Humanitarian crisis

A humanitarian crisis (or "humanitarian disaster") is an event or series of events which represents a critical threat to the health, safety, security or wellbeing of a community or other large group of people, usually over a wide area. Armed conflicts, epidemics, famine, natural disasters and other major emergencies may all involve or lead to a humanitarian crisis.

Categories

There is no simple categorization of humanitarian crises. Different communities and agencies tend to have definitions related to the concrete situations they face. A local fire service will tend to focus on issues such as flooding and weather induced crises. Medical and health related organizations are naturally focused on sudden crises to the health of a community.

An ongoing or lingering pandemic may amount to a humanitarian crisis, especially where there are increasing levels of virulence, or rates of infection as in the case of AIDS, bird flu or Tuberculosis. Major health-related problems such as cancer, global warming typically require an accentuated or punctuated mass-event to justify a label of "crisis" or "disaster".

The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) lists categories which include different types of natural disasters, technological disasters (i.e. hazardous material spills, Chernobyl-type of nuclear accidents, chemical explosions) and long-term man-made disasters related to "civil strife, civil war and international war". [ [http://www.ifrc.org/what/disasters/Types/ IFRC Disaster management - Disaster type list] ] ) Internationally, the humanitarian response sector has tended to distinguish between natural disasters and complex emergencies which are related to armed conflict and wars. [ [http://www.reliefweb.int/library/documents/ocha__orientation__handbook_on__.htm "Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs" handbook for complex emergencies] ]

Examples

Recent humanitarian crises include the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake(Asian tsunami), the 2005 Kashmir earthquake, Hurricane Katrina in August 2005, Rwanda genocide, Sri Lankan civil war, Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Afghan Civil War, Darfur Conflict, Iraq War and most recently in May 2008 Cyclone Nargis made landfall in Myanmar and claimed the lives of at least 22.000 people. [http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/asiapcf/05/06/myanmar.cyclone/index.html Myanmar cyclone death toll exceeds 22,000'] . CNN. May 6, 2008. Retrieved on 2008-05-06]

ee also

*Aid agency
*Central Emergency Response Fund
*Emergency management
*Humanitarian aid
*Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs

Footnotes

External links

* [http://today.reuters.com/News/HumanitarianCrises.aspx Reuters reports on current humanitarian crises]
* [http://www.doctorswithoutborders.org/publications/reports/2006/top10_2005.html The 10 Most Underreported Humanitarian Crises of 2005] by Doctors Without Borders
* [http://www.doctorswithoutborders.org/publications/reports/2007/top10_2006.htm The 10 Most Underreported Humanitarian Crises of 2006] by Doctors Without Borders
* [http://www.reliefweb.int ReliefWeb - serving the information needs of the humanitarian community.]
* [http://www.savethechildren.org/programs/emergencies/types-of-emergencies.html Save the Children list of types of emergencies]
* [http://www.udel.edu/DRC/preliminary/192.pdf Article: Technological and Natural Disasters and Ecological Problems]
* [http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/dbc.nsf/doc103?OpenForm Relief Web's list of emergencies]