Conference on Famine^[1] in Ethiopia and the International Response"

Organized and report by

Luise Druke, CFIA Fellow, Harvard University

(published in Centerpiece, Harvard University. Center for International Affairs,

vol. 2, No. 3, Summer 1988, p. 7.

 

The CFIA in collaboration with Harvard's Institute for International Development (HIID), and the Graduate School of Education, held a conference on "Famine in Ethiopia and the International Response" on May 11. Organized by the above mentioned CFIA Fellow, the conference drew some 44 participants from 34 public and private sector organizations and institutions in the U.S. and abroad.

Four topics constituted the day-long agenda: constraints in providing relief conflict/crisis situations; possibilities and constraints in providing long-term aid; the role of non-governmental aid; and lessons for current and future strategies for international action.

Little agreement was reached on the subject of politics and the moral judgments involved in humanitarian assistance.  Some conferees argued that assistance is power and to give it or withold it has political implications, and that this is a choice which available to all foreign agencies. On the other hand, it was argued that humanitarian assistance is apolitical, impartial and nonpartisan.

There was agreement, however, that it is appropriate for institutions and individuals to work or withdraw in a given situation if the conditions seemed immoral.  Relevant criteria for making this decision would include evidence of a pattern of serious violations of human rights and failure of accountability for the end use of that assistance.

On the subject of constraints upon relief responses there was general agreement that the significant constraints were war and conflict, government policies affecting operation of resources, and public awareness.  Another theme that emerged was that of information: what sort of information, and how to gather it; what to share and with whom; and finally, what specific uses to put that information to.

The conference identified a number of issues needing further discussion  and coordinated action.  Among them were the refinement of criteria for judgments of whether, when and how to provide humanitarian assistance, strategies for working in conflict situations, including the contribution humanitarian aid providers might make to conflict resolution, and finally, strategies for improving preventive action and early-warning