[Radix] Haiti: Aid and need

[George Kent]

James, I think the Economist article that you brought to our attention  
is hugely important. I have quoted it in a current writing project on  
the hunger problem as follows:

"The top-down interventionist approach has been commonplace not only  
in dealing with chronic problems but also in dealing with sudden-onset  
emergencies such as tsunamis and earthquakes. Its clumsiness is often  
evident in disaster relief efforts, as aid agencies from outside  
stumble over one another, often in an effort to get in front of the  
television cameras. When the aid agencies that became involved after  
the Indian Ocean tsunami of October 24 reviewed their efforts, they  
recognized,

'It was local people themselves who provided almost all immediate life- 
saving action.” But “international agencies often brushed local  
capacities aside (Economist 2009b).'

This pattern was evident following the Haiti earthquake in January  
2010. Outside agencies that are interested in helping, whether for  
chronic conditions or sudden-onset emergencies, would do well to  
recognize and support local people’s resourcefulness. The literature  
regarding assistance in the context of disaster, hunger, or other  
situations of extreme need pays far too little attention to the ways  
in which needy people help each other. As a result, little thought is  
given to ways in which outsiders might facilitate the needy in helping  
one another."

Perhaps some of you on Radix can identify studies in which this  
potential resource has been considered in a serious way, but I have  
the sense that it deserves far more attention.

Aloha, George

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Professor George Kent
Department of Political Science
2424 Maile Way, Saunders 610
University of Hawai'i
Honolulu, Hawai'i 96822
USA

Phone:    1 808 396-9422
Cell:         1 808 389-9422
Fax:          1 808 956-6877
Email:       kent at hawaii.edu
Website:   http://www2.hawaii.edu/~kent
Skype ID: geokent






On Jan 23, 2010, at 2:41 AM, James Lewis wrote:

>
> Balance between humanitarian aid and the need is debated,  
> inconclusively regarding Haiti, in The Economist at:
> http://www.economist.com/daily/news/displaystory.cfm?story_id=15350474&fsrc=nwl
>
> Another journal seeking attention or does it have a point ?
>
> James
>
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