It is precisely this capacity building element that is often missing in the planning and implementation of security support to humanitarian operations. Let me conclude by saying that we remain realistic in our expectations. Mobilizing security resources in support of humanitarian action will continue to be difficult. What we request from governments, though, is to go beyond the very understandable, but rather short-sighted consideration that soldiers losing their lives in support of humanitarian action in far away countries will cause political damage at home. Let us not forget that globalization is not limited to the economic sphere.
Humanitarian crises are almost invariably a result of conflicts.
As such, exactly like financial crises, they are no longer limited to one country, nor even to a region. Their potential for spreading insecurity is very real, as the crises in former Yugoslavia and Central Africa have shown in recent years. Intervening to bring protection and relief to the victims is of course a moral issue at its core, but can also have a strategic value in preserving regional and global stability.