Proposal – Samema Sarowar

        This paper will address the dilemma that is created in distributing humanitarian aid in the Democratic Republic of Congo of Rwandan refugees. The question that the paper will be attempting to answer will be: should humanitarian aid be distributed based on the concepts of new humanitarianism or traditional humanitarianism, in particular of the case of Rwandan refugees.
 
        First, I will define humanitarian aid and give a quick but through synopsis of the history of humanitarian aid distribution. In this part of the paper there will probably be some statistics of how much humanitarian aid has been distributed, to what countries that the most humanitarian aid been distributed to, what type of humanitarian aid has been given, in what situations is humanitarian aid given and who is responsible for the distribution of humanitarian aid. This part of the paper will have mostly research from history books and maybe some primary sources from the documentation from organizations that have participated in the distribution of humanitarian aid.
 
        Second, I will address the concepts of new humanitarianism and traditional humanitarianism by defining them. “Traditional humanitarianism” is a term that encompasses the beginnings of humanitarian aid distribution since 1859. This concept refers to the distribution of aid regardless of political affiliation. The term will be more clearly defined and broken down into subparts of humanity, impartiality and neutrality. The three terms will also be defined and three examples will be given such that the definitions are clear. Then, “new humanitarianism” will be defined as a relatively new concept of distributing humanitarian aid based on political biases. New humanitarianism will be explained by stating how it derived from traditional humanitarianism, when it became an influential concept in humanitarian aid distribution, what examples in the history of humanitarian aid distribution constitutes as new humanitarianism, and how it fundamentally differs from traditional humanitarianism. This section of the paper will be primarily derived from secondary sources, mainly from peer-read journals.
 
        Third, since the paper will focus on the humanitarian aid distribution to Rwandan refugees in Democratic Republic of Congo, I will give a quick history on the Rwandan genocide. This part will be accomplished by stating the initial problems with the movement of fleeing Rwandans into present-day DRC. I will spend at least one paragraph defining the term “refugee” by employing the political science definition because humanitarian aid is not distributed to all fleeing groups but rather groups that fall under the “refugee” category. I will also state the social and political conditions of the refugee camps by addressing who controls the camps, what type of humanitarian aid is required, which actors provide the humanitarian aid, and who are the people that live in the camps. The definitions can be found by using peer-evaluated journals. The social and political conditions can be found in articles and also in the databases of the United Nations and many aid organizations.
 
        Fourth, I will explain how different organizations have had a role in the distribution of humanitarian aid. I will state the Red Cross and Doctors Without Borders as examples of traditional humanitarianism and new humanitarianism, respectively. I will discuss the roles of the Red Cross and Doctors without borders in the case of Rwandan refugees. I will clearly state what policies that were employed during humanitarian aid distribution were considered to fall under new humanitarianism and what fell under traditional humanitarianism. The effectiveness and weaknesses of both theories will be stated by providing examples of specific situations of the actions of humanitarian aid organizations. The events that will be stated in this section of the paper can be found in the texts of peer-read journals as well as books written by experts in the field. This section of the paper will be the longest because it directly addresses my thesis question.
 
        In conclusion, I will discuss the, hopefully, effectiveness of traditional humanitarianism over new humanitarianism. This will not be an opinion but rather a stance that will be backed by ample evidence (by the time I write the conclusion hopefully).