ALTERNATIVES HUMANITAIRES

The document examines the evolution of humanitarian communication, focusing on the tension between emotional storytelling and technical data. It analyzes the impact of generative AI on the authenticity of testimonies and images, the risks of 'infoglut' and fake news in conflict zones, and the intersectional vulnerabilities of women and LGBTQIA+ individuals facing climate change, specifically in Kenya.

• Humanitarian communication has evolved from 1970s journalistic support to 1980s sensationalism, 1990s professionalization of public relations, and the 2000s rise of social media, which allowed NGOs to become their own media outlets.
• The phenomenon of 'infoglut' (information overload) on digital platforms drowns out contextual updates on crises, leading to a decline in public interest and government disengagement, which directly affects displaced populations in countries such as Cameroon, Ethiopia, and Mozambique.
• Humanitarian NGOs are increasingly targeted by disinformation campaigns that undermine their neutrality and credibility, such as the 2017 Rohingya crisis in Myanmar where they were portrayed as instruments of 'Western policies'.
• Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) utilizes 'témoignage' (bearing witness) as a political act and a core part of its identity, though it faces internal tensions regarding the attribution of responsibility for attacks in Syria, Yemen, and Gaza.
• The use of 'killer facts'—simple, memorable statistics—in advocacy provides an aura of scientific legitimacy but can lead to the oversimplification of complex human needs and the erasure of socio-cultural realities.
• Generative AI risks perpetuating 'white saviour' and 'passive victim' stereotypes because it relies on non-neutral databases that reflect historical and colonial biases.
• The use of AI-generated images in humanitarian contexts creates a normative dilemma: they can represent a reality without exposing vulnerable individuals, but they risk eroding public trust in authentic photography.
• Climate change disproportionately affects women and LGBTQIA+ individuals due to pre-existing social inequalities, including limited access to education, property rights, and decision-making power.
• In Bangladesh, the acceleration of climate disasters and their economic impact on families has increased the risk of forced marriage for young girls.
• Kenya is currently experiencing its worst water crisis in forty years, with 80% of the national territory being arid or semi-arid, compromising the food security of over four million people.

APA

Peace Research Institute Oslo (2025). ALTERNATIVES HUMANITAIRES. https://cdn.cloud.prio.org/files/f7d0f722-e7b4-4c97-a332-26ec89dbc95c/AltHum_29_Calameo_BAT.pdf?inline=true

Chicago

Peace Research Institute Oslo. ALTERNATIVES HUMANITAIRES. 2025. https://cdn.cloud.prio.org/files/f7d0f722-e7b4-4c97-a332-26ec89dbc95c/AltHum_29_Calameo_BAT.pdf?inline=true.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Peace Research Institute Oslo |title=ALTERNATIVES HUMANITAIRES |date=July 2025 |url=https://cdn.cloud.prio.org/files/f7d0f722-e7b4-4c97-a332-26ec89dbc95c/AltHum_29_Calameo_BAT.pdf?inline=true |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{peaceresearchinstituteoslo2025alternatives, author = {{Peace Research Institute Oslo}}, title = {{ALTERNATIVES HUMANITAIRES}}, institution = {Peace Research Institute Oslo}, year = {2025}, month = jul, url = {https://cdn.cloud.prio.org/files/f7d0f722-e7b4-4c97-a332-26ec89dbc95c/AltHum_29_Calameo_BAT.pdf?inline=true}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }