June 12, 2003 | Read Time: 1 minute
Basics of International Humanitarian Missions
edited by Kevin M. Cahill
Without careful planning and coordination, relief workers cannot adequately help the victims of natural and man-made disasters, writes Kevin M. Cahill, director of the Institute of International Humanitarian Affairs at Fordham University and president of the Center for International Health and Cooperation, both in New York. He says the complexity of international humanitarian crises requires the thorough training of people who deliver emergency services.
This book, the first in Fordham’s International Humanitarian Affairs series, is composed of essays that seek to provide aid workers with practical skills for the job. The essays, by people who have led or participated in relief missions, also discuss the principles, ethics, and politics of humanitarian assistance.
Among the topics covered are the need for relief organizations to work together during crises; the struggle to obtain adequate monetary support for missions; and strategies for improving relations between aid workers and the people they serve. In one essay, a journalist discusses how the news media choose which stories to cover and how those stories might affect the perceptions of nonprofit organizations by governments, philanthropists, and the public.
The book includes statistics on how much money countries have contributed to relief projects, which countries receive the most support, and how many people have been affected by recent humanitarian crises. It also offers a glossary and a list of Web pages of major international relief organizations.
Publisher: Fordham University Press, University Box L, 2546 Belmont Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10458; (718) 817-4795; fax (718) 817-4785; press@fordham.edu; http://www.fordhampress.com; 350 pages; $37 cloth, $20 paper; I.S.B.N. 0-8232-2243-8.
