The professionalisation of the humanitarian sector has led to an increasing number of its professional staff worldwide. However, working in humanitarian aid is not a popular career path in mainland China, and some humanitarian organisations have also struggled to recruit Chinese professionals. The thesis explores the challenges that mainland Chinese citizens face when pursuing their careers in the humanitarian sector. It strives to understand what may hinder Chinese from working in international humanitarian aid, dwelling on both the humanitarian recruitment criteria and the expectations of the Chinese society. The thesis is based on the semi-structured qualitative interviews that have been interpreted with the help of thematic analysis under the intersectional and decolonial feminist analytical framework. The study indicates that although there may not be obvious discrimination against people in the humanitarian recruitment process, many affecting factors, such as gender, class, nationality, and culture, create the asymmetrical power dynamics between societal influences in China and the recruitment requirements in the humanitarian sector. I have come to a conclusion that humanitarian organisations have failed to create a diverse and inclusive working environment that would allow people to have equal opportunities and competition. This thesis is meant to help humanitarian organisations adjust their DEI (diversity, equity, and inclusion) strategies by understanding the hidden factors of recruitment inequalities and via decolonising the humanitarian aid.

The aim of the thesis "Analysis of the Pontifical Missionary Societies' (PMS) Activities in the Czech Republic" is to determine to what extent the activities of Czech PMS are truly missionary. First, basic terms are defined: mission, charity, humanitarian aid, and development assistance (Chapter 1). What they all have in common is caring for others; charity and mission have religious motivation and are carried out by the Church, whereas humanitarian aid and development assistance are matters of a secular state (though in everyday use the terms are often confused). Charity, i. e. selfless help to those in need, does not have a religious goal, it is not an instrument of evangelization unlike mission, whose aim it is to proclaim the Gospel (Chapter 2). Mission lies at the heart of the PMS on a worldwide scale and for this purpose they were established: Society for the Propagation of the Faith 1822, Society of the Holy Childhood 1843, Society of St. Peter the Apostle 1889, and Missionary Union 1916 (Chapter 3). Since their renewal in the CR in 1993 the Societies have developed a wide range of membership forms and activities, and collection yields have grown tenfold (Chapter 4). What the money is spent on determines the basic character of the institution. Exact data of the National Office for 2011 and 2012 show...

Bakgrund: Internationellt humanitärt arbete är ett område där sjuksköterskor är aktiva. Att delta i internationella humanitära insatser innebär emellertid att arbeta i miljöer annorlunda från de normala med andra förutsättningar. Miljön där sjuksköterskan arbetar påverkar också omvårdnaden och det ingår tillika i sjuksköterskans yrkeskunskap att ha kunskap om den miljön där arbetet äger rum. Tidigare forskning visar att sjuksköterskor inte känner sig tillräckligt förberedda inför arbetet i dessa sammanhang. Syfte: Studiens syfte var att undersöka hur sjuksköterskors erfarenheter av miljön i internationella humanitära insatser samt hur upplevelser av arbetet i denna miljö, kommer till uttryck i egna berättelser. Metod: Kvalitativ textanalys, enligt Holme och Solvang, av 18 narrativa artiklar skrivna av sjuksköterskor, eller i enstaka fall intervjuer med sjuksköterskor, som deltagit i internationella humanitära insatser. Resultat: Genom analys av de narrativa artiklarna framkom fyra huvudteman: Bristande resurser, Utsatthet, Emotionella möten, samt Coping. I temat Bristande resurser beskrivs miljön. Miljön präglades av resurssvaghet, något som påverkade sjuksköterskornas arbete. Utsatthet skildrar hur sjuksköterskorna utsattes för risker och faror under uppdragen. Under temat Emotionella möten återfinns sjuksköterskornas beskrivningar av betydelsefulla möten med lokalbefolkningen. Coping berör sjuksköterskornas beskrivningar av strategier för att hantera svårigheter, teamets betydelse samt hur uppdragen upplevdes som givande. Slutsats: Resursbristen i arbetet upplevdes som svår. Arbetet i de internationella uppdragen hade stora variationer. Kreativitet, flexibilitet och förståelse var viktiga för att hantera svårigheter i arbetet under uppdragen. Genom att sätta in resultatet av studien i en klassificeringsmodell av omvårdnadsvetenskapens områden kan internationellt humanitärt arbete konceptualiseras utifrån ett omvårdnadsvetenskapligt perspektiv. Klinisk betydelse: Resultatet från denna studie kan användas för att förbättra utbildningen för sjuksköterskor i internationella humanitära insatser. / Background: International humanitarian aid work is a field where nurses are active. Yet, to participate in international humanitarian action is to work in an environment different from what is normal with unlike circumstances. The environment where nurses work also has an effect on the nursing care and it is a part of the nurses’ professional knowledge to have insight of the environment in which the work takes place. Earlier research suggests that nurses feel inadequately prepared for the work in this context. Aim: The aim of the study was to explore in which way nurses’ experiences of the environment in international humanitarian aid work and how experiences of the work in such environment, are expressed in their own narrated texts. Methodology: Qualitative textual analysis, according to the way of Holme and Solvang, of 18 narrated articles written by nurses, or in a few cases interviews with nurses, whom have all participated in international humanitarian aid work. Result: Four main themes emerged from the analysis of the material: Lack of resources, Vulnerability, Emotional meetings, and Coping. The theme Lack of resources describes the environment. The environment was characterized by resource weakness, which affected the nurses' work. Exposure depicts how nurses were exposed to hazards and dangers during the missions. In the theme Emotional meeting the nurses descriptions of meaningful encounters with the locals is to be found. Coping relates to the nurses descriptions of strategies to address difficulties, the importance of the team and how the missions were experienced as meaningful. Conclusions: Lack of resources was perceived as difficult. The work of the international commissions had wide variations. Creativity, flexibility and understanding were important to address difficulties during the missions. By inserting the results of the study in a classification model of nursing science areas, international humanitarian aid work can be conceptualized from a nursing science perspective. Clinical impact: The results of this study can be used to improve education for nurses in international humanitarian aid work.

In this thesis, I investigate how three European citizen aid groups (Collective Aid, Refugee Women’s Centre, and No Name Kitchen) handle the asymmetrical power relationships between Western volunteers and non-Western people on the move. Inspired by postcolonial international relations literature and previous research on power asymmetries in humanitarian aid, I conduct a discourse analysis guided by the four categories “assuming equality through horizontal discourses”, “reconstituting social subjects”, “putting minds into motion”, and “civil disobedience”. I analyze the citizen aid groups’ online content, mostly social media posts, along with semi-structured interviews which I conducted with representatives from all three citizen aid groups. I conclude that two out of three Western citizen aid groups try to mitigate the interactional power inequalities between themselves and non-Western people on the move through their practices of humanitarian aid. Yet, all three groups show awareness of power hierarchies and attempt to mitigate them on a structural level by being openly political and denouncing the injustices facing people on the move in Europe.

Most studies on the mental health of humanitarian aid workers have concentrated on sociodemographic variables or trauma exposure as predictors of psychopathological outcomes. However, less is known about the psychosocial and organizational factors contributing to occupational stress-related disorders in this high-risk occupation group. This mixed-methods, cross-sectional study sought to establish a psychosocial model for burnout and psychological distress among humanitarian staff that comprehensively tested the psychological effects of common adversities and workplace psychosocial stressors in combination. The model further investigated the potential mediating role of individual coping styles and the protective role of organizational psychological safety climate. N=111 full-time aid workers from 52 organizations in Bangladesh completed an online survey, and n=13 participants were followed-up with virtual individual interviews between December 2020 and May 2021. A stepwise model building process with path analysis established an integrated conceptual model with overlapping but distinct pathways from common adversities and workplace stressors to burnout. While greater exposure to both types of stressors was associated with higher levels of burnout and distress, workplace psychosocial stressors had a greater total effect on psychological outcomes than common adversities (β = .52, 95% CI [0.42, 0.90], p = < .001 vs. β = .20, 95% CI [0.03, 0.59], p = .032). Both types of stressors had indirect effects on burnout through negative emotion-focused coping (β = .12, 95% CI [0.30, 2.14], p = .007). However, only workplace stressors and not common adversities directly affected psychological distress (β = .45, 95% CI [0.09, 0.24], p = < .001 vs. β = -.01, 95% CI [-0.09, 0.09], p = .927). Expanded path models indicated that specific domains of stressors, namely, deployment-related interpersonal stressors, work-life interface, and work organization and communication stressors, significantly influenced psychological outcomes. Conditional process analysis showed that higher perceived levels of psychological safety climate buffered the adverse indirect effects of deployment-related interpersonal stressors via negative emotion-focused coping on burnout (β = -.21, 95% CI [-0.08, -0.01], p = .008) and distress (β = -.23, 95% CI [-0.03, -0.01], p = .005). Contrary to findings from the extant literature, sociodemographic variables (except psychiatric history), task-focused coping, and avoidance-focused coping were not significant exogenous variables. Thematic analysis of qualitative data yielded themes that largely converged with and elaborated on statistical results. Qualitative results offered additional insights about the “chronic emergency” organizational culture and professional attitudes of “martyrdom” unique to humanitarian aid workers, which may normalize and reinforce a high-stress work environment and minimized recognition of staff’s mental health needs. The psychosocial model, complemented with qualitative elaboration, can inform the development of evidence-based interventions for staff care. Reducing workplace stressors, improving adaptive coping, and enhancing the psychosocial safety climate of organizations may prevent and alleviate occupational stress-related disorders in humanitarian aid workers and other first responders.

This thesis is a postcolonial discussion about stereotype imagery of the third world, asconveyed by aid organization, and the implications of such images. Stereotyping is ahuman rights issue because it concerns inferiority and superiority, and can in the end beboiled down to a matter of equality. It is therefore an issue that needs to be up for constant review in aid organizations, who mainly claim human rights as their value base.The thesis is a single case study, looking intensely into the phenomenon of stereotypingas located within aid organizations. It looks through the lens of postcolonial theory,as it is a perspective that revolves mainly around concepts like identity, racism and stereotyping. It is constructed in two major parts, where the first part goes through the history of imperialism and the representations of ‘the Other’ it produced, and the seconddetermines through empirical observations that aid organizations do convey stereotypicimages, albeit more in terms of how they deal with the images than what they contain.The results of the empirical investigation matches well with the explanations of postcolonial theory, as the way the images are dealt with by aid organizations contributes to establish the aid receivers as ‘the Other’. Research also show that advertisement canfunction to both strengthen and alter previously established perceptions, which calls fororganizations to design ads and information material with caution. It is however also agood thing, as it is possible to begin the process of reversing stereotypes.The conclusion is that postcolonial theory can provide awareness for the origins andmechanisms of stereotyping, which is an issue any organization who claim human rightsas their value base should engage in a debate about. If we truly care about equality thisis an area of the work that needs review.

Background: Oral and dental diseases is a major part of the global disease burden. Poor oral health has a significant impact on the general well-being of people. In contrast with prior decades high rates of oral diseases may be found in low- and middle income countries. Populations that are particularly vulnerable are more likely to develop poor oral health. As a consequence of human distress related to war, poverty and natural disasters the accomplishments of humanitarian aid organizations has a direct impact on people´s health and well-being. Purpose: The aim of the present study is to examine the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement as well as Doctors without borders concerning documents and guidelines on oral health. A further aim is to explore the knowledge of oral health related topics of delegates from the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC). Method: The study is designed as a literature review and a questionnaire survey. Results: Within the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement and Doctors Without Borders there are a limited number of guidelines on oral health and they are rarely mentioned in the same documents as non-communicable diseases (NCDs). The responses of the study revealed that the participants generally have a limited knowledge about measures on oral health in the IFRC. Conclusion: Both the literature review and the questionnaire survey study confirms that there is an absence of clear and specific guidelines on oral health care related activities within IFRC. / Bakgrund: Mun- och tandsjukdomar utgör en stor del av den globala sjukdomsbördan. Dålig mun- och tandhälsa har en stark påverkan på det allmänna välbefinnandet. I motsats till tidigare, ses idag höga frekvenser av karies även i låg- och medelinkomstländer. Populationer vilka befinner sig i extra utsatta kontexter löper större risk att utveckla dålig munhälsa. Som en följd av mänskligt lidande i form av händelser relaterade till krig, fattigdom och naturkatastrofer har aktiviteter utförda av humanitära hjälporganisationer en direkt inverkan på hälsa och välbefinnande. Syfte: Syftet med föreliggande studie är att studera dokument och riktlinjer rörande munhälsa inom Internationella Röda korset och Röda halvmånen och Läkare utan gränser. Ett ytterligare syfte är att undersöka kunskapen om hälsorelaterade frågor kring munhälsa hos delegater från Internationella federationen för Röda Korset och Röda Halvmånen (IFRC). Metod: Studien är utförd som en litteratur-sammanställning och som en enkätundersökning. Resultat: Inom Internationella Röda korset och Röda halvmånen samt Läkare utan gränser återfinns begränsat antal riktlinjer rörande oral hälsa vilka dock sällan nämns i samma dokument som icke-smittsamma sjukdomar (NCDs). Av enkätsvaren i studien framgår det att de medverkande generellt har en begränsad kunskap kring åtgärder rörande munhälsa inom IFRC. Konklusion: Deltagarna i denna studie bekräftar resultaten i litteraturstudien om en avsaknad av tydliga och konkreta riktlinjer för munhygienrelaterade aktiviteter inom IFRC.

Cette thèse s’applique à rendre compte de la manière dont des tensions s’incarnent et s’expriment dans les activités quotidiennes d’une organisation humanitaire, Médecins sans frontières. Pour ce faire, nous faisons appel à une approche dite « constitutive » de la communication, approche qui vise à montrer que les tensions organisationnelles que vivent les intervenants humanitaires dans leur travail peuvent s’analyser à partir des figures qui animent leurs conversations et leurs activités de tous les jours. Par tension, nous entendons l’expérience d’une incompatibilité, antinomie ou opposition vécue ou perçue entre deux ou plusieurs logiques d’action, tandis que la notion de figure renvoie à ce qui anime ces mêmes logiques d’action, soit toute préoccupation, valeur ou intérêt au nom desquels un acteur s’exprime ou agit. Dans cette thèse, nous avons ainsi identifié puis analysé, grâce à une approche d’inspiration ethnographique, cinq figures, trois tensions et trois « scènes communicationnelles » qui, selon nous, illustrent d’une manière fidèle les activités humanitaires de MSF. La présente thèse se veut donc une démonstration empirique, via les pratiques communicationnelles des acteurs, de ces figures et tensions à gérer au quotidien, comblant du coup certaines lacunes dans la littérature portant sur les tensions organisationnelles et l’aide humanitaire. Ces lacunes s’articulent principalement autour d’un manque d’intérêt pour, d’une part, la réalité des pratiques des acteurs en tant que telles, et, d’autre part, l’application d’une vision de la communication proprement constitutive de l’organisation, c’est-à-dire une vision qui reflèterait et exprimerait ce qui anime ses principaux acteurs au quotidien. Comme nous le montrons, ce qui semble animer ou préoccuper MSF (et ses acteurs), ce sont, d’une part, certains principes ou valeurs tels l’indépendance de pratique, la neutralité ou encore l’expérience et le scrupule. Ces idéaux, que les volontaires de MSF cultivent dans leurs conversations et leurs activités, sont donc constamment pris en considération lors de la mise sur pied et la réalisation des missions de cette célèbre organisation. D’autre part, une autre source d’animation se retrouve aussi au niveau des lieux et environnements complexes dans lesquels les soins médicaux sont prodigués aux populations en danger. Au final, et grâce à l’approche communicationnelle mise à profit dans cette thèse, il nous a été possible de dresser un portrait réaliste de ces mêmes pratiques - les « sources » de ce qui les anime -, reflétant à la fois le mode d’être et d’agir de MSF, dans toutes ses intensités et toutes ses tensions. / This thesis illustrates the ways by which some tensions enbody and expresses themselves in the daily activities of a humanitarian organization, Doctors without borders (MSF). To do so, we mobilize a "constitutive" approach to communication, an approach that allows us to show that organizational tensions faced by (humanitarian) actors can be analyzed from the figures that animate their conversations and activities on a daily basis. By tension, we mean every practices of inconsistency, contradiction or opposition experienced or perceived between two or more logics of action, while the notion of figure refers to what drives these logics of action, that is, any concern, value or interest on behalf of which an actor comes to speak or act. In this thesis, we thus identified and analyzed, through an ethnographic approach, five figures, three tensions and three "communicative scenes" that we believe illustrate quite faithfully the humanitarian activities of MSF. This thesis is therefore an empirical demonstration, via the communication practices of actors, of these figures and tensions that have to be managed on a daily basis. Consequently, we were able to fill some “gaps” in the literature on organizational tensions and humanitarian aid. These gaps correspond with a lack of interest for the actual practices of organizational actors as such, and secondly, as well as for an approach to communication conceived as being constitutive of an organization, that is to say, an approach that reflects and expresses what drives or guides organizational actors on a daily basis. As we show, what seem to animate or preoccupy MSF (and its actors) are, on one side, some principles and values such as independence of practice, neutrality or experience and scruples. Thus, these ideals that actors cultivate in their conversations and activities are constantly taken in account when missions are planned and carried out for this famous organization. On the other side, another source of animation lies in the complex environments in which medical care is provided to populations in distress. Through our constitutive approach to communication, we were thus able to draw a realistic picture of these practices - the "sources" of what animates humanitarian action - reflecting both the mode of being and acting of MSF, in all its intensities and tensions.

The thesis deals with examining, if the non-governmental organizations are ready for extraordinary situations, specifically is focused on organizations, which are located in the area of České Budějovice region. The topic is actual, the reason being high frequency of those extraordinary situations in the south Bohemia and it is important to find out, if the help of volunteers is effective. For non-governmental organizations is specific that they are not managed by the government. Their activities try to substitute non-existing or poorly functioning services, which are provided by the government. Activities include realization of free time activities for children, helping socially weak, educational activities in many areas, protection of the environment or historical landmarks, helping disabled and elderly, humanitarian and development aid and many others. The objective of the thesis is to find out, how much are non-governmental ready to deal with extraordinary situations and how they engage in education to prepare population for dealing with extraordinary situations. In the thesis is used the method of information analysis, that meaning content analysis of information, where is specific gathered knowledge ordered on the basis of literature search. To fulfill set objective a semi-structured interview with employees of the chosen non-governmental organization was conducted. The results of the thesis will be offered to chosen non-governmental organizations, which participated in the research. These results could be used to increase quality of training of members of non-governmental organizations and volunteers.

Toute action humanitaire en République Populaire Démocratique de Corée (RPDC) nécessite le soutien total de l’Etat nord-coréen avec lequel il faut négocier les conditions de distribution de l’aide à sa population. De cette dépendance naissent pour les agences humanitaires de nombreux dilemmes et risques : en acceptant de se plier aux conditions drastiques imposées par les autorités nord-coréennes, ne contribuent-elles pas à soutenir un régime considéré comme premier responsable des souffrances de sa population, et ne violent-elles pas les principes éthiques sur lesquels se base leur action ? Ce dilemme a poussé plusieurs organisations à partir de RPDC, parmi lesquelles Médecins Sans Frontières en 1998.En outre, l’importance des enjeux politiques et stratégiques sur la péninsule coréenne incitent les principaux pays bailleurs de fonds en RPDC à utiliser très souvent l’aide humanitaire dans un but politique. Cette instrumentalisation est lourde de conséquences pour les travailleurs humanitaires sur le terrain, contraints à agir dans un espace humanitaire remarquablement réduit.Quinze ans après les départs très médiatisés de plusieurs agences, six ONG européennes résidentes à Pyongyang maintiennent des programmes d’assistance à une population dont les besoins humanitaires restent immenses. Ces ONG ont adopté des stratégies de contournement qui leur ont permis de travailler sur le terrain dans le respect de leur charte éthique et qui leur ont permis, à force d’interactions ininterrompues avec leurs interlocuteurs nord-coréens, d’assouplir les contraintes sévères qui leur sont imposées. Ce travail de recherche consiste à détailler et analyser ces stratégies. / Any humanitarian action in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) requires the full support of the North Korean state, with which the conditions of aid distribution to the population must be negotiated. From this dependence arise many dilemmas and risks for the aid agencies, including whether by complying with the drastic constraints imposed by North Korean authorities they are unwillingly helping sustain a regime that is primarily responsible for the sufferings of its population and concerns that this may violate the ethical principles at the core of their aid efforts. This dilemma obliged several aid organizations, including Doctors Without Borders in 1998, to completely cease aid activities in the DPRK.Moreover, given the political and strategic importance of the Korean Peninsula, primary donor states of the DPRK tend to use aid as political leverage. This use of aid significantly affects the aid workers on the ground, who find themselves constrained and working in a remarkably reduced humanitarian space.Fifteen years after the highly publicized departure of several aid agencies, six European NGOs residing in Pyongyang continue to provide assistance programs to a population whose humanitarians needs remain largely unmet. These NGOs have adopted dilemma-circumventing strategies which allow them to work while adhering to their ethical codes of conduct and, thanks to constant interactions with their North Korean counterparts, to soften the severe constraints to which they are subjected. These strategies will be detailed and analyzed in this research.