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There are a number of meanings for humanitarianism: humanitarianism, humanism, the doctrine that people's duty is to promote human welfare.

Humanitarianism is a humanistic approach to the suffering of humanity. Suffering, or pain, is an individual's basic Affective experience of unpleasantness and aversion associated with harm or threat of harm It has been used to describe a wide number of activities relating to human welfare.

Contents

An informal ideology

Humanitarianism is an informal ideology of practice, whereby people practice humane treatment and provide assistance to others; it is the doctrine that people's duty is to promote human welfare. An ideology is a set of beliefs aims and Ideas especially in politics [1]

Humanitarianism is based on a view that all human beings deserve respect and dignity and should be treated as such. Therefore, humanitarians work towards advancing the well-being of humanity as a whole. It is the antithesis of the "us vs. them" mentality that characterizes tribalism and ethnic nationalism. The internal social structure of a tribe can vary greatly from case to case but due to the small size of tribes it is always a relatively simple structure with few (if any significant social Ethnic nationalism is a form of Nationalism wherein the " Nation " is defined in terms of Ethnicity. Humanitarians abhor slavery, violation of basic and human rights, and discrimination on the basis of features such as colour of skin, religion, ancestry, place of birth, etc. As a social-economic system slavery is a legal institution under which a Person (called "a slave" is compelled to work for another Human rights refers to the "basic Rights and freedoms to which all humans are entitled Unlike most discrimination policies discrimination between, which is the discernment of qualities and recognition of the differences focused here discrimination against is Humanitarianism drives people to save lives, alleviate suffering and promote human dignity in the middle of man-made or natural disasters. Humanitarianism is embraced by movements and people across the political spectrum. The informal ideology can be summed up by a quote from Albert Schweitzer: "Humanitarianism consists in never sacrificing a human being to a purpose. Albert Schweitzer, MD, OM, (January 14 1875 &ndash September 4 1965 was an Alsatian theologian, Musician, Philosopher "

A universal doctrine

Jean Pictet, in his commentary on The Fundamental Principles of the Red Cross points out the universal characteristics of humanitarianism:

The wellspring of the principle of humanity is in the essence of social morality which can be summed up in a single sentence, Whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them. This fundamental precept can be found, in almost identical form, in all the great religions, Brahminism, Buddhism, Christianity, Confucianism, Islam, Judaism, Sikhism and Taoism. It is also the golden rule of the positivists, who do not commit themselves to any religion but only to the data of experience, in the name of reason alone. [2].

Historical examples

Historically, humanitarianism was publicly seen in the social reforms of the late 1800s and early 1900s, following the economic turmoil of the Industrial Revolution in England. The Industrial Revolution was a period in the late 18th and early 19th centuries when major changes in agriculture manufacturing and transportation had a profound effect on the Many of the women in Great Britain who were involved with feminism during the 1900s also pushed humanitarianism. See also Kingdom of Great Britain Great Britain (Breatainn Mhòr Prydain Fawr Breten Veur Graet Breetain is the larger of the two main islands Feminism is a discourse that involves various movements theories, and Philosophies which are concerned with the issue of Gender difference, advocate The atrocious hours and working conditions of children and unskilled laborers were made illegal by pressure on Parliament by humanitarians. The Factory Act of 1833 and the Factory Act of 1844 were some of the most significant humanitarian bills passed in Parliament following the Industrial Revolution. The Factory Acts were a series of Acts passed by the Parliament of the United Kingdom to limit the number of hours worked by women and children first in the textile The Factory Acts were a series of Acts passed by the Parliament of the United Kingdom to limit the number of hours worked by women and children first in the textile The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative body in the United Kingdom and British overseas territories

In the middle of the 19th century, humanitarianism was central to the work of Florence Nightengale and Henry Dunant in emergency response and in the latter case led to the founding of the Red Cross. Florence Nightingale, OM, RRC (in her own pronunciation ˈflɒɾəns ˈnaɪtɪŋgeɪl 12 May 1820 – 13 August 1910 who came to be known as "The Jean Henri Dunant ( May 8, 1828 &ndash October 30, 1910) aka Henry Dunant or Henri Dunant, was a Swiss The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is an International humanitarian movement with approximately 97 million volunteers worldwide who stated

Emergency response

Today, humanitarianism is particularly used to describe the thinking and doctrines behind emergency response to humanitarian crises. A humanitarian crisis (or "humanitarian disaster" is an event or series of events which represents a critical threat to the health safety security or wellbeing of a community In such cases it argues for a humanitarian response based on humanitarian principles, particularly the principle of humanity. Humanitarian aid (also called succour) is material or logistical assistance provided for humanitarian purposes typically in response to humanitarian crises There are a number of meanings for the term Humanitarian. Here humanitarian pertains to the practice of saving lives and alleviating suffering Nicholas de Torrente, Executive Director of MSF-USA writes:

"The most important principles of humanitarian action are humanity, which posits the conviction that all people have equal dignity by virtue of their membership in humanity, impartiality, which directs that assistance is provided based solely on need, without discrimination among recipients, neutrality, which stipulates that humanitarian organizations must refrain from taking part in hostilities or taking actions that advantage one side of the conflict over another, and independence, which is necessary to ensure that humanitarian action only serves the interests of war victims, and not political, religious, or other agendas.
"These fundamental principles serve two essential purposes. They embody humanitarian action’s single-minded purpose of alleviating suffering, unconditionally and without any ulterior motive. They also serve as operational tools that help in obtaining both the consent of belligerents and the trust of communities for the presence and activities of humanitarian organizations, particularly in highly volatile contexts. [3]

See also

Notes

  1. ^ "humanitarianism." WordNet 3.0. Princeton University. 02 Jun. 2007.
  2. ^ Pictet (1979) Humanity
  3. ^ de Torent (2004)

Sources

Dictionary

humanitarianism

-noun

  1. Humanitarian philosophy or practice.
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