Rights and obligations in international humanitarian assistance
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to propose a framework for understanding the rights and obligations of different parties in relation to international humanitarian assistance.
Design/methodology/approach
Past discourse on rights and obligations of the parties in various types of humanitarian emergencies is critically reviewed. Various moral and legal principles are used to assess that discourse.
Findings
Many governments emphasize their right to provide international humanitarian assistance, but appear reluctant to acknowledge any obligation to provide such assistance. Claims regarding the right to provide assistance under some conditions should be accompanied by acknowledgment of obligations to provide assistance under some conditions.
Originality/value
This analysis encourages national governments and international agencies to go beyond asserting their rights to assist to also recognize obligations to assist under some conditions.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
©Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2013.
Republished from Encyclopedia of Natural Hazards, Peter T. Bobrowsky, ed., 2013, pp. 851-855, “Rights and Obligations in International Humanitarian Assistance,” by George Kent, with kind permission from Springer Science+Business Media B.V. © Springer Science+Business Media B.V.
Citation
Kent, G. (2014), "Rights and obligations in international humanitarian assistance", Disaster Prevention and Management, Vol. 23 No. 3, pp. 214-221. https://doi.org/10.1108/DPM-07-2013-0122
Publisher
:Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2014, Authors