ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the difficulties of organisational positioning for international aid workers and UN peacekeepers operating as third parties in the midst of war. The chapter begins by identifying the essential problem of organisational positioning as that of locating humanitarian values within a context of organised inhumanity. The chapter looks briefly at the morale implications for UN soldiers and relief workers of operating as non-combatant third parties in war. The chapter also explores organisational positioning by examining the current usage of the terms humanity, neutrality, impartiality, solidarity and consent. Humanitarianism traditionally describes its position with the three key terms of 'humanity', 'neutrality' and 'impartiality'. For the sake of the credibility of the important principles, a UN force or relief agency must seek to clarify the humanitarian terms it uses and the principles to which they refer. The chapter emphasises the responsibility on any third-party organisation to be transparent in its position and to preserve rather than distort traditional humanitarian principles.
