First
Culture is the values, morals and beliefs of a society. Stemming from the society’s culture is
their ethics that are justifiable by their culture. Their ethics drives societies laws, policies
and governance. Cultural ethics are the identity of a community. It is important that the
international and humanitarian responders that provide assistance to communities after
disaster to understand and value the impacted communities cultural ethics. It is important
because to give effective and successful aid to an impacted population, a responder will
have to understand basic cultural concepts. For example, in eastern Africa during the Ebola
crisis, health responders received a lot of pushback and distrust from the impacted
community because public health measures did not align with the community’s culture. As
part of both the Christian and Muslim community, it was tradition to wash the dead and
prepare them for burial. Public health workers found that during this ceremony, the
community was coming in direct contact with the patient who died from Ebola. Therefore
they were becoming infected. The international aid workers tried to explain the dangers of
the disease and how it was safer to remove the dead in a body bag but the community
would not listen. Their beliefs of how to properly bury their dead run so deep that they
wouldn’t consider any other ritual. Health officials reached out to community religious
leaders for assistance and advice, which ultimately the religious found historical context in
their holy book of how alternatively to bury a body with a communicable disease by
praying over it and not washing the body. With this advice, new measures were taken by
the African governments and humanitarian organization to safely bury a body with respect
to the community’s culture (Maxmen, 2015). By the humanitarian responders actively
seeking out measures that respected the cultural ethics of the community but still provided
the assistance necessary for preventing the spread of disease, many lives are saved. That is
why it is important to understand and value the cultural ethics of a community as they
relate to humanitarian/international disasters.
Similarly, it is important that responders conduct themselves ethically as well because
it will establish a trusting relationship between the international/humanitarian responders
and the impacted community. From the example given above, the responders were
entering impacted community in full HAZMAT suits treating the situation only as a health
issue (Maxmen, 2015). The responders were delivering ebola education packets and telling
the community of what to-do and not to-do. There was little to no communication of the
community’s culture taken into account of delivering the assistance. This lack of
communication as well as few responders to handle the amount of patient’s and a history of
distrust with the government lead to conspiracy theories that the responders and doctors
were killing the patients and stealing their organs (Maxmen, 2015). By addressing this
distrust, humanitarian aid organizations received help from religious leaders who advised
the responders how to be more respectful. This lead to responders to allow ceremony
burials with the family present to pray but at a distance to prevent the spread of disease
(Maxmen, 2015). By addressing the culture differences and changing the way humanitarian
responders provided aid, trust was able to build between the responders and the impacted
community so assistance could be given more efficiently and successfully.
To ensure successful assistance to an impacted community, resources have to be
distributed ethically as well. For example, there are cultures that women cannot receive
medical treatment unless it is from a female provider. In this case, humanitarian
organizations will need to ensure they have a female health provider on staff, preferably
enough female health providers to meet the capacity of females in the impacted community
(Lensu, 2003). Another example would be to distribute food that aligns with their cultural
needs, such as many Muslims do not eat pork therefore if humanitarian providers
distributed pork to the population then many individuals would find themselves in a
“starve or violate their culture” predicament. This would prove the humanitarian aid
unsuccessful in helping the impacted community (Lensu, 2003).
For humanitarian and international assistance to be effective and successful, it is absolutely
critical that responders understand the cultural ethics of the impacted community and
conduct their assistance that is respectful to the community.
References:
Lensu, Maria. (2003). Respect for culture and customs in international humanitarian
assistance. Implications for principles and policy. Retrieved from:
http://etheses.lse.ac.uk/2894/1/U615845.pdf
Maxmen, Amy. (January 2015). How the fight against Ebola tested a culture’s traditions.
National Geographic. Retrieved from:
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/news/2015/01/150130-ebola-virus-outbreakepidemic-sierra-leone-funerals/
Second
Understanding cultural ethics has multiple importances to humanitarians disasters.
First and foremost, it helps the humanitarians provide help to victims of calamities. People
from different cultures have unique needs and vulnerabilities. Kapur and Smith (2010)
assert that culture determines the vulnerable people in a population. For instance, one of
the vulnerable groups, old people differs from one culture to another. In some culture, a
person is considered old when he/she can no longer provide for their livelihood. Therefore,
the kind of vulnerable people that the humanitarians need to focus on during crises
responses may differ. Failure to understand this culture can bring problems in the
provision of help. Nevertheless, respecting and valuing people's culture can ease
humanitarians work and foster cooperation (Kapur & Smith, 2010). Besides, determining
the vulnerables, understanding cultural ethic can as well aid the responders to
communicate with the victims and meet their needs effectively.
Comprehending cultural ethics likewise eliminate cultural barriers to accessing
help. Certain cultures pose obstacles to some people. In most culture, admitting that one
has psychological problems is considered a sign of weakness, especially for men. Kapur and
Smith, (2010) agree that this hinders victims of crises from getting mental help which is
essential as during disaster people acquire stress and PTSD. These are issues that need to
be resolved for the victims of the disaster to recover. Also, the definition of old people in
various cultures can prevent valid vulnerable old people from getting vital services. Such
people require special attention and immediate medical attention. However, if a culture
considers someone who is regarded as aged by the UN otherwise, it prevents them from
getting the best support. According to the UN, a person of age 60 and above is old, whether
one is still physically strong or not.
Additionally, respondents should conduct themselves ethically. They need to
respect the human right of equality between women and men. They should ensure there is
equitable distribution of resources and assistance to women, men, boys, and girls. This
includes their abilities to make their own choices. Lowrie (2003) points out that the
respondents also need to observe the universal ethical principles and professional
standards. This constitutes provision of health service; they need to demonstrate utmost
competencies. It is to promote the well- being of the victims. The respondents also need to
respect the wishes of people, maintain confidentially, and get informed contest from
victims. This applies even one requires an immediate response. They need to get consent
before conducting any medical procedure according to the medical code of ethics.
Confidentiality, on the other hand, involves ensuring that sensitive medical data such as
HIV/AIDS status of a person is protected (Kapur & Smith, 2010). Absence of confidentiality
can affect these people and their families as they are mostly discriminated.
References
Kapur, G. B., & Smith, J. P. (2010). Emergency public health: Preparedness and response.
Jones & Bartlett Publishers.
Lowrie, S. (2003). Reflections on the Humanitarian Charter.
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