Published in Issue 9 - 1968-2018: breakdown and continuity

Social commitment for dummies

Editor’s note

The term “commitment” strikes a particular chord nowadays: there is a human need, sometimes a vital one, to feel needed. In a society in search of meaning where young people, generations Y and Z, the “millennials”, feel more and more they want to act for the common good, but increasingly question how best to do this, this is a subject that called for methodical treatment.

Francis Charhon is an intensive-care anaesthetist, and was appointed president of Médecins Sans Frontières in 1980 before becoming its executive director. In 1986 he set up the Centre for Research in Epidemiology and International Health and later became executive director of the Fondation de France, thereby encountering all aspects of commitment. He is also a member of the steering council of Humanitarian Alternatives.

Translated from the French by Fay Guerry.

Support Humanitarian Alternatives

Was this article useful and did you like it? Support our publication!

All of the publications on this site are freely accessible because our work is made possible in large part by the generosity of a group of financial partners. However, any additional support from our readers is greatly appreciated! It should enable us to further innovate, deepen the review’s content, expand its outreach, and provide the entire humanitarian sector with a bilingual international publication that addresses major humanitarian issues from an independent and quality-conscious standpoint. You can support our work by subscribing to the printed review, purchasing single issues or making a donation. We hope to see you on our online store! To support us with other actions and keep our research and debate community in great shape, click here!

You may be interested in...

Culture

The orphans’ return

Editor’s note In 2003, in Darfur, Western Sudan, a violent armed conflict erupted between rebel groups and the government based in the Sudanese capital of Khartoum. Younis, a young boy whose parents are caught up in the turmoil, is about to see his life take a turn that nothing has prepared him for, as he […]

Culture

The French Red Cross Foundation: dedicated to research

Published to coincide with the French Red Cross Foundation’s ten-year anniversary (2013-2023), this book is the fruit of a collective undertaking to distil knowledge and an ongoing dialogue between all those engaged in the field, be they researchers, humanitarian practitioners, first aid workers or social action volunteers. It chronicles ten years of the Foundation’s life […]

Culture

Humanitarian humanities: a combat sport?

This book was inspired by an observation. The process of professionalisation which began in the humanitarian sector in the late 1990s has been characterised by the development of standardised technical knowledge deemed necessary for the purposes of operational effectiveness. However, at the same time, the critical knowledge generated by growing academic interest in the world […]

Sylvain Pénicaud

Culture

Paper ghosts

Publisher’s note In spring 1994 over one million Tutsis were exterminated by the Hutu-led authorities in Rwanda. In the aftermath of the 20th century’s last genocide, Dafroza and Alain Gauthier, a Franco-Rwandan couple, began a quest for justice that seemed impossible at the time: hunting down the Rwandan killers who had taken refuge in France, […]