This roundtable took place on 16 January 2020, at the occasion of the fiftieth
anniversary of the end of the war in Biafra. It brought together Marie-Luce
Desgrandchamps, Lasse Heerten, Arua Oko Omaka and Kevin O’Sullivan. The
roundtable was organised and chaired by Bertrand Taithe, University of
Manchester.
Résumé Dans la littérature sur l’humanitaire, la guerre du Biafra (1967-1970) est souvent présentée comme un lieu du renouveau de l’action humanitaire, puisque certains des futurs fondateurs de Médecins sans frontières y auraient remis en cause les principes traditionnels des actions de secours établis par le Comité international de la Croix-Rouge ( cicr ). Ce constat invite à un examen approfondi des relations entre les médecins français et l’institution genevoise lors de ce conflit. Ce faisant, le propos de l’article est de nuancer le caractère particulièrement dissident des activités des médecins français par rapport au cicr pendant la guerre. Ainsi, tout en présentant les tensions existantes entre les différents protagonistes, l’article montre qu’il n’est pas possible d’affirmer l’existence d’une véritable rupture entre le cicr et les médecins français au moment du Biafra.
This article analyses how the events of the late 1960s – and in particular the Nigeria–Biafra War – marked a turning point in the history of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). The Nigeria-Biafra conflict required the ICRC to set up and coordinate a major relief operation during a civil war in a post-colonial context, posing several new challenges for the organisation. This article shows how the difficulties encountered during the conflict highlighted the need for the Geneva-based organisation to reform the management of its operations, personnel, and communications in order to become more effective and professional. Finally, the article takes the examination of this process within the ICRC as a starting point for a broader discussion of the changing face of the humanitarian sector in the late 1960s.
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