La transition humanitaire

Abstract

In two centuries, modern humanitarian action has experienced several fractures often linked to crises. Although its professionalism and intervention force remain indisputable, it faces, since the 2000s, a new context that limits its ability to act and confronts it with new dilemmas, even though it must deal with needs for aid of unprecedented scale. These difficulties reveal a humanitarian transition period that was not anticipated. This transition period reflects the change from a dominant paradigm of North-South solidarity of Western origin to a much more complex model. This article provides a summary of the current mutations that are dominated by the States' assertion of sovereignty. Among the possible solutions, it argues for an ethical approach and a better integration of the research carried out in the Global South, prerequisites for building a true partnership and placing the victims at the heart of the operations which involve them.