Communicating Agencies＇ Humanitarianism in Natural Disaster and Armed Conflicts＂ Differences, Challenges, and Dilemmas

The literature on disasters mainly focuses on natural disasters and looks at their coverage by the media. The paper argues that armed conflicts are also disasters and that Western relief agencies intervening in natural disasters and conflict are also proactive communicators. Taking a different approach from much of the available research, it explores agencies＇ communication work in these two types of crises and analyses the differences, challenges and dilemmas that they face in communicating their humanitarianism. It outlines the distinguished inherent characteristics of natural disasters and conflicts, and examines their impact on the understanding of the crises, the perception of affected populations, and the implementation of agencies＇ actions. It also investigates how, in turn, all these features influence agencies＇ communication practices that in natural disasters emergencies and conflict-related crises perform a different role and show different parameters. In this sense, the paper distinguishes between ＂humanitarian communication＂ to refer to the former, and ＂humanitarian advocacy＂ to refer to the latter. The paper briefly explores the operational challenges engendered by the contested interpretations of humanitarian advocacy, shows that the use of the parameters of humanitarian communication in conflict-related crises to overcome these problems caused additional concern, and presents two forms of humanitarian advocacy engendering less challenges and dilemmas.

Develop the Adult Value in Andersen's Fairy Tales from Humanitarianism

The Andersen’s fairy tales have made many research results since 20thcentury,but they mainly concentrate on its effect on children.Andersen’s Fairy Tales characterized by their"childishness",are unconsciously referred to as"kids reading".People don’t understand the real meaning of Andersen’s fairy tales.This paper attempts to regard Anderson’s Fairy Tales as a great literary work but not only a fairy tales for children to read.And do a detailed research about"the adult value"in Andersen’s fairy tales from humanitarianism in the book.The whole paper is divided into three parts.Apart from the introduction,the paper starts with a series of specific examples and analysis about humanitarianism in the book.Upon that,it carries on analysis of adult value in Andersen’s Fairy Tales based on some serious problems in nowadays society.It seeks to expound the quality and contemporary value of Andersen’s fairy tales.And it also attempts to put it into good use for guiding the adults and help to solve social problems to some degree.

The Humanitarianism of Tales of Two Cities

Humanitarianism represents the kind side of the human nature,stimulating people’s mutual love,help,assistance and even mutual respect to each other,which is of the most importance.Its essence is liberty,equality and philanthropism.Only when humanitarianism is accepted by everyone around you,in particular,your enemy,can things go well as you have expected.Certainly,life will be much better and smoother,and it will be full of joys and happiness every day.In this article,it mainly makes a deep probe into the specific practice of humanitarianism among the main characters in the tales.Hopefully,it will be a big help for read⁃ers to have a deeper understanding of this great book.

Automatic Rule Discovery for Data Transformation Using Fusion of Diversified Feature Formats

This article presents an innovative approach to automatic rule discovery for data transformation tasks leveraging XGBoost,a machine learning algorithm renowned for its efficiency and performance.The framework proposed herein utilizes the fusion of diversified feature formats,specifically,metadata,textual,and pattern features.The goal is to enhance the system’s ability to discern and generalize transformation rules fromsource to destination formats in varied contexts.Firstly,the article delves into the methodology for extracting these distinct features from raw data and the pre-processing steps undertaken to prepare the data for the model.Subsequent sections expound on the mechanism of feature optimization using Recursive Feature Elimination(RFE)with linear regression,aiming to retain the most contributive features and eliminate redundant or less significant ones.The core of the research revolves around the deployment of the XGBoostmodel for training,using the prepared and optimized feature sets.The article presents a detailed overview of the mathematical model and algorithmic steps behind this procedure.Finally,the process of rule discovery(prediction phase)by the trained XGBoost model is explained,underscoring its role in real-time,automated data transformations.By employingmachine learning and particularly,the XGBoost model in the context of Business Rule Engine(BRE)data transformation,the article underscores a paradigm shift towardsmore scalable,efficient,and less human-dependent data transformation systems.This research opens doors for further exploration into automated rule discovery systems and their applications in various sectors.

Effects of Desalination Processes on the Water Circulation and Earth System

Desalination is emerging as a promising alternative among various technologies to resolve water shortage. However, desalination requires a sufficient energy and cooling device and therefore poses limitations for its installation and application. In particular, many countries suffering water deficits are economically underdeveloped and cannot afford the technology. As this technology, which changes seawater into freshwater, has little environmental impact, developed countries will need to assist less developed countries to introduce this technology as a humanitarian effort. This will help reduce the number of countries that have experienced difficulty with development.

Model-Based Systems Engineering Approach to Design a Human Settlement to Better Serve Displaced People

The challenge of transitioning from temporary humanitarian settlements to more sustainable human settlements is due to a significant increase in the number of forcibly displaced people over recent decades, difficulties in providing social services that meet the required standards, and the prolongation of emergencies. Despite this challenging context, short-term considerations continue to guide their planning and management rather than more integrated, longer-term perspectives, thus preventing viable, sustainable development. Over the years, the design of humanitarian settlements has not been adapted to local contexts and perspectives, nor to the dynamics of urbanization and population growth and data. In addition, the current approach to temporary settlement harms the environment and can strain limited resources. Inefficient land use and ad hoc development models have compounded difficulties and generated new challenges. As a result, living conditions in settlements have deteriorated over the last few decades and continue to pose new challenges. The stakes are such that major shortcomings have emerged along the way, leading to disruption, budget overruns in a context marked by a steady decline in funding. However, some attempts have been made to shift towards more sustainable approaches, but these have mainly focused on vague, sector-oriented themes, failing to consider systematic and integration views. This study is a contribution in addressing these shortcomings by designing a model-driving solution, emphasizing an integrated system conceptualized as a system of systems. This paper proposes a new methodology for designing an integrated and sustainable human settlement model, based on Model-Based Systems Engineering and a Systems Modeling Language to provide valuable insights toward sustainable solutions for displaced populations aligning with the United Nations 2030 agenda for sustainable development.

A Triple Nexus Water-Energy-Housing (WEH) Framework Modelling towards Improved Decision-Making in Humanitarian Operations

Given the challenges facing most humanitarian operations worldwide, a change of approach is needed to ensure greater sustainability of humanitarian settlements right from the planning stage. Some studies attribute unsustainability to inadequate provision of basic resources and highlight the apparent bottlenecks that prevent access to the meaningful data needed to plan and remedy problems. Most operations have relied on an “ad hoc ism” approach, employing parallel and disconnected data processing methods, resulting in a wide range of data being collected without subsequent prioritization to optimize interconnections that could enhance performance. There have been little efforts to study the trade-offs potentially at stake. This work proposes a new framework enabling all subsystems to operate in a single system and focusing on data processing perspective. To achieve this, this paper proposes a Triple Nexus Framework as an attempt to integrate water, energy, and housing sector data derived from a specific sub-system within the overall system in the application of Model-Based Systems Engineering. Understanding the synergies between water, energy, and housing, Systems Engineering characterizes the triple nexus framework and identifies opportunities for improved decision-making in processing operational data from these sectors. Two scenarios illustrate how an integrated platform could be a gateway to access meaningful operational data in the system and a starting point for modeling integrated human settlement systems. Upon execution, the model is tested for nexus megadata processing, and the optimization simulation yielded 67% satisfactory results, demonstrating that an integrated system could improve sustainability, and that capacity building in service delivery is more than beneficial.

A Systems Approach to Assessing Sustainability Capacity in Kalobeyei Refugee Settlement in Turkana County, Kenya

Refugee settlements face several challenges in transitioning from a temporary planning approach to more sustainable settlements. This is mainly due to an increase in the number of forcibly displaced people over the last few decades, and the difficulties of sustainably providing social services that meet the required standards. The development of refugee settlements assumed that forcibly displaced people would return to their places or countries of origin. Unfortunately, displacement situations are prolonged indefinitely, forcing these people to spend most of their lives in conditions that are often deplorable and substandard, and therefore unsustainable. In most cases, the establishment of refugee settlements is triggered by an emergency caused by an influx of forcibly displaced people, who need to be accommodated urgently and provided with some form of international assistance and protection. This leaves little or no time for proper planning for long-term development as required. In addition, the current approach to temporary settlement harms the environment and can strain limited resources with ad hoc development models that have exacerbated difficulties. As a result, living conditions in refugee settlements have deteriorated over the last few decades and continue to pose challenges as to how best to design, plan, and sustain settlements over time. To contribute to addressing these challenges, this study proposes a new methodology supported by Model-Based Systems Engineering (MBSE) and a Systems Modeling Language (SysML) to develop a typical sustainable human settlement system model, which has functionally and operationally executed using a Systems Engineering (SE) approach. To assess the sustainability capacity of the proposed system, this work applies a matrix of crossed impact multiplication through a case study by conducting a system capacity interdependence analysis (SCIA) using the MICMAC methodology (Cross-impact matrix multiplication applied to classification) to assess the interdependency that exist between the sub-systems categories to deliver services at the system level. The sustainability analysis results based on capacity variables influence and dependency models shows that development activities in the settlement are unstable and, therefore, unsustainable since there is no apparent difference between the influential and dependent data used for the assessment. These results illustrate that an integrated system could improve human settlements’ sustainability and that capacity building in service delivery is beneficial and necessary.

试论《物道主义形而上下学》的思想价值

高懿德教授的《物道主义形而上下学》所阐发的“物道主义”哲学世界观有以下四个方面的四大思想价值:一是“物道主义”超越了人类中心主义的“人道主义”思想文化框架;二是“物道主义”创立了全新的哲学理念,即“物道主义逻辑”;三是“物道主义”统合、统摄、发展了古今中外一切合理思想的基本原则;四是“物道主义”呈现和期许了“物种文明”的生活理想。这些思想价值对当前全球化背景下弘扬和培育中华民族精神也具有一定的借鉴和启发意义。

Analysis of Children Characters in Charles Dickens' Novel

Dickens' works not only exposes the hypo crisy, greedy, turpitude upper-class society and bourgeoisies atrocity to public in Britian of the 19th century, but also shows the lower classes' miserable situation with deep simpathy and indignation, especially children. This essay briefly introduces the Dickens life experience and his works. And based on it, analyses the children charaters and formation of his humanitarianism.

Inspiration of the functional localization of a US naval hospital ship on a Chinese hospital ship

Through the experience of being stationed on the USS Mercy hospital ship(T-AH19) and a preliminary comprehension of the personnel and material arrangements,processing and functional formats,and the multi-platform contributions of US Navy hospital ships,we briefly introduce the characteristics of US hospital ships regarding medical support,emergency rescue exercises,communications and training,international humanitarian aid,etc.We discuss the function and responsibility of Chinese hospital ships,focusing on the investigation of the construction mode and positioning in the navy.

The Nature of No-Fly Zones in International Relations

A No-Fly Zone (NFZ) is a unique mode of humanitarian intervention that is understudied in international relations. This article focuses on the politics of NFZs in international relations, and investigates their nature by empirically reviewing all three cases of NFZs to date. NFZs represent a middle ground for international intervention which, both legally and legitimately, may be aimed at either protecting populations or promoting regime change in weak states, depending on the circumstances. There may be efforts by intervening states to highlight humanitarian crises among certain targets in order to secure UN authorization for the NFZs;but the implementation of NFZs is also largely driven by the security interests of the enforcing states. As a result, there is the potential for those states implementing NFZs to transcend legal authorization and to at times use excessive force, with the potential for calamitous results for local people, or, in extreme cases, to accomplish regime change by supporting opposition parties in target states.

Humanitarian Intervention and International Law

During the last decade of the 20th century, there were nine humanitarian interventions: in Northern Iraq, Bosnia, Somalia, Rwanda, Haiti, Albania, Kosovo, East Timor, and Sierra Leone. Of the cases cited, the consent of the home government was obtained in five cases and two others had explicit Security Council authorization. However, two cases were carried out without consent of the government or authorization by the UN Security Council: Northern Iraq and Kosovo1. NATO bombing of FR Yugoslavia in 1999 received a particular attention and condemnation. Without UN Security Council’s resolution for that “air campaign”, there was justification that the action was about prevention of humanitarian catastrophe. This paper will attempt at identifying legal position of humanitarian intervention in international law;whether or not, and in what circumstances, it is safe to claim that there exists the right to humanitarian intervention. At the beginning of the 21st century, there has been extensive consideration of the “responsibility to protect” as a composite concept comprising the responsibilities to prevent humanitarian catastrophe, to react immediately when they do occur and to rebuild afterwards.2 Such an approach may be seen as an effort to redefine the principle of humanitarian intervention in a way that seeks to minimize the motives of the intervening powers. The paper also deals with the relation and differences between humanitarian intervention and “responsibility to protect” concept.

Epidemiology, Clinical Aspects and Management of Cleft Lip and/or Palate in Burkina Faso: A Humanitarian Pediatric Surgery-Based Study

Background: Cleft lip and/or palate are the most common orofacial malformations. Many studies, especially in developed countries have been conducted on this malformation, but in Burkina Faso, data are scarce and they are not specific to children. The aim of this study was to report the epidemiological, clinical and therapeutic aspects of cleft lip and/or palate in children in a low-income country. Materials and Method: The authors conducted a retrospective descriptive study based on data of three humanitarian missions of pediatric reconstructive facial surgery which took place in 2007, 2010 and 2014 at Clinique El Fateh-Suka in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso. All children of 0 - 14 years of age, presenting with cleft lip and/or palate, were included in the study. Results: A total of 185 cases of cleft lip and/or palate were seen during these three humanitarian surgery missions. There were 100 boys and 85 girls. The average age of the children was 2.4 ± 3.2 years [0 - 12 years];there were 8.7% newborns. The commonest type of cleft was cleft lip and palate (49.7%) followed by isolated cleft lip (48.7%) and isolated cleft palate (1.6%). The left side was the most affected (49.2%). In 21.1% of cases, clefts were associated with other congenital malformations. In total, 150 of 185 (81.1%) children underwent surgery and there were no postoperative complications reported. Conclusions: Epidemiological and clinical characteristics of cleft lip and/or palate observed in this study are not very different from those described elsewhere in Africa. However, in our conditions, there are circumstances and structural factors which hinder the diagnosis and constitute challenges that must be addressed for adequate management of this congenital, highly disfiguring malformation.

Is a Human Right to Democracy Justifiable？

In this article, I examine the view that there is a human right to democracy, and consider why we should regard this issue as decisive in solving the problems of foreign interference in the protection of human rights. I also note that there has been almost no discussion about the holder of the human right to democracy, that is, who is to hold this right. After comparing John Rawls＇ argument against the human right to democracy and Thomas Christiano＇s argument for it and showing similarities and critical differences among their arguments, I insist that we ought to be sensitive when proclaiming that democracy--be it a minimally egalitarian democracy or a more exacting one--is a universal value. We have sufficient cause to consider carefully not only the political circumstances but also the political infrastructure of the country before we proceed to an even limited intervention in the name of the protection of a human right to democracy. If the human right to democracy is not just a right to vote, but a right to the whole process of establishment and enjoyment of democracy, it should be understood as a group right that pertains to a human population that legitimately claims political self-determination. Any human population that insists on the democratic self-determination of their political will is both able and entitled to establish and administer democratic institutions, regardless of the diversity of its ascribed or cultural characteristics. The establishment of such a group with a firm political identity should be considered as the political infrastructure to claim and exercise the human right to democracy.

Framing Immigration in the Political and Public Agenda： The Role of Media Logic and News Hypes

In a commercialized and fragment media market where crisis and humanitarian interventions are big news that sells, how do politicians and the public respond to them？ Bearing in mind that immigration is a phenomenon with a growing presence in society and increasingly politicized, this paper explores an important and persistent question regarding the role of news media in affecting policy decisions, particularly during times of crisis （Paletz, 1998）, transference of the issue and the media frames occurs. Having taken into account the agenda building paradigm and the concept of flame （Entman, 1993; Snow ＆ Benford, 1988）, the topic of immigration is analyzed in the Spanish main newspapers （El Pais ＆ El Mundo） and in the political interventions （Parliamentary Debates）. In order to implement this extraction and framing analysis, the associative method is adopted. The assaults of Ceuta and Melilla （2005） and the Canarias crisis （2006） are taken as the cases of study. The findings of this research highlight that moments of humanitarian crisis and key newsworthy events related to African immigrants increase the media＇s power to introduce the issue of immigration and to have influence on the frames used in the political and public agenda.

Invariance in the Seasonal Median Dates for Mono-Modal Monsoonal Rainfall Distribution over the Semi-Arid Ecotone of Sub-Saharan West Africa

Seasonal distribution of mono-modal, monsoonal rainfall across the semi-arid ecotone of sub-Saharan of West Africa is highly variable and unpredictable. The ever-present risk of drought and crop failure in this environment often results in food shortages that are met by emergency food aid. Humanitarian assistance planners would be better prepared for such interventions in a timely manner if they have reliable indicators that forewarn the impending failure of the rains. A good indicator would be a characteristic of the seasonal rainfall distribution that can be shown to be reasonably invariant over time and space. The objective of this study is to investigate whether such invariance existed for the seasonal median date (meaning the date when 50% of the seasonal total occurs). Such invariance is expected since the sun’s cyclic declination forces the advance and retreat of the Inter-tropical Front over West Africa. We examined the statistical properties of the seasonal median date for 1349 station-years of rainfall records for 30 rainfall stations in Burkina Faso and Niger with coordinates ranging from 9.88° to 18.5° north latitude and -4.77° to 13.2° longitude. The results showed that the median date was quite narrowly distributed over years with rather weak dependence on geographical coordinates. It can therefore be used as a reasonable ex-ante indicator of the success or failure of the rains as the rainy season progress.

Two Divergent Cases of Protracted Humanitarian Aid Operations:The World Bank and UNRWA(1949-2017)

The refugee convention of 1951^1 defined a refugee as“someone who is unable or unwilling to return to their country of origin owing to the well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race,religion,nationality membership in particular social group,or political opinion.”The convention also lays down basic minimum standards for the treatment of refugees,without prejudice to States granting more favorable treatment to refugees.Such rights include access to courts,to primary education,to work,and the provision for documentation,including refugee travel documents in passport forms”.None of these conditions have been applied to the Palestinian refugees.Following Israel’s war of independence in 1948-49,about 800,000 Palestinians became refugees mainly in Jordan,Syria,Lebanon,and Egypt,where their descendants still live.UNRWA was created in 1949 as a“fire extinguisher”to provide the refugees in these four States with short-term survival assistance.UNRWA’s original mandate was for three years,assuming that the refugees will soon be absorbed by the countries of their refuge.This hope never materialized,and almost 70 years later,the third and fourth generation of Palestinians are still being considered by UNRWA as“refugees”.Our research shows that flows in UNRWA’s working principles have resulted in the prolonging of the problem,and the hindering of its resolution.A comparison with the World Bank’s assistance programs proves that UNRWA’s programs are clearly part of the problem and not part of the solution.

The United States and Libya： The Contradictions of Intervention and Disengagement

This paper deals with US-Libya relations in the context of the Arab Spring. The US foreign policy and its contradictions both in Libya and the Arab World are critically examined. The specific international relations issue in question is that of intervention based on the principle of the Responsibility to Protect （R2P）. The paper sheds light on how this principle was applied to justify the US and North Atlantic Treaty Organization （NATO） military intervention in Libya in 2011 and argues that despite the noble aim of getting rid of a nasty dictator like Muammar Gaddafi, the R2P was actually abused for the interests of the intervening powers. The US tried to ＂hit two birds with a single stone＂： getting rid of Gaddafi and supportive of simultaneous of the Libyan people and their long yearning for democracy. However, the results provide a testimony that discredits the primacy of any noble assertions since the intervention has actually undermined the genuine popular uprising in Libya.

Setting Regional Research Priorities for Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights Services in Humanitarian Settings

Background: Despite increased recognition of the need for sexual and reproductive health and rights in humanitarian settings, evidence focusing on mainstreaming reproductive health services such as maternal, neonatal mortality, human immunodeficiency virus transmission and unsafe abortion still remains inadequate. The ability to understand the magnitude of the needs and highlight existing gaps is supported by improved data which is critical to informing effective policies, programming and funding decisions. The purpose of this report is to present the results of a research prioritization exercise on sexual and reproductive health and rights services in humanitarian settings for the WHO Africa region for the next three years. Methods: We adapted the Child Health and Nutrition Research Initiative method in three phases. Experts from the region participated in an online survey to identify key areas for research in sexual and reproductive health and rights. To identify potential areas for research, the experts ensured answerability, effectiveness, deliverability, equity and potential impact of the questions. The research areas they identified were reviewed by World Health Organization technical team from headquarters. In a meeting of 67 participants, the questions were subjected to further review and analysis. Using a modified for scoring criteria, the questions were scored and ranked to provide the top ten priority questions to address sexual and reproductive health and rights services in humanitarian settings. Results: A list of 21 priority research questions on sexual and reproductive health and rights services in humanitarian settings were scored and ranked. Top ten priorities research questions were identified. Those that scored highly by scoring 30 points out of the possible maximum of 30 include: “determining the prevalence and associated factors of unwanted pregnancies and abortions performed in emergency and humanitarian settings”, “evidence on gender-based violence in humanitarian situations and its associated factors” and “defining an optimal model for coordinating sexual and reproductive health and rights interventions and responses in crisis situations”. Conclusions: Top ten research priorities in sexual and reproductive health and rights services in humanitarian settings were identified. The priority research areas have the potential to identify the best areas for programming of services in humanitarian settings. It is our hope that the identified research areas will be prioritized to support programming of services in humanitarian settings based on scientific evidence.