Michaël Neuman
Director of studies at Crash / Médecins sans Frontières, Michaël Neuman graduated in Contemporary History and International Relations (University Paris-I). He joined Médecins sans Frontières in 1999 and has worked both on the ground (Balkans, Sudan, Caucasus, West Africa) and in headquarters (New York, Paris as deputy director responsible for programmes). He has also carried out research on issues of immigration and geopolitics. He is co-editor of "Humanitarian negotiations Revealed, the MSF experience" (London: Hurst and Co, 2011). He is also the co-editor of "Saving lives and staying alive. Humanitarian Security in the Age of Risk Management" (London: Hurst and Co, 2016).
Given that aid workers frequently operate in complex and insecure settings, some risks are inherent to humanitarian action. Nonetheless, recent years have seen a significant increase, in absolute terms, in deliberate attacks against humanitarian professionals. Furthermore, most aid workers do not benefit from specific protection under international law. While aid agencies and workers take steps to protect themselves through negotiations and by building acceptance or taking protective and deterrent measures, significant gaps remain in their protection from targeted violence. National staff members are particularly vulnerable - constituting the vast majority of aid workers and of attack victims - and yet tend to receive significantly less protection.
Building upon ATHA's podcast, "Humanitarians Under Attack: Delivering Aid in Insecure Settings" (November, 2014), which examined the main security challenges facing humanitarian professionals and dilemmas arising around principled humanitarian action in difficult security environments, this podcast will explore the challenges and strategies for enhancing the protection of humanitarian aid workers under international law. This conversation will focus specifically on the legal protection of aid workers operating in insecure settings, including efforts to close the protection gap for humanitarian actors and promote accountability for perpetrators.
To cite this content :
Michaël Neuman, ATHA Podcast: The Protection of Humanitarian Aid Workers Under International Law,
30 July 2015,
URL : https://msf-crash.org/en/blog/rights-and-justice/atha-podcast-protection-humanitarian-aid-workers-under-international-law
If you want to criticize or develop this content, you can find us on twitter or directly on our site.
Contribute
Add new comment