Purpose

In this paper, the authors propose a new lens to examine international humanitarian organizations' responsibilities in the context of project closure, what authors call “an ethics of the temporary”. The authors offer this as an orienting ethical ideal to facilitate the moral imagination of humanitarian planners, practitioners and stakeholders.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors drew on recent philosophical work on responsibilities for global justice to analyze an ethical concern inherent to humanitarian practice, the proper scope of responsibility in the context of closure of humanitarian projects.

Findings

The ethics of the temporary includes four elements: situating humanitarian action temporally with attention to the past and how it shapes a current crisis and crisis response, focusing attention on anticipating and seeking to mitigate potential harm, promoting sustainability and greater equity going forward and emphasizing inclusive, collaborative approaches. The authors propose a set of questions that can foster discussion and reflection about the scope of humanitarian responsibilities at project closure.

Practical implications

Although the authors' work is primarily conceptual, it has many practical implications for humanitarian policy and practice. It can support critical reflection and offers a process for considering the scope of responsibility at project closure and decisions around how to close a given intervention in a manner that avoids causing harm and advances equity.

Originality/value

Very little work has been done on ethical closure of humanitarian projects. Most literature offers critiques. This essay contributes a new approach to closure, the ethical ideal and practice of an ethics of the temporary.

中文翻译：

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从临时道德的角度看待人道主义项目的结束

目的

在本文中，作者提出了一个新的视角来审视国际人道主义组织在项目结束背景下的责任，即作者所说的“临时道德”。作者将此作为一种有指导意义的道德理想，以促进人道主义规划者、实践者和利益相关者的道德想象力。

设计/方法论/途径

作者借鉴了最近关于全球正义责任的哲学著作，分析了人道主义实践固有的伦理关切，以及结束人道主义项目情况下的适当责任范围。

发现

临时道德包括四个要素：暂时定位人道主义行动，关注过去及其如何塑造当前危机和危机应对措施，重点关注预测和寻求减轻潜在伤害，促进未来的可持续性和更大的公平性，以及强调包容性，协作方法。作者提出了一系列问题，可以促进有关项目结束时人道主义责任范围的讨论和反思。

实际影响

尽管作者的工作主要是概念性的，但它对人道主义政策和实践具有许多实际意义。它可以支持批判性反思，并提供一个考虑项目结束时的责任范围的流程，以及如何以避免造成伤害和促进公平的方式结束特定干预的决策。

原创性/价值

在人道主义项目的道德结束方面所做的工作很少。大多数文学作品都提供批评。本文提出了一种新的终结方法、暂时伦理的伦理理想和实践。