GC: n

S: UN – http://www.un.org/press/en/2014/sc11544.doc.htm (last access: 11 October 2015); Reliefweb – http://reliefweb.int/report/world/safety-and-security-humanitarian-personnel-and-protection-united-nations-personnel-8 (last access: 11 October 2015).

N: 1. – humanitarian (adj): As a noun by 1794 in the theological sense “one who affirms the humanity of Christ but denies his pre-existence and divinity,” from humanity + suffix from unitarian, etc.; see humanism. Meaning “philanthropist, one who advocates or practices human action to solve social problems” is from 1842, originally disparaging, with a suggestion of excess.
As an adjective by 1834 in the theological sense “affirming the humanity or human nature of Christ;” by 1855 as “having regard for the broad interests of humanity.”

– personnel (n): 1837, “body of persons engaged in any service,” from French personnel (originally military, a contrastive term to matériel), noun use of personnel (adj.) “personal,” from Old French personel (see “personal”).

2. In recent years, the number of people employed by humanitarian organizations who have been attacked or killed while working in conflict zones has risen drastically. Such injuries and deaths are unfortunately nothing new, and the fact remains that humanitarian personnel working in a war situation must be prepared to face certain risks. However, although these organizations still manage to perform considerable work in most conflict situations, the multiplication of serious security incidents, the ultimate consequence of which is to block assistance activities or force humanitarian organizations to withdraw unilaterally from the operation, has prompted them to question the means used to date to ensure the safety of their personnel.

3. Many Red Cross and Red Crescent employees have died in the last few years during operations in, for example, Somalia, Burundi and Congo, and the single incident in Chechnya in December 1996 claimed the lives of six National Society staff working there in the framework of the ICRC operation.
Most of the major humanitarian agencies have been affected by this phenomenon, as borne out for example by the killing in Rwanda of three employees of Médecins du Monde and five members of the United Nations human rights mission of observation.

S: 1. Etymonline – https://www.etymonline.com/search?q=humanitarian+personnel (last access: 7 May 2024). 2&3. ICRC – https://www.icrc.org/eng/resources/documents/misc/57jp85.htm (last access: 11 October 2015).

SYN:
S:

CR: humanitarian, humanitarian action, humanitarian intervention.