In the run up its 33rd International Conference, we find that the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement has set an overall objective to “[c]reate a common understanding about why trust is so important to humanitarian action.” One might begin such a quest with a simple reflection: why has the problem of (mis)trust been so uniformly viewed in terms of we humanitarians ensuring ‘their’ trust in us?
It can be said with zero hyperbole that the humanitarian edifice is built upon trust. The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement has dubbed it as the ‘foundation of humanitarian action’, and with its actions has made trust one of the main themes of its 33rd International Conference. Access, support and respect for humanitarian neutrality and independence all depend heavily on trust, meaning that trust buttresses somewhat invisibly much of humanitarian programming. In contrast, mistrust can be as visible and blunt as a team of health workers being bludgeoned to death. At least, that seems to be the rule, but what about when the mistrust is our own?
Read the full blog post here.