Humanitarian Action: The Global Mental Health Perspectives

Humanitarian agencies aid millions of people in need, and global mental health (GMH) professionals play an increasingly important role in supporting and advancing the humanitarian agenda. When responding to humanitarian crises, mental health (MH) providers join a larger system of multidisciplinary humanitarian action united by a common goal of saving lives and alleviating suffering. In contrast to individual and spontaneous acts of kindness, humanitarian work is an organized and coordinated helping activity that brings together international and local organizations and actors. The chapter offers insight into the evolutionary, spiritual, and cultural roots of helping behavior. It orients MH professionals to the history, theory, and practice of humanitarianism, as well as the contemporary trends and challenges that humanitarian action faces. Over the past several decades, the humanitarian sector has grown, diversified, and become an industry striding toward improving the effectiveness of aid delivery, and increasing professionalization and accountability. Concerns over the well-being of aid workers, controversies surrounding military humanitarians, and the politicization and misuse of humanitarian aid demonstrate the complexity of the changing humanitarian landscape. Amid reports of unethical practices committed by international aid workers, the international humanitarian community developed regulations and asserted commitment to humanitarian principles, professional integrity, and ethical standards.