How I lost faith in the humanitarian system - Khaled Mansour : Shared by Angela Raven-Roberts

Greetings all. 

I am sure this statement from a very respected and well known colleague to many people, comes as a very sobering reflection that resonates with many in various shades of meaning: 

"One cannot celebrate humanity and the organisations that work on aid when both are largely paralysed in the face of a genocide that has been unfolding for almost two years." (Khaled Mansour, New Humanitarian). 

It may be good to reflect, ourselves, on what new advocacy can really rest on on/build on, in the future, in the aftermath of both Gaza and now Sudan, the new inconvenient silent disaster. 

 Above all what are we learning from the huge groundswell for social justice, for protection for rights, that DOES exist across the world, manifest in the many demonstrations, protests, demands for change etc? How to narrow the gap between the caller and the listener and what does re-imagined humanity mean? 

Angela

From 9/11 to Gaza: How I lost faith in the humanitarian system 

Khaled Mansour, The New Humanitarian

27 October 2025. Click here for the article

Summary
A former UN spokesperson traces how, after 9/11, aid and international law were steadily subordinated to military and political agendas, eroding humanitarian neutrality. He recalls surviving the 2003 Canal Hotel bombing in Baghdad and describes how perceptions of aid as aligned with Western power made humanitarians a target. He argues that Gaza crystallises this two-decade drift: UN agencies have been defunded or besieged, legal norms shredded, and the system’s dependence on Western capitals laid bare. Citing soaring aid-worker casualties and political attacks on institutions like the ICC and UNRWA, he contends humanitarianism is at an inflection point—likely entering an era of atrophy unless deep reform occurs. He no longer attends World Humanitarian Day, saying the system has metamorphosed into something he cannot celebrate. (The New Humanitarian)

Quotes
“The Israeli revenge war has become a watershed, but it is by no means some sudden new trend.” (The New Humanitarian)
“Over the last two years, this whole rickety humanitarian structure and its shaky underpinnings have come unglued.” (The New Humanitarian)
“One cannot celebrate humanity and the organisations that work on aid when both are largely paralysed in the face of a genocide.” (The New Humanitarian)