No peace without food: an interview with Ertharin Cousin.

• Position: Interview

Since the Syrian conflict erupted in 2011, the World Food Programme (WFP), the food aid arm of the United Nations system, has been calling for access to besieged communities to provide relief and assistance to civilians. Ertharin Cousin is the executive director of WFP, the largest humanitarian organization in the world, and the person currently leading the UN efforts to assist hungry people in Central African Republic, South Sudan, and Syria, among other places. In an interview with the Journal, Cousin spoke about how the organization is responding to humanitarian emergencies, while trying to build resilience and promote long-term food security.

Journal of International Affairs: Neutrality and impartiality are basic humanitarian principles, and abiding by them has allowed the World Food Programme to work in conflict areas like Syria, with limited interference from governments and other stakeholders. What are the major challenges to maintaining these principles in complex emergencies, and how does the WFP approach these challenges?

Ertharin Cousin: Let me begin by saying that maintaining humanitarian principles is a foundation of the work of WFP in all of our operations, and we particularly emphasize this responsibility in our responses to conflict. It is a basic foundation of our humanitarian work. The challenge we see most frequently today relates to access. In highly politicized emergencies, like conflict situations, operational challenges arise and restrict our ability to offer humanitarian assistance to those in need. As a result, we find ourselves in situations where we have to negotiate access. What gives us the credibility to negotiate access--whether with a government, an opposition party in a conflict situation, or even between two governments--is our ability to maintain our humanitarian position. We do not get involved in supporting combatants on either side of a conflict, and we are not prejudiced in the delivery of our service. We provide to all parties in need, regardless of where they are located. These basic operational tenets ensure our ability to perform. One challenge we have encountered recently is that in many conflicts, we find ourselves faced with non-state actors that may range from ethnic militias to international terrorist movements. Even in such situations, in the conversations we have to access those in need, we are adamant in our position of serving all parties. At the WFP, we have what we refer to as...