Engaging armed groups at the International Committee of the Red Cross: Challenges, opportunities and COVID-19

This article examines the presence of 605 armed groups in today's conflict environment by bringing new evidence based on internal research. It looks in particular at the way these non-State entities provide varying degrees of services to the population in the spaces that they control, and how this might impact the way a humanitarian organization like the ICRC engages with them in a dialogue over time. This model of analysis is then used to situate and better explain armed groups’ positions on the COVID crisis.

Politik Aksi Humaniter Organisasi Kemanusiaan Dalam Menangani Imigran Ilegal Tahun 2016 (Studi Kasus IOM dan UNHCR di Surabaya)

This paper aims to observe the principles of humanitarianism in the current era. The principle of humanitarianism which consists of humanity, neutrality, impartiality and independence tends to be ignored. The neglect is based on the interests carried by each humanitarian organization. Therefore, the principle tends to be mixed with political affairs. This practice can be seen from the two humanitarian organizations IOM and UNHCR in carrying out their role in dealing with illegal immigrants, especially at the Immigration Detention Center, Surabaya. In practice the element of importance is given priority, giving rise to a dilemma for both organizations in carrying out their mandate as a humanitarian organization. These dilemmas include limited resources, internal work relations patterns of personnel, humanitarian worker’s motivation. Because of the dilemma, it is almost difficult for both organizations to adopt the principle of humanitarianism. In the end, combining elements of interest becomes a new term in humanitarian action. The term is known as new humanitarianism. This writing uses qualitative research methods with primary and secondary data sources. Primary data taken through interviews, observations and secondary data sources taken through books, journals, online news, government regulations. The discussion of this paper will use several concepts, namely humanitarianism and new humanitarianism.

Implementasi Program Wakaf Di Unit Cabang Act Duri

The existence of ACT in Duri, Bengkalis Regency, is a global humanitarian organization based on voluntarism. In implementing the institution, there are several waqf programs, including renovation of houses of worship and drilled clean water wells for the needs of and helping the poor in the Duri area. This research was conducted with a descriptive approach, namely, interview, observation, interview, and referring to journals related to this research. In this case, it becomes the research subject: Implementation of the Waqf Program while being the object of research at the ACT Duri Branch Unit. The presence of ACT Duri Branch provides a new phenomenon in accommodating the hopes of the community in issuing their assets in the form of waqf, both cash waqf, assets, land, livestock, businesses that have enormous beneficial value for the welfare of the ummah. The programs promoted by ACT Duri Branch focused on renovating houses of worship and drilling wells. The bore well program is implemented to address the educational needs of the pesantren children and the pesantren's surrounding communities who are in dire need given that the clean water conditions in Duri are very uneven and where clean water is located. In this condition, ACT Duri is taking steps to make drilling wells the flagship waqf program in the Duri area.

Social Dynamics of Expectations and Expertise: AI in Digital Humanitarian Innovation

Public discourse typically blurs the boundary between what artificial intelligence (AI) actually achieves and what it could accomplish in the future. The sociology of expectations teaches us that such elisions play a performative role: they encourage heterogeneous actors to partake, at various levels, in innovation activities. This article explores how optimistic expectations for AI concretely motivate and mobilize actors, how much heterogeneity hides behind the seeming congruence of optimistic visions, and how the expected technological future is in fact difficult to enact as planned. Our main theoretical contribution is to examine the role of heterogeneous expertises in shaping the social dynamics of expectations, thereby connecting the sociology of expectations with the study of expertise and experience. In our case study of a humanitarian organization, we deploy this theoretical contribution to illustrate how heterogeneous specialists negotiate the realization of contending visions of “digital humanitarianism.”

Interpreting for EFL Speakers in Humanitarian Organizations (MSF- Jordan): Roles and Challenges

This paper sheds light on the subjective experiences of interpreters who work with an international, medical humanitarian organization, namely MSF-Jordan. The paper seeks to explore the role/s that interpreters identify themselves as performing when working with MSF-Jordan, the challenges they encounter when working for such organizations where most of the officials are EFL speakers, and the strategies they adopt to overcome the challenges. The study uses a qualitative method through conducting interviews in the form of a questionnaire that was sent to seventeen interpreters who worked or still working with MSF-Jordan between 2011-2019. The questionnaire used in this study was developed by Stahuljak and its selection is based on its suitability for the purposes of the current study. Eleven interpreters responded, and the data was analyzed considering the research questions. The results show that interpreters identify themselves as performing the roles of conduits, culture brokers, and other. The interpreters identified challenges related to their lack of experience specifically in specialized terminologies, officials' accents, officials’ speaking pace, their feel of lack of recognition, too much work and having additional tasks other than interpreting. The study further shows that interpreters opt for various strategies to overcome the challenges such as asking for help in relevance to lack of knowledge, asking officials to repeat, guessing, and asking the officials to write down what they say to overcome the impediment of EFL.

Supply chain agility assessment of an Indonesian humanitarian organization

PurposeThe article presents an evaluation of the supply chain agility of the Indonesian humanitarian organization Aksi Cepat Tanggap (ACT). It discusses the flexibility, responsiveness and effectiveness of ACT's supply chain.Design/methodology/approachThe supply chain agility metrics were assessed based on interviews with representatives from ACT and the National Agency for Disaster Management (Badan Nasional Penanggulangan Bencana [BNPB]). Recommendations were made based on the assessment results.FindingsThe findings of this study indicated that ACT's supply chain agility maturity was at level 2 or repeatable. This meant that ACT's humanitarian supply chain (HSC) had demonstrated agility only on limited occasions. ACT's supply chain agility can be improved by enhancing the flexibility component.Practical implicationsThe study shows how to assess the supply chain agility of a humanitarian organization and identify the components/capabilities of agility that need improvement. The same assessment can be conducted by other humanitarian organizations to enhance their supply chain agility to improve their emergency response in the event of a disaster.Originality/valueThe study provides insights into the supply chain agility of a locally based humanitarian organization in an emerging country, which is rarely discussed in the literature.

Exploring the Nexus Between Culture, Values, Institutions, Happiness and Philanthropy: A Global Evidence

The main aim of this study was to investigate the impact of culture, values, institutions, and happiness on the world’s philanthropy. Culture is measured by Hofstede index (i.e. individualism-collectivism, masculinity-femininity, long and short-run orientation, uncertainty avoidance, power distance, and indulgence-restraint). The measurement of value is WVS (World Value Survey) and it consists of the emotion of happiness, active/ inactive membership of a church or religious organization, important in life; religion, confidence on charitable/ humanitarian organization and active/ inactive membership of charitable/ humanitarian organization. Institutions are measured by WGI (World Governance Indicators) and it consists of corruption, regulatory quality, accountability and voice, rule of law, political stability and government effectiveness, the sub-variables of happiness (index) are social support, freedom to take decisions and generosity and world’s philanthropy is measured by CAF (Charitable Aid Foundation) world giving index. We have gathered panel data (from the period 2010 to 2014) of CAF index, happiness index and WGI of 62 countries and cross-sectional data of CAF index, Hofstede index, WGI, happiness index and WVS of 24 countries. The result (of panel data) shows that there is a significant relation of WGI, social support and freedom of choice with CAF index whereas there is an insignificant connection between generosity and CAF index. The findings (of cross-sectional data of all factors combined) shows that there is a relation of the Hofstede index and happiness index with the CAF index while there is no linkage of WGI and WVS with the CAF index. The study suggests that charitable organizations should personify their value in order to build trust among the public. Countries should improve their governance because this will lead to equality and by doing this countries will also manage their resources efficiently and effectively.

Dynamic Selves, Uncertain Desires

This chapter explores the ways young women come to see themselves as mothers through a focus on three individuals’ perspectives. In spite of the home’s emphasis on a mother-and-child unit, young women understand themselves and their relationships in variable ways. The chapter extends theoretical discussions of subjectivity as dynamic and partial. Attending to subjectivities of motherhood challenges notions of biological relationship that in part structure how these individuals are positioned by the NGO and the state. Highlighting individuals’ talk and actions, the chapter shows that girls mobilize various discourses of being a good person and doing their best for their child in interactions with each other and with staff and volunteers in this humanitarian organization.