Topic 4: Humanitarian ethics and socially responsible engagement
Overview
In this Topic you will learn about the principles and concepts which inform humanitarian action. The range of standards, accountability tools, and codes of conduct relating to the humanitarian sector that have been developed since the early 1990’s are introduced, with some analysis made regarding their effectiveness. This Topic requires you to watch two videos, so set some time aside to complete the relevant activities.
Learning outcomes
At the completion of this Topic students should be able to:
- value transparency, accountability, standards, and codes of conduct;
- articulate the principles which underlie and inform humanitarian action;
- give examples of codes of conduct and good practice in humanitarian action.
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The core principles of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) are universality, neutrality, impartiality and consent; Reading 4.1, which is Chapter 5 from Sharpcott’s book on international ethics, explains these core principles. |
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Once you have read and reflected on Reading 4.1, use the proforma provided in the Subject Outline to write an annotated bibliography. We understand that the author is occasionally referring to information and concepts presented in previous chapters of his book. In your annotated bibliography it is therefore unnecessary to mention this. The rationale of this exercise is to have you read the chapter and process the main ideas. To help you with your reading the following definitions from the Online Dictionary are provided:
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