Rights in Humanitarian Crises

Rights in humanitarian crises — What does it mean?

In disasters and wars, people are not all affected in the same way. Their race, gender, class, religion, political beliefs, ethnicity, and immigration status all deeply influence how they will access the aid provided and whether they will be able to rebuild their lives the way they were.

International humanitarian law establishes that all people affected by humanitarian crises have an equal right to aid and assistance with dignity. Our experience at the grassroots with the tsunami, Hurricane Katrina, and the earthquake in Pakistan have taught us that this right is one of the first casualties of a crisis. Dalits (formerly untouchables) in India were thrown out of relief camps after the tsunami, just as undocumented workers were thrown out of shelters in Mississippi after Hurricane Katrina. People who are marginalized within a society before an earthquake hits or a war begins will find themselves even further down the ladder after the crisis. The axis of inequality withstands both natural and man-made emergencies.

The Rights in Humanitarian Crises unit works to defend the rights of marginalized groups to relief assistance, participation in reconstruction, and full recovery. We form partnerships with local or national organizations working with marginalized people and we work together to strategize about how to best defend their rights to relief and recovery. We seek to support those people who continue to struggle against the structural inequalities rooted in their societies and exacerbated by emergencies.

The Rights in Humanitarian Crises unit runs both a short-term emergency program that responds to natural disasters such as the tsunami, Hurricane Katrina, and Cyclone Nargis and a long-term program that focuses on the vulnerable populations in intractable conflicts and complex humanitarian emergencies. Based on our accumulated experience and our analysis in each context, we work on:

• Strengthening women's and girls' ability to protect themselves from violence in wars and crises
• Ensuring equal access to relief and recovery in disasters, irrespective of race, class, and gender
• Extending aid to marginalized people during crises
• Supporting vulnerable groups during war

Featured stories about preserving rights during humanitarian crises