Realist rather than idealist

Humanitarian Ethics: A Guide to the Morality of Aid in War and Disaster

Hugo Slim

London: Hurst & Company, 2015

Pp. 300

The need for humanitarian aid is constantly on the international agenda, but Hugo Slim’s book seems particularly timely at this very moment as the refugee crisis is challenging

Europe and a number of Middle East countries, including Jordan. Hard ethical and practical questions are being posed on a daily basis, and though Slim refrains from giving pat answers, “Humanitarian Ethics” provides a problem-solving approach to arrive at solutions that are both humane and workable. 

His observations carry added weight due to his years of experience working for the UN and leading NGOs in Sudan, Ethiopia, the Palestinian Territories and Bangladesh, and his current status as senior research fellow at the Institute for Ethics, Law and Armed Conflicts at the University of Oxford. 

“Humanitarian Ethics” is very comprehensive, covering everything from the attitude of the individual humanitarian worker to the effects of the global aid industry — “Aidland”, as some have dubbed it. Slim begins by tracing the ethical origins of humanitarian action and explaining today’s understanding of its basic principles: humanity, impartiality, neutrality, independence, respect for the dignity of those in need of aid and seeking their empowerment, plus sustainability and accountability. 

He then turns to the actual practice of ethics in humanitarian work in the field, whether in providing food, clean water, shelter, sanitation or medical care. 

All such work involves interpreting and balancing the above principles in specific situations: “in practice, humanitarian ethics is not a simple matter of application but is an ethics of struggle that is essentially realist rather than idealist, adopts a role morality and is increasingly turning to an ideology of rights in addition to its earlier principles and rules.” (p. 111) 

The guidelines he suggests are especially useful because he doesn’t just reiterate principles and ideals but points to the numerous tensions, pitfalls, dangers and morally “slippery slopes” encountered in the real world, and gives example of how they can be navigated in an ethical way that remains true to humanitarian goals. 

“Humanitarian action is about respecting, protecting and saving human life. At its best, it is a very practical affirmation of the value of human life…”. (p. 2)

It is thus distinct from politics which advances an alternative vision of society. “However, as any humanitarian worker will tell you, once you leave the training session on humanitarian principles and start working on the ground, humanitarian ideals crash straight into political reality... Most humanitarian workers have to operate as politicians and technical professionals: negotiating political space and deciding how best to meet people’s survival needs.” (p. 113)

For example, to gain access to people in need, especially in war situations, humanitarian organisations must often negotiate with governments or armed groups that pursue totally different goals or are engaged in human rights violations or war crimes. They often walk a tightrope to avoid being complicit in such crimes or, at the other extreme, having to withdraw their aid. 

Humanitarian ethics and practice builds on cooperation rather than control. Gaining the consent and participation of the local community, and utilising local resources, promotes a project’s sustainability; it also avoids the pitfalls of continuing the colonial legacy of Western funding and interests dictating local solutions. Slim covers many related issues from the implications of treating local and international staff differently, to striking a balance between voluntarism and professionalism, and insuring fairness in the distribution of resources. 

Slim writes in a very engaging manner that is both erudite and easy to read, professional and personal at the same time, as humanitarianism must be. One really feels he himself has struggled with many of the dilemmas he describes and is eager to share his experience.

The book is packed full of knowledge, conveying the ideas of many other scholars and practitioners writing about the subject, and concrete examples of aid projects in a number of countries, especially in Africa. One is only puzzled that there are no examples cited from Palestine and especially Gaza, which has long been a humanitarian disaster area.