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spectrum and témoignage is one of those. [At MSF, we want] to speak out and highlight the plights of populations caught in humanitarian crises. In those days [before MSF was created], we didn’t have social media, TV was just coming out and unless you put on a table what was happening in Nigeria during the Biafra war, it was not necessarily attracting attention from the global world. So out of outrage we were bearing witness. 1 Through the years, of course, other organizations realized it doesn’t necessarily change policies on the preemptive level. For MSF, we
, populist – mostly right-wing – movements and their racial hatred aimed at targeting minorities. But it does not stop here, as at the same time those who stand for humanitarian values and try to uphold them become targets. This in effect is an attack on the belief that all lives matter and are worth of being saved. Disinformation campaigns that are now easily spread via social media and other informal networks, the report argues, threaten humanitarian action unless humanitarians develop strategies to
monitoring approach, or whether a more discerning one is warranted. Methodology This paper draws on an analysis of scholarly literature, policy documents, media and social media. The analysis is also informed by interviews with 32 individuals, who were predominantly healthcare workers and representatives of organisations active in the medical-humanitarian response in northern Syria. Interviews were conducted in the period January to June 2017, mostly in the
refugees and migrants and 22 interviews with humanitarian workers indicated that, while social media were used extensively by refugees and migrants to network with family and friends, these platforms were not their preferred channel for receiving information on their situation in Greece, and refugees and migrants expressed preferences for written documents, posters or verbal communication ( Ghandour-Demiri, 2017 ). For these reasons, language and its translation are operational challenges for
Introduction The much touted technologising of humanitarian space has brought many useful innovations. The use of cell-phones, satellites, drones, social-media platforms, digital cash and biometric technology has changed how things are done, the speed and cost of doing them and from where and by whom they can be done ( Sandvik, 2019 ). A central part of what these technologies accomplish is to generate data ( Burns, 2015 ; Crawford and Finn
on the ‘innovation turn’ in humanitarianism, so-called ‘digital humanitarianism’ arose in 2010 after the Haiti earthquake when thousands of volunteers used a variety of digital means – from social media to satellite imagery – to help humanitarian relief operations ( Meier, 2015 ). Understood as ‘the enacting of social and institutional networks, technologies, and practices that enable large, unrestricted numbers of remote and on-the-ground individuals to collaborate on
was selected based on the high concentration of refugees in its surrounding vicinity and ease of access. Outreach stretched for a month utilising the database of UNHCR, WFP, and the Ministry of Social Affairs, referrals by NGOs active in the targeted regions, by the programme graduates and announcements on social media platforms. Eligibility criteria necessitated a valid registration with UNHCR, 2 financial need, and a threshold of educational attainment. Accordingly
the field of human rights shows that shaming can result in positive protection outcomes, but it also carries risks when rights violators develop counter frames to de-legitimise criticism ( Kinzelbach and Lehmann, 2014 ). This is particularly true in the age of social media where facts can be twisted to promote a counter-narrative. Beyond considerations of impact, speaking out for MSF has also carried moral significance, where remaining silent in front of grave human
humanitarian assistance and arbitrary response take precedence over research. Regardless of how many resources are being poured into such responses, it is relatively rare to find reliable information and data during the acute phase of such crisis ( Checchi et al. , 2017 ). However, for the Syrian conflict, the scarcity of data has been rectified by the use of social media, which has provided an intensive documentation for this conflict. Syrian local activists played key roles in documenting and communicating realities on the ground. Some of these efforts have been
( McEachran, 2014 ), as well as a series of still more fantastical ideas such as the ‘Wearable Habitation Coat’ ( Hartley, 2016 ) and the proposal to reclaim a ‘refugee island’ from the Mediterranean Sea ( Taylor, 2016 ). These designs have been widely circulated through social media and promoted by architectural newsletters, such as Dezeen and Arch-Daily , with large events such as the 2016 Venice Biennale adding a range of even more ambitious designs to