consists of a literature review approaching guidelines and studies as empirical data. While without its main ethnographic method, the use of classic anthropological theories and analysis offers apt insight into the framework of a humanitarian palliative care. The thesis paper progresses as follows: first, a literature review outlines the background of palliative care and its introduction in the humanitarian sector along with the direction of existing studies and guidelines on the topic. This outline then facilitates a comparative analysis of the moral language and principles of palliative care and humanitarianism. During this analysis, Fassin’s critique of “humanitarian reason” (2012) is used to better understand both imperatives in focus, leading to a biopolitical analysis of the implications of a combined ‘humanitarian palliative care’. This analysis suggests that palliative needs inhabit a liminal position in humanitarian healthcare – at the threshold of humanitarian concern.   The liminality of humanitarian palliative care is then explored with particular attention to the infrastructure and relevant temporal aspects of humanitarian healthcare. While addressing abstract concepts, the analysis draws upon case examples to illuminate each analytical point in practice. Finally, I conclude with a discussion reflecting on the suggestions made by this thesis, and ultimately, the – arguably ambiguous – dynamic between palliative care and humanitarian action.