UN: Civilian's needs to guide humanitarian aid efforts

by Xinhua writers Bai Jie, Gu Zhenqiu, Wang
Xiangjiang

UNITED NATIONS, May 4 (Xinhua) -- UN humanitarian
chief John Holmes said here on Monday that civilian's needs are the only thing
which guided the world body's efforts in dealing with a humanitarian crisis.

"The basic principles we operate on are the classic
humanitarian principles of independence, neutrality, impartiality, and
humanity," said Holmes, the UN under-secretary-general for humanitarian affairs,
in an exclusive interview with Xinhua.

"It means we are responding entirely to people's
needs. We don't care who those people are, what political party they come from,
what side of a conflict they're on, what religion they are ... these are
absolutely irrelevant," he said.

"The only question which guides us is their
humanitarian needs when they're suffering," said Holmes, who is also UN
emergency relief coordinator leading the Office for the Coordination of
Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).

Highlighting that civilians need help on a totally
neutral and impartial basis, Holmes said the UN agency has "nothing to pursue
politically" when addressing a humanitarian crisis.

"We are simply trying to act as humanitarian,
impartial actors with UN agencies, nongovernmental organizations and the Red
Cross and Red Crescent Movement," said the under-secretary-general, citing the
Chinese Red Cross Society as an example that he saw during his two-day trip to
China in late April.

"I was able to see in Beijing the Chinese Red Cross
Society, which is a huge and influential and effective organization, operating
on that basis ... we will respond on the basis of those needs wherever they are,
whoever the people are on the best basis we can," he said.

Talking about the priorities of the UN humanitarian
operation, Holmes said there are "very many," including conflicts areas like
Sudan, Sri Lanka, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Chad and others which he has
frequently visited.

Preventing and reducing the negative effects of
natural disasters is another issue high on the agenda of the
under-secretary-general.

"There is a huge challenge in the future, which is
dealing with natural disasters," he said, adding there are an increasing number
of natural disasters coming from climate change.

He called for better preparation to respond to the
disasters with more emphasis on trying to reduce the impact of disasters before
they happen, such as anticipating where they're going to happen, what that means
in terms of where people should live, how they should behave, what kinds of
measures should be put in place so that countries can reduce the loss of life
and damage to property.

"That's a better investment than just responding to
the event," he said.

Holmes was appointed as the under-secretary-general
by UN Secretary-general Ban Ki-moon on March 1, 2007, after he left the office
of former British ambassador to France. He was awarded a knighthood in 1999,
primarily for his role in the Northern Ireland peace process and the Good Friday
Agreement.