Protection in humanitarian action

The way in which humanitarian actors can help protect these people from risks and threats, as well as avoid causing any secondary harm, is by mainstreaming four basic protection principles:

• Avoid causing harm and prioritize the safety and dignity of individuals. Otherwise, our interventions may expose the people we are trying to assist to physical and psychological threats. For example, a poorly planned food distribution may end in violence among desperate people, a poorly designed refugee camp may have areas with increased risk of gender-based violence and the lack of hygiene facilities may be humiliating for people. In addition, if monitoring and control measures are not put in place, unscrupulous humanitarian workers can commit abuses of power by extorting money from beneficiaries in exchange for goods and services.
• Ensure access to humanitarian assistance for the affected population. This is key to eliminating barriers for the most vulnerable or discriminated people. It is also aligned with the principles of humanity and impartiality.
• Accountability to the assisted population. This basic principle is linked to the essential humanitarian standard. A proper accountability mechanism allows for a better flow of information and dialogue with humanitarian actors. Thanks to this, people can express their opinions and concerns about the appropriateness (or not) of interventions. These mechanisms can even give people the opportunity to report abuses committed by humanitarian personnel.
• Promote participation and empowerment of people. In this way, emergency-affected populations can protect themselves and their communities, in addition to claiming their rights from duty bearers.

In addition to the commitment of all stakeholders, we have humanitarian organizations specialized in protection, such as UNHCR, NRC, IOM, DRC, Oxfam and others.