Q&A -The politics of humanity: the reality of relief aid
Channel: ODI
Date: 2013-03-21

Questions and answers after the discussion at the event - The politics of humanity: the reality of relief aid - which sees Sir John Holmes discuss - 'The Politics of Humanity' -- his account of his three years three years as the UN's Emergency Relief Coordinator (ERC), which provides an insight into some of the most challenging humanitarian crises of that period and the international response to them. Among them the plight of civilians caught up in brutal civil wars including the final stages of the conflict in Sri Lanka, the difficulties for humanitarians operating in areas viewed by the West through the lens of the 'war on terror' and negotiating with some of the world's most intransigent regimes. 

In conversation with the BBC's Mike Wooldridge, John Holmes will be covering some of the most controversial episodes of his tenure as ERC and the morally complex choices confronting those responsible for the provision of humanitarian aid to people in need of assistance and protection.