A SKEIN OF THOUGHT THE IRELAND AT FORDHAM HUMANITARIAN LECTURES SERIES A SKEIN OF THOUGHT THE IRELAND AT FORDHAM HUMANITARIAN LECTURE SERIES Edited by Brendan Cahill Johanna Lawton In collaboration with the Permanent Mission of Ireland to the United Nations with funding from the Government of Ireland. Refuge Press, New York, 2020 Copyright ©2020 The Center for International Humanitarian Cooperation Fordham University IHA Book Series All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system without permission in writing from the publishers. ISBN#13: 978-0-8232-9367-4 (Hard Cover) ISBN#13: 978-0-8232-9368-1 (Paperback) ISBN#13: 978-0-8232-9366-7 (ePub) All royalties from this book go to the training of humanitarian workers. Edited by: Brendan Cahill and Johanna Lawton Book and Cover Design: Mauro Sarri Printed in the United States of America. Table of Contents Preface Ambassador Geraldine Byrne Nason, Permanent Representative of Ireland to the United Nations 9 Introduction Brendan Cahill 13 How Climate, Gender and Insecurity Are Driving Food Insecurity and Humanitarian Need H.E. Mary Robinson 19 Humanitarianism and the Public Intellectual in Times of Crisis H.E. President Michael D. Higgins 31 The Trust Deficit in Humanitarian Action Dr. Jemilah Mahmood 57 The Sustainable Development Goals and Common Values: A Vital Framework for Humanitarian Action Vice Admiral Mark Mellett DSM, PhD 79 Humanitarian Access Jamie McGoldrick 97 Conflict and Hunger Dr. Caitriona Dowd 119 The Conflict of Hunger Matthew Hollingworth and Anne-Laure Duval 133 Concluding Lecture Tánaiste Simon Coveney, TD 151 About 170 Contributing Authors 172 Endnotes 175 Preface Geraldine Byrne Nason Permanent Representative of Ireland to the UN Welcome to the compendium of lectures of the ‘Ireland at Fordham Humanitarian Lecture Series’. The Permanent Mission of Ireland has been proud to collaborate with Fordham University’s Institute of International Humanitarian Affairs, in a partnership that speaks to Ireland’s profile as a leader in international development and human- itarian action, as well as Fordham’s commitment to distinguished research and education. Over the last 18 months, our collaboration has built upon our shared commitment to exploring the challenges facing policy makers and humanitarian actors working to get aid to the most vulnera- ble people on our planet, often in the most hard to reach places. COVID-19 has made their job even more difficult. Throughout this lecture series, we have had the honour to hear from a range of emi- nent speakers, who addressed both established and emerging issues in the humanitarian field. On this journey, we explored the challenges facing policy makers and humanitarians as they deliver life-saving support and protection to people in need. Addresses by H.E. Mary Robinson, Chair of The Elders and the first woman elected President of Ireland; President Michael D. Higgins; Dr. Jemilah Mahmood, at the time Under-Secre- tary General at the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Cres- cent Societies; Chief of the Defence Forces, Vice Admiral Mark Mellett; United Nations Resident Coordinator, Jamie McGoldrick; Dr. Caitriona Dowd; WFP’s Matthew Hollingworth; and Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, Simon Coveney, T.D., raised issues including the intersection between humanitarian action and climate justice, activism and the public intellectual, trust and locali- sation, peacekeeping, humanitarian access, and conflict and hunger. 9 Since the inaugural lecture by President Mary Robinson at the Unit- ed Nations in May 2019, we have witnessed the nature of humani- tarian need rapidly changing. Conflicts have become more protract- ed and societies are faced with new and emerging threats such as the devastating impact of COVID-19. As each of our eight lectures demonstrate, we must adapt and improve the delivery of humanitar- ian assistance to help those in need without delay as humanitarian crises become more and more complex. It is our collective respon- sibility to ensure the full respect for international humanitarian law in all contexts. Moreover, as is argued with clear conviction in all lectures, it is crucial that humanitarian workers are given the access and support necessary to provide vital assistance to those who need it most. This series brings an Irish perspective to exploring some of these chal- lenges and how they affect policy makers and humanitarians as they seek to ensure aid reaches those in need, humanitarian principles are upheld, and civilians are protected. Listening to the expert voices of practitioners with first hand experience, the lecture series has helped to inform Ireland’s understanding of how these humanitarian issues, arising with ever greater frequency and urgency, interact with the work of the United Nations Security Council, to which we hope to be elected for the term 2021–2022. Ireland has long been a leader in humanitarian response, from our missionaries to our current steadfast support for the global humani- tarian system with the UN at its centre. I recall 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 independ- ence, neutrality, impartiality, and humanity. These principles en- sure that humanitarian assistance is targeted, based on need, and 10 provided without discrimination. The humanitarian system is an essential pillar of the effective mul- tilateralism 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 hu- manitarian 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 coun- try 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 responsi- bility 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 Humanitari- an 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. 11 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 high- est 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 re- alized 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 13 demonized and victimized and denied their human rights. It was his belief that those who had power also had an obligation to pro- vide 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