MSF and Humanitarian Negotiations for Access in the DRC
Myfanwy James
Conference and debate, June 28th, 2022, from 18:30 to 20:30 (Paris time), MSF (salle du premier, 14-34 avenue Jean Jaurès, 75019 Paris). The conference was livestreamed and translated simultaneously to English.
We were pleased to welcome Myfanwy James, historian and lecturer in Development Studies at the University of Oxford, to present and discuss her thesis entitled “Instruments of Identity: Médecins Sans Frontières and Humanitarian Negotiations for Access in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (RDC)”. Dr Léon Salumu, Program Manager for the DRC at MSF France, took part in the debate.
Result of ethnographic fieldwork conducted in North Kivu amongst Médecins Sans Frontières teams as well as an exploration of the organization’s archives, Myfanwy’s thesis analyses the experience of MSF’s Congolese employees who must navigate the complex politics of humanitarian brokerage. What is their role in humanitarian negotiations? How do they balance between one identity and another, as employees of a humanitarian organization and as people immersed in the conflicts that have been affecting the region for decades? What is the specific situation of women?
Myfanwy shows how MSF’s Congolese employees embody the many contradictions that are present in humanitarian work, including the simultaneous need for operational “proximity” while also maintaining adequate distance from daily conflict processes. Her thesis allows us to better understand the everyday practices of security management and negotiations for access conducted by organizations such as Médecins Sans Frontières. This work also comes at a time when inequality and diversity are at the forefront of discussions within the humanitarian sector, and her reflections are essential to understanding issues of “colonial continuities” in humanitarian action.
You can find a chapter of Myfanwy’s thesis in Volume 2: Issue 2 of the Journal of Humanitarian Affairs. A target="_blank">video presentation of her study is also available.
To cite this content :
Myfanwy James, “MSF and Humanitarian Negotiations for Access in the DRC”, 28 juin 2022, URL : https://msf-crash.org/en/conferences-debates/msf-and-humanitarian-negotiations-access-drc
If you want to criticize or develop this content, you can find us on twitter or directly on our site.
ContributePast events
The Sex Thieves: The Anthropology of a Rumor
05/09/2023 - 06:30 PM 08:30 PMWe were pleased to welcome anthropologist Julien Bonhomme, author of the book The Sex Thieves: The Anthropology of a Rumor for a conference and debate on Tuesday, May 9th, 2023 at 18:30 (Paris time) at MSF (34 avenue Jean Jaurès, 75019 Paris).
Négocier avec le diable. La médiation dans les conflits armés
12/15/2022 - 05:30 PM 07:30 PMWe were pleased to welcome Pierre Hazan, author of the book Négocier avec le diable. La médiation dans les conflits armés for a conference and debate on Thursday December 15th, 2022, 18:30, at MSF (34 avenue Jean Jaurès, 75019 Paris). The conference was livestreamed and translated simultaneously to English.
MSF and Humanitarian Negotiations for Access in the DRC
06/28/2022 - 04:30 PM 06:30 PMConference and debate, June 28th, 2022, from 18:30 to 20:30 (Paris time), MSF (salle du premier, 14-34 avenue Jean Jaurès, 75019 Paris). The conference was livestreamed and translated simultaneously to English.
All Who Fall
05/17/2022 - 04:30 PM 06:30 PMConference and debate, May 17th, 2022, from 18:30 to 20:30 (Paris time), MSF (14-34 avenue Jean Jaurès, 75019 Paris). The conference was livestreamed and translated simultaneously to English.
How to improve access to care and aid for people living with a handicap in a humanitarian context?
04/07/2022 - 04:30 PM 06:30 PMA screening of the film "Agir contre l’exclusion" followed by a debate, April 7th, 2022, from 18:30 to 20:30, MSF and online. The debate was translated simultaneously into sign language and English.
Reconstructing Lives
02/17/2022 - 05:30 PM 07:30 PMThe members of the Crash team were happy to welcome you all to an online conference-debate with anthropologist Vanja Kovačič, on Thursday 17th of February, at 6:30PM. The conference was in English and simultaneously translated into French. The author introduced her recently-published book "Reconstructing lives Victims of war in the Middle East and Médecins Sans Frontières" (Manchester University Press, translated in French and Arabic.)