Promoting digital humanitarian action in protecting human rights: hope or hype

Abstract

The digital transformation has affected every aspect of human being by bringing fundamental changes in technology, culture, operations, and principles of creating new products and services in the framework of economic globalization and innovations. Humanitarian action has not been left out either as the implementation of digital solutions provides large-scale opportunities to enhance the performance of humanitarian practices and, as a result, the capability to save more lives of people affected by armed conflicts or disasters, migrants, and refugees. In this commentary, we are focused on such a vulnerable subject as human rights, freedoms, and dignity protection in the digital domain of humanitarian assistance since it is inextricably linked to risks and threats of being a member of the digital world. We consider and synthesize the experience of parties involved into the valuable work on humanitarian action and highlight the lessons from the past as well as decisions taken in the present to fundamentally update and adapt humanitarian assistance to confidently meet challenges while protecting its fundamental principles and add value to humanitarian missions.