The specific task of this thesis is to illustrate the complexity of a cooperation between civilian and military entities by examining Provincial Reconstruction Teams (PRTs) and their role as an actor among others in the field in a war-torn Afghanistan. By using counterinsurgency strategy as an analytical framework it has been possible to examine the civilian and military contexts closer. Underlying structures concerning the norms and interpretation of reality of the PRTs has been partly revealed. Studies of the PRTs as one significant bearers of "the comprehensive approach", which includes a holistic approach regarding the use of civilian and military capabilities, new conclusions can be drawn on whether a general civil-military approach can be a part of the solution for current and future conflicts. Based on the counterinsurgency strategy, the author has identified three themes as bearing and thus appears through the thesis as a foundation. These are Coordination, Development and Security. The empirical material is filtered through these themes as they are central to counterinsurgency and there by affect the PRT-concept. This study leads to five conclusions regarding the integration of the civilian and military contexts. In summary the conclusions states that it seems to be no starting points for creating a robust culture for cooperation. The absence of common objectives regarding operation, competition between different narratives as well as parallel processes of development and security risks causing a counterproductive outcome. A single resonance must be allowed to emerge from a convergence of civil and military powers as to what should be the civilmilitary mission. With mutual trust and dialogue improved conditions can be shaped to build common ground and goals for what needs to be done in countries with similar problems like Afghanistan.

Severe recovery deficits after post-disaster interventions have become the landscape seen globally. Humanitarian operations have struggled to find coherence between relief and recovery activities, which has resulted in a perceived operational gap between relief, recovery and development. This current dynamic has caused significant deficiencies within humanitarian programming, such as weak strategy, a lack of transition mechanisms, exit plans and effective recovery. A situation that stems from the current paradigm the humanitarian system operates under and the framework that has evolved around it. Supporting the development of adaptive resilience of a disaster-affected population, within the humanitarian sphere, has been theoretically posed to be fundamental for recovery; a programmatic consideration that could ensure former weak resilience would not hinder post-disaster recovery. Therefore, could a resilience building approach offer much needed solutions to the challenge of recovery within post-disaster contexts? This research aimed to understand whether resilience building within post-disaster environments could increase potential recovery of disaster affected populations and whether it is feasible to build individual/household (HH) level resilience through emergency response operations? The research looked specifically at adaptive resilience at the individual/HH level, clarifying the concept and understanding its modality in order to operationalise it within humanitarian programming. The common barriers to recovery experienced by individuals/HH in a crisis event were gauged, and the relationship between adaptive resilience and recovery determined. A unique singular case study was used to collect quantitative and qualitative data required to answer the key objectives of this research. The case study chosen was the 2010 Haiti earthquake response. Primary data was collected over a 7 months period through 37 semi-structured interviews and 31 online questionnaires with donors, government, INGOs, LNGOs and the private sector, that were operating within the Haiti response, and 18 disaster affected community members within a community discussion forum. Bringing a total participation of 86 individuals and organisations. An in-depth case study was developed in order to offer an evidence base for the proposed theory, that supporting adaptive resilience through emergency response programming has the ability to stimulate recovery. A new data collection tool was trialed within the community discussion forum, namely the Sociogram. This tool looked to assess the main components of adaptive resilience. Methodological rigour was introduced through the use of methodological and data triangulation to ensure validity and reliability of the research. The research successfully identified the main barriers to recovery, pinpointed the key components for adaptive resilience and the influence of emergency programming on the development of adaptive resilience, establishing the relationship between them. The role emergency response operations can play in the development of adaptive resilience was then explored. It has been demonstrated that to ensure recovery and allow for a more resilient society to evolve, adaptive resilience needs to be and can be supported and developed within emergency response operations. The research has been able to demonstrate, through the analysis of the Shelter and WASH response undertaken in Haiti, that developing resilience in the post-disaster environment is possible and an approach that is able to improve strategy within emergency response operations. Improvements would be seen in the provision of essential services within the response, a substantial increase in transitional and exit options and an increased capacity to proactively stimulate rapid recovery. This strategic approach to emergency response programming has the ability to offer the coherence needed between relief, recovery and development. Determining that a resilience building approach within emergency response operations could be the missing link or resolution to the perceived operational gap between relief, recovery and development. Pursuing a resilience building approach has the potential to bring much needed cultural change within the humanitarian sector that will shape operations for a more strategic and successful future.

The mounting of relief operations by the -humanitarian organizations during the thirty month Nigerian Civil War (1967-1970), for the blockaded Eastern Region became the center of intense political controversy throughout the war. The study analyzes in detail the activities of the humanitarian organizations as well as their influence which they exerted on both parties involved in the crisis. The Federal Government of Nigeria has consistently maintained that the humanitarian organizations involved in the relief efforts in Biafra were guilty of intervention in their internal affairs. The humanitarian organizations insist that their actions were purely humanitarian. This study seeks to ex an ire the merits of the two positions, using international law concepts, empirical data on relief activities and the historical record of the Nigerian civil war as the framework for this examination. The discussion of the nature of humanitarianism and the circumstances under which humanitarian intervention may be justifiable helps to explain the argument by the humanitarian organizations that humanitarian considerations to intervene in order to save civilian lives outweighed Nigeria's charges of their being guilty of intervention. The study concludes that even if the humanitarian organizations, efforts to airlift relief materials to Biafra were purely humanitarian in nature, they cannot be divorced from the political consequences that result from their activities. The study also concludes that the economic support that the humanitarian groups provided the Biafrans was vital toBiafra's legitimacy as a sovereign nation.

The illegal targeting of healthcare in armed conflict is nothing new but its continuance and impunity at a time when the protection of it has formally never been higher, for instance through the UNSC Resolution 2286, motivated this study. Therefore, the thesis analyses how the illegal targeting of healthcare affect humanitarian actors operating in Yemen as well as the local population. How the population and humanitarian actors perceive and interpret the violent targeting of healthcare was explored as well.    This study is based on a quantitative and qualitative content analysis of 11 media outlets and 25 documents provided by humanitarian actors. As a theoretical framework the humanitarian principles, international humanitarian law and the politicisation of humanitarian aid were addressed. Moreover, securitization theory was used in order to explain how humanitarian actors securitize the targeting through language. The results show that consequences of the illegal targeting for humanitarian organisations are limited access to the field as well as the closing of facilities and withdrawal of staff due to security issues. For the Yemeni population consequences are a limited access to healthcare as well as a loss of trust in the safety of medical facilities and therefore they often take the decision to not seek medical care. The analysis shows that humanitarian actors present the illegal targeting as a threat to the survival of beneficiaries and connect this to their own organisational survival and through that securitize the illegal targeting.

The differences in the international responses to the violent conflicts in East Timor (1998–1999), Maluku (1999–2003) and Aceh (1998–2005) are examined in this research. Given the growing acceptance of the significance of the use of military force for humanitarian purposes, the humanitarian crises in Maluku and Aceh might prima facie have justified humanitarian intervention similar to that in East Timor. By analysing the differences from the Indonesia’s domestic political point of view it is clear that the conscience-shocking situation caused by the violent conflicts was not the compelling factor for the international community to militarily intervene. The deployment of a multinational force in East Timor (INTERFET) was decided only after the UN and foreign major countries believed that such military intervention would not jeopardize the ongoing process of democratization in Indonesia. This suggested that Indonesia’s domestic circumstance was central to whether a similar measure in Maluku and Aceh would take place or not. Due to the reformasi (political reform) in Indonesia within which the independence of East Timor took place, two main changes within Indonesian politics, namely the growing sentiment of anti-international intervention and the continuing democratization process, helped to ensure that humanitarian intervention in the two other regions did not happen. / These two conditions were fortified by the increasingly consolidated democratic politics which brought the communal conflict in Maluku to the Malino Peace Agreement. The emergence of a stronger and democratic government in Indonesia, furthermore, made cooperation with the international community possible in seeking a peaceful resolution to the armed conflict in Aceh. By involving the Crisis Management Initiative (CMI) the government of Indonesia and the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) agreed to the Helsinki peace agreement and accepted the role of the Aceh Monitoring Mission (AMM) to secure its implementation. Thus, a strong democratic government made an international military intervention for humanitarian purposes unnecessary.

Based in New York, the International Rescue Committee (IRC) has been working in the Sudan since the 1980s. During this time, this Non Governmental Organisation (NGO) has shown itself to be a leader in its field. Funded by numerous agencies and aiding hundreds of thousands of beneficiaries, IRCs role in Sudan is constantly growing. Poised between the people whom it serves and the Government of Sudan, in whose territory it operates, the NGO roles as advocates and social service providers places them in a challenging position.<p> Since the first international NGOs entered Sudan during the great famine and war in the 1980s, the government has become increasingly suspicious of their actions. More recently, however, NGOs have become more commonplace in Sudan, funding and managing many of the social programmes in the country, including education, health care, water and sanitation and even infrastructure projects. This presence in the country has lent international political clout to NGOs, but has created resentment by the Sudanese government.<p> This situation is not unique. Around the globe many countries are being pressured by NGOs to alter policy direction. The concept of good governance has become prevalent in Western funding departments and donor organisations, calling for its use to encourage governments to become more democratic. In order to access funding, NGOs must therefore shift their focus to a greater emphasis on good governance as well. This is indeed the case of the IRC whose broad mission includes strengthening civil society and enabling good governance in Sudan.<p> The strong presence of NGOs combined with the sheer number of people they serve, the types of services that they provide, and their influence both nationally and internationally has lent credibility to the belief that these organisations are important entities in Sudan. However, the ability to carry out their mandates in times of emergencies and crisis is challenging as they must work within the constructs of the communities in which they serve and with the government of Sudan, which controls several of their activities.

Thesis (M.A.)--Memorial University of Newfoundland, 2001. / Bibliography: leaves 133-139.

Problem: Disasters cause massive destruction and their occurrence (even though declining since the last years) is still a topic of high actuality. To mitigate their negative impacts, in particular humanitarian organizations put a lot of effort into helping nations and people to recover from disasters by providing relief commodities. Responding adequately to a disaster is difficult due to its highly complex and uncertain nature. Flexible but efficient supply chains are needed, which makes high demands on procurement operations. Within disaster relief logistics, procurement accounts for 65 % of total expenditures. Despite its significance, literature does not specifically focus on problems related to disaster relief procurement, which creates the need to examine this topic further, from theory as well as from practice. Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to describe and analyze sourcing policies, currently applied by the largest humanitarian organizations in the field of disaster relief. Method: This thesis conducted a descriptive and exploratory study of the literature in order to create a framework for a content analysis. During the content analysis, 108 officially published reports of the 14 biggest humanitarian organizations (concerning their annual budget) were investigated concerning their procurement policies in disaster response operations. Hence, this study uses a qualitative approach for a cross-sectional analysis of secondary data. Conclusions: The findings of this paper present an overview of currently applied procurement concepts in disaster response. The compilation of a comprehensive sourcing toolbox allows the classification of sourcing policies. The results show a tendency, that similar procurement policies are applied in the largest humanitarian organizations regarding the area of sourcing or the number of suppliers. A lack of awareness and/or transparency was discovered regarding environmentally friendly procurement policies. The application of ethical procurement (social factors) is however highly emphasized by the organizations. An unexpected discovery was the importance of long-term agreements and the frequent application of tendering processes for supplier selection. Further research opportunities lie in the field of demand tailored sourcing instead of pre-stocking to reduce inventory costs or in the comparison of sourcing practices applied in big and small organizations. To sum up, humanitarian organizations not only focus on quick deliveries, also quality and cost efficiency are increasingly paid attention in the field of disaster response procurement.

The concept of Humanitarian Military Interventions has become a core issue within the international community since the 1990s. Human rights violations carried out on a massive scale are no longer perceived as purely domestic concerns but are now recognized as a central concern of the international community. This study of four cases of HMI -Somalia, Rwanda, Haiti and East Timor- is intended to shed the light on two political factors that play a determining role in HMI: the national interests of the interveners and the level of neutrality of the operations. I argue that the level of success of HMI is highly dependent on the presence of national interests in the region for the interveners and a low level of neutrality. This thesis also reflects on the ongoing challenges facing the international community regarding the most efficient ways to address massive human rights violations and presents suggestions towards addressing them.

Bakgrund: Humanitära insatser i kris- och katastrofområden har en historia där sjuksköterskans roll är central. Att komma som sjuksköterska till ett krisdrabbat område med detta enorma ansvar och att jobba under flera veckor, ofta månader, i en ny miljö ställer enorma krav på sjuksköterskans kompetens. Även andra åtskilliga förmågor så som kulturell kompetens, ledar- och organisationsförmåga, samarbete och flexibilitet sätts på prov. Sjuksköterskan förväntas vägleda, dirigera och samordna de professioner som jobbar runt sjuksköterskan samtidigt som denne själv ska ansvara för andras säkerhet och omvårdnad. Detta i en värld där natur och människoskapade katastrofer ökat drastiskt de senaste åren. Syfte: Syftet var att beskriva utmaningar sjuksköterskor upplever under ett humanitärt uppdrag. Metod: Denna studie är en litteraturöversikt baserad på tio vetenskapliga artiklar med kvalitativ ansats. Dessa valdes ut, granskades och sammanställdes utifrån likheter och skillnader. Resultat: Fyra teman identiferades; ”sjuksköterskans roll”, ”vård i skottlinjen”, ”levnadsförhållanden” och ”kulturella aspekter” Slutsats: Det finns ett flertal utmaningar som potentiellt kan förhindra ett effektivt och optimalt arbete. En tydlig bild över vilka dessa utmaningar är, framhävande arbetsmiljön, skulle möjliggöra sjuksköterskor som är bättre förberedda inför framtida humanitära insatser. Klinisk betydelse: Författarna vill framhäva det faktum att förberedelser baserad på adekvat information skulle förbereda sjuksköterskor för humanitära insatser. / Background: Humanitarian assistance in crisis- and disaster areas have a history in which nurse’s role become central. To come as a nurse to an ailing area with this grande responsibility and to work for several weeks in a new environment places enormous demands on nurses’ skills. Other various skills such as cultural competence, leadership- and organizational skills, cooperation and flexibility are also a necessity. The nurse is expected to guide, direct and coordinate the working team while he/she himself will perform his/hers own duties as a nurse while being responsible for the safety of others and their care. The environment in which these nurses work is by definition challenging but have during receant years become even more so due to natural and manmade disasters. Aims: The aim of this study was to describe the challenges that the nurses’ experience during a humanitarian mission. Methods: This study is a literature overview based on ten qualitative, peer-reviewd, articles. The articles were chosen and  analysed on the basis of similarities and differences. Results: Four themes were identified; “the nurses’ role”, “healthcare in the firing line”, “living conditions” and “cultural aspects”. Conclusion: There is a number of challenges that potentially could prevent a efficient and optimal job. A clear image regarding these challenges emphasizeing humanitarian working envionment could enable a nurse more prepared for future humanitarian assignments. Clinical implications: The authors emphasize that a preparation based on adequate information would prepare nurses for humanitarian missions.