Sharing the Front Line and the Back Hills: International Protectors and Providers - Peacekeepers, Humanitarian Aid Workers and the Media in the Midst of Crisis - Hardcover

Danieli, Yael

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0895032635 ISBN 13: 9780895032638

Publisher: Routledge, 2001

Synopsis

"Sharing the Front Line and the Back Hills" points to a crisis facing international institutions and the media who seek to alleviate and report human suffering throughout the world. The goals of the editor are to tell the story of thousands of individuals dedicated to helping others; and to integrate issues of protection and care into all levels of planning, implementing and evaluating international intervention and action. The book identifies approaches that have proven useful and explores and suggests future directions.

About this title

About the Author

Yael Danieli

From the Inside Flap

"Sometimes on the evening news, we catch a glimpse of humanitarian workers tackling some new nightmare somewhere in the world. Most of us have very little idea of what their lives are like, what their feelings are, or what it takes to deal, day after day, with horror and abject misery. We have no idea what the toll is on their peace of mind and well being. Yael Danieli's book breaks the customary silence about the lives and thoughts of that brave, public-spirited, and selfless band who set out to succor the world's most helpless people. This is a great and long overdue service to these noble citizens of the world, and hopefully also a wake-up call to the international community."
Sir Brian Urquhart, Former Under-Secretary General of the United Nations

"My beloved brother, Raoul Wallenberg, is one of the brave individuals who as citizens of the world have dedicated themselves to helping others. He did so at great risk to his own life, and was taken prisoner in Russia more than 55 years ago. His message can serve as inspiration to younger generations, such as the authors and the readers of this book, that one person can make a difference."
Nina Lagergren

"This is a vital and timely book. It takes the reader on a journey into a landscape of agonizing memory and painful reflection. In the slowly expanding canon of literature about the psychological cost of war, this book deserves to occupy a towering position."
Fergal Keane, Special Correspondent with BBC News, and author of' Season of Blood - A Rwandan Journey

"I have just completed ten years as UN High Commissioner for Refugees. While I am gratified that UNHCR has been able to save millions of lives and has contributed to easing suffering, I must emphasize the incredible odds and hardship that my colleagues have had to face. Protecting refugees means being with them in some of the most isolated and dangerous places on Earth. This book tells the stories of brave individuals who have dedicated themselves to helping others sometimes at the cost of their own lives. It also reflects the serious dilemmas faced in safeguarding maximum security of staff while also ensuring maximum effectiveness of missions. Above all, it appeals for strong support from the international community to end wars and to shield both victims and those who protect and provide for them, both refugees and refugee workers."
Sadako Ogata, Former UN High Commissioner for Refugees

"Much media coverage is given to the many disaster and conflict areas in the world which lead to human suffering and misery. Far too little interest is given to those who often at great personal sacrifice devote their efforts towards bringing help, assistance and support to the victims of such tragedies often in particularly hostile and dangerous situations. Yael Danieli's book not only draws attention to their devotion and courage but also insists on measures that should be taken so that they can achieve their objectives in the more protected environment they deserve. We owe it to them to read this excellent and compelling work."
Raymond E. Kendall, Former Secretary General of Interpol

"The Universal Declaration of Human Rights speaks of the "disregard and contempt for human rights which have resulted in barbarous acts that outrage the conscience of mankind," emphasizing the gap between the shared hopes of humanity and the daily reality for so many victims of human rights violations. It is this gap that peacekeepers, humanitarian workers, human rights officials, journalists, volunteers and others strive to bridge. Sharing the Front Line and the Back Hills tells their story, bringing together personal and professional experiences, explaining their work and the pressures they confront, giving a human face to the suffering they seek to address. It is an important book that should be read and acted upon."
Mary Robinson, High Commissioner for Human Rights

"At the end of the day it all comes down to single individuals: their courage, their fears, their sufferings, their dreams and their choices. Whether a victim or a culprit, a bystander or an intervener we cannot escape the individual responsibility for what we do or do not do. I see biographies as the front line of history, which to me is only a byproduct. Byproducts are necessarily the result of manipulation. What happens in the front line is the real thing. This book is about the real thing."
Giandomenico Picco, Former UN Hostage negotiator

"My mother died in January 2001 in a helicopter crash in Mongolia while on mission for the UN's Office of Coordination and Humanitarian Affairs. My mother left us much too early. She had so much more to give, so much more to receive, so much more to become. This book is a tribute to her, and to many like her, who have given their lives to help those in need."
Sarah Strack, 17, daughter of Sabine Metzner-Strack

"This is a very important book because in it we hear the voices of people directly engaged in the often dangerous activities of peacekeeping and of alleviating human suffering. We learn much about the psychological costs, but also about courage and about providing better means of individual and collective support for those committed to such invaluable expressions of humanity."
Robert Jay Lifton, M.D., Department of Psychiatry and the Carr Center for Human Rights, Harvard Medical School

"Sharing the Front Line and the Back Hills is a unique and well-balanced compilation of firsthand accounts of those brave individuals who are on the front lines in the atrocity zones providing humanitarian relief and reporting mass crimes. The wide range of experiences recorded in this book provides a reality check for policy-makers and for those who may think that humanitarian work can be undertaken without personal cost. This is must reading for everyone deploying to the field to alleviate and report human suffering, and for government officials who need to understand what is truly at stake."
David Scheffer, former U.S. Ambassador at Large for War Crimes Issues

"There is nothing quite like this book. I found it very timely, very refreshing, and very relevant for my work in member care/human resource development. I believe you will too. One of the most helpful aspects of the book is the "Voices" sections that are interlaced throughout the chapters. These are short accounts of personnel describing their pains and joys as they live and work in crisis settings. These "Voices" validate what so many of us and our colleagues have experienced in such settings. I highly commend Danieli's book. I already refer to it often as I teach and write."
Dr. Kelly O'Donnell, Consulting Psychologist, Geneva, Switzerland

Edition details

• Publisher: Routledge
• Publication date: 2001
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0895032635
• ISBN 13: 9780895032638
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 444