the words of President Mary Robinson in her lecture, “If we all fail to act now; if we fail to act decisively; if we fail to act together; future generations will never forgive us for the world that we bequeath them.” Ireland is committed to a values-based foreign policy, with principled humanitarian action at its very core. Our response to crisis is underpinned by a strong commitment to international humanitarian law and the provision of predictable, flexible, and timely funding, based on the humanitarian principles of independence, neutrality, impartiality, and humanity. These principles ensure that humanitarian assistance is targeted, based on need, and provided without discrimination.
The humanitarian system is an essential pillar of the effective multilateralism to which Ireland is committed. As humanitarian needs increase we need to redouble our support to the current system while looking at how we can prevent needs from arising in the first place, through investments in prevention and development. Reducing humanitarian need is a cornerstone of Ireland’s development policy, which was launched earlier this year.
I like to think that Ireland’s lived memory of vulnerability as a country that has endured conflict, migration, famine and colonialisation, has helped shape our commitment to a profoundly ethical response to these global challenges. In Ireland we believe in shared responsibility to address those challenges together. Sometimes that means shining a light in dark places, to bring relief to those who needed it most. It is my sincere hope that this Ireland at Fordham Humanitarian Lecture Series does just that, by shining a light on the realities and challenges of the humanitarian space today, so that we may better respond to it tomorrow.
Introduction
Brendan Cahill
Executive Director, IIHA
The Institute of International Humanitarian Affairs was founded at Fordham University to act as a bridge between the academic and humanitarian sectors, which it achieves through training, research, publications, exhibitions, conferences, and global partnerships. In The Idea of a University, John Henry Newman wrote:
“It is education which gives a man a clear, conscious view of their own opinions and judgements, a truth in developing them, an eloquence in expressing them, and a force in urging them. It teaches him to see things as they are, to go right to the point, to disentangle a skein of thought to detect what is sophistical and to discard what is irrelevant.”
Education and discourse break down the walls that narrow our views, and, by sharing our thoughts and critiquing them, we emerge to a better level of understanding and action. It is with this philosophy that the Institute partnered with the Permanent Mission of Ireland to the United Nations to organize these lectures and to create this book.
In 1841, John Hughes, an Irish migrant who had risen to the highest office in the Catholic Church in New York, founded Fordham University. Hughes was an advocate and an innovator throughout his life. He created the New York parochial school system when he saw children were not being properly educated in the anti-immigrant public schools, he founded the Emigrant Savings Bank when he realized migrants were being denied access to fair banking, and, in Fordham University, he saw that it is education, especially higher education, that allows for social mobility, justice and prosperity for the most vulnerable. Hughes was also a diplomat, traveling to Europe to prevent European powers from interfering in the US Civil War. He lived in a time—as we do now—where the migrant was demonized and victimized and denied their human rights. It was his belief that those who had power also had an obligation to provide for those who had none. He identified protection, education and human rights not as luxuries but as necessities, and, perhaps most importantly, having identified those inequalities, he fought to right them. That ethos informs the work of everything the Institute has done.
Ireland, in its most recent policy paper, A Better World, has made a strong and reasoned plan for foreign investment and support. In his introduction to that document, Simon Coveney, T.D., Ireland’s Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, stated clearly:
“During our public consultations, we heard that Irish people see development cooperation as an investment in a better future, as an important projection of our values and as a statement of solidarity with others who are less fortunate. It is also important to our safety and security, a protection against volatility in a time of change.
We believe that the focus in this new policy will help create that better world which we want for ourselves and our children, a world where Ireland shows effective leadership and good global citizenship as we move into the second century of our independence.”
Complementing the values of Newman and Hughes, the paper looks at foreign investment as an opportunity for all, to be a voice for those who need one, a trading partner for those who ask for one, a friend for those who seek one. To complement that clear vision, we chose eminent speakers from the United Nations, academia, diplomacy, security, and the Red Cross Movement who represented the very best in their own fields. We worked closely with the Permanent Mission of Ireland to the United Nations to highlight those sectors that represented Irish priorities—climate issues, protection, gender equality, food security, etc. This book is the result.
The concerns raised by the oncoming effects of climate change require nothing less than the complete unity of all nations not just in word but through concerted action. Communities across the world already face drought, food-insecurity, and increasing environmental fragility based upon the human-caused fluctuation in the natural climate. The time to act is now. The Permanent Mission of Ireland and the Institute of International Humanitarian Affairs share a deep bond and a profound commitment to these same values upheld and promoted within the climate justice framework. The example set forward by the Irish determination for the promotion and protection of human rights for all provides this storied institution with a wealth of potential to further stand with our most vulnerable communities. The Founding Charter of the United Nations begins, famously, with We the Peoples of the United Nations determined to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war…
We must never forget—even in the face of xenophobia and greed—that we are made stronger by dialogue and action, by what Bertrand Russell called his three passions—the longing for love, the search for knowledge, and the unbearable pity for the suffering of mankind. We celebrate our organizations’ deep bonds and shared commitments to human rights and climate justice, while also taking the opportunity to pause and reflect on the difficult path towards a brighter, more equitable future.
Increasingly, humanitarian efforts are recognized empirically, and there has been a necessary move toward greater professionalization in humanitarian assistance. In professionalization, however, we can sometimes lose the overall purpose for the delivery, and sideline the passion of the volunteer for the sake of processes. We need the passion of the volunteer just as importantly as professionalization and accountability. Ireland has sent educators throughout the world for hundreds of years; it is a nation that has been a proud supporter of U.N. Peacekeeping efforts for many decades. It has embraced the multilateral approach to global security and harmony. In 1861, in his first inaugural address, President Lincoln spoke to a country in crisis, appealing to the “better angels of our nature”. Words matter, the academy matters, critical thinking matters, inspiration matters. The contributors to these lectures, and to this book, approached these themes in different but complementary ways. President Michael D. Higgins eloquently examined the role of the public intellectual in times of crisis. Admiral Mark Mellett wrote incisively about seeing “the role of Ireland’s Defense Forces contributing to an effort to move institutions along the continuum from insecurity to security, from an absence of peace to peace.” In her chapter on localization, Dr. Jemilah Mahmood examined the movement toward consultation with, and not simply provision to, populations in need. Mr. Jamie McGoldrick decried the increasing politicization of humanitarian assistance and the
