Martin Barber was a senior UN official and has extensive experience in humanitarian affairs and peace operations both at UN headquarters and in the field. He served as Director of the United Nations Mine Action Service (UNMAS) at UN headquarters in New York from 2000 until his retirement from the UN in 2005. Previously, he was chief of policy development and advocacy in the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).
From 1996 to 1998, Barber was Deputy Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General in the UN Mission in Bosnia and Herzegovina (UNMIBH), Sarajevo. From 1989 to 1996, he worked with the UN Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Assistance to Afghanistan (UNOCHA) in Islamabad, Pakistan, serving as UN Humanitarian Coordinator for Afghanistan in 1995 to 1996. From 1975 to 1982 he served with the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Laos and Thailand. Between 1982 and 1989, he was Director of the British Refugee Council, London. From 2010 to 2013, he served as Senior Adviser in the Office for the Coordination of Foreign Aid in the government of the United Arab Emirates.
Barber is now a consultant and analyst working on humanitarian issues. He holds a doctorate in Southeast Asian Sociology from the University of Hull and is an Honorary Fellow of the University of Edinburgh. In 2006, he was made an OBE for services to de-mining.
Blinded by Humanity is an engaging examination of the UNs efforts to accomplish its humanitarian aims and political goals, which at times may seem at cross purposes. Martin Barbers wide experience and frank analysis will interest UN watchers and humanitarian activists alike because it provides valuable insights on how to make the UN a more effective instrument for peace, security and human rights.
Kofi Annan, former Secretary-General of the United Nations
Sometimes understanding humanitarian work and the workings of the UN seems insurmountably complex. Martin Barbers book is an essential tool to break through the complexities and understand various aspects of humanitarian assistance and the UN.
Jody Williams, Winner, with the International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL), of the Nobel Peace Prize, 1997
Every humanitarian, and new recruit to the UN, would benefit from reading (this book).
Lord Malloch-Brown, former Deputy Secretary-General of the UN and Administrator of the UN Development Programme (UNDP)
Humanitarian efforts are too often dominated either by academics with no practical experience or practitioners unguided by research. Martin Barber has managed to combine the two in this valuable merger of real-life experience and knowledge.
Jan Egeland, Secretary General of the Norwegian Refugee Council and former Emergency Relief Coordinator
A fascinating read that will be of great interest to all those concerned with how the UN and the UN system actually work.
Mats Berdal, Professor of Security and Development, Kings College London
Blinded by H u ma n ity
Inside the UNs Humanitarian Operations
Martin Barber
New paperback edition published in 2016 by
I.B.Tauris & Co Ltd
London New York
www.ibtauris.com
First published in hardback in 2015 by I.B.Tauris & Co. Ltd
Copyright 2015, 2016 Martin Barber
Copyright foreword 2015 Lord Malloch-Brown
The right of Martin Barber to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. Except for brief quotations in a review, this book, or any part thereof, may not be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher.
Every attempt has been made to gain permission for the use of the images in this book. Any omissions will be rectified in future editions.
References to websites were correct at the time of writing.
ISBN: 978 1 78453 623 7
eISBN: 978 0 85773 806 6
A full CIP record for this book is available from the British Library
A full CIP record is available from the Library of Congress
Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: available
Typeset by Saxon Graphics Ltd., Derby
Contents
For William and Tom
Figures
Map of Lao Peoples Democratic Republic.
Map of Thailand.
Map of Afghanistan.
UN aircraft flying humanitarian workers to Afghanistan, 1996.
Map of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Model of new licence plates introduced in Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1998 using nine letters common to the Latin and Cyrillic alphabets.
Landmines come in many shapes and sizes.
First annual report of the UAEs foreign aid, issued by the UAEs Office for the Coordination of Foreign Aid (OCFA) in 2009.
Plates
Teams representing local Buddhist temples compete in the annual boat races in Luang Prabang, Laos, 1969. Author photo.
Luang Prabang celebrates Lao New Year, April 1970. Author photo.
A temple in Luang Prabang, 1970. Author photo.
Luang Prabang airport, 1970. Author photo.
Camp for Cambodian refugees in Thailand aerial view of Khao-I-Dang camp, 1983.
Boat people from Vietnam being rescued in South China Sea, September 1987. Photo courtesy of UNHCR/Mdecins du Monde/P. Deloche.
Hmong refugees from Laos resettled in California, USA, 1984. Photo courtesy of UNHCR/L Gubb.
Afghan refugee returning home from Pakistan, 2002. Photo courtesy of UNHCR/P. Benetar.
New Afghan refugees at Roghani camp near Chaman in Pakistan, December 2001 (Also cover photo). Photo courtesy of United Nations/Luke Powell.
UN High Commissioner for Refugees Sadruddin Aga Khan and his wife Princess Catherine visit Lao people displaced by the war being resettled in the Plain of Jars, September 1975. Photo courtesy of UNHCR/J. Becket.
UN Coordinator Sadruddin Aga Khan leads high-level delegation to Afghanistan and Pakistan Islamabad, October 1990. (lr: author; Benon Sevan, Personal Representative of the Secretary-General; James Ingram, Executive Director, WFP; Thorvald Stoltenberg, UN High Commissioner for Refugees; Sadruddin; President of Pakistan, Ghulam Ishaq Khan, and Foreign Minister, Sahabzada Yaqub Ali Khan.) Author photo.
Bosnia and Herzegovina destruction in Derventa region, 1998. Photo courtesy of UNHCR/A. Hollmann.
Bomb destroys part of UN headquarters in Baghdad, killing UN Special Representative Sergio Vieira de Mello and 21 others, 19 August 2003. Photo courtesy of United Nations/AP photo.
Unexploded ordnance awaiting destruction in Laos. Photo courtesy of Ian Mansfield.
Mine detection dog and handler in Afghanistan. Photo courtesy of MDC Kabul.
Princess Diana visits UN Mine Action Coordination Centre in Sarajevo, with UN Programme Manager JJ van der Merwe, 17 August 1997. Photo by permission of AP.
A de-miner in Lebanon uses a detector to locate hidden mines or bombs. Photo courtesy of Sean Sutton/MAG.
The author bids farewell to Secretary-General Kofi Annan upon retirement from the UN, 2 August 2005. Photo courtesy of United Nations/Eakinder Debebe.
There are several people, no longer alive, who I wish could read this book, and who, in one way or another, have helped me to write it. The first of these was my father, Philip, who showed me that life is more fulfilling if you are ready to question received wisdom. I hope he would have enjoyed reading this. Then come those whose lives were cut short by accident, illness or terrorism and who have influenced the way I think and work. These include Jacques Cunod, Darryl Han, Sergio Vieira de Mello, Jacques Mouchet and Sadruddin Aga Khan. I am glad that David Lockwood who played a major part in the events described in Chapter 4, was able to read and comment on the manuscript before his death in January 2012.
