Humanitarian Aid Issues

The principal concern Polman raises in Crisis Caravan is that of NGOs and their effectiveness in war zones.  The author goes into great detail over how, without fail, NGOs have to bribe their way into war zones or other disaster areas.  They are forced to give a significant percentage of their aid to warlords, generals or whomever else may have a monopoly on violence in the region.  The book uses the Indonesian military as an example, “estimates suggest that Indonesian soldiers walked off with at least 30 percent of tsunami relief for Aceh Province; 30 percent is also the average slice of the Indonesian military regime’s state budget that ‘disappears’ annually.”

UN Aid Center in Port-Au-Prince, Haiti.  The UN reportedly
brought Cholera to Haiti.   photo courtesy of The Washington Post

The book explains that the aid is used to feed soldiers or distributed among the kin of powerful, who in turn usually sell the aid to those who are in significantly less need of it.  The aid that does get through is often time distributed to the “bad guys.”  The author explains that in one instance aid groups were allowed in but only to aid an army that was in the process of committing genocide. Polman explains that at the core of this issue is a lack or regulation.  Every NGO is more or less free to bargain with each warlord as they please.  What results is on moral dilemma after another.

Polman states “Aid organizations are businesses dressed up like Mother Teresa” because the NGO system is put under very little scrutiny. Often journalists are only able to get the information they need through NGOs.  Proceeding to attack them would be counter-productive.  Additionally, NGOs are rarely if ever taken to the courts for possible misdoings. 

This has created a culture where NGOs do not have a serious incentive to assess the effectiveness of their own work in the grand scheme of helping those who need it.  Very little reform is put in place to improve the way aid is distributed and very little research of the situation is done before NGOs blindly rush into action in the event of an emergency. 

It seems Polman would make the argument that greater oversight of the NGO system would be needed to make humanitarian aid successful.  I would agree.  I would build off that and say greater accountability on the part of the humanitarian organizations is needed as well. 

In the wake of the Haiti earthquake in 2010, the AP published a very good piece of journalism.  It explained that UN, in response to the disaster, unknowingly sent in peacekeepers that had Cholera.  Through the UN station’s poorly design  Immediately following this report the UN claimed little to no responsibility.           This is a good lesson for those attempting to give humanitarian aid.  It seems to that they should do a significant amount of research and preparation before they send any aid or workers.  Their efforts could in fact make the situation worse.  When mistakes are made, it is important to own up to them despite the impact on the bottom line.  An increased sense of accountability would help all parties involved. 

ed sewer system, the Cholera spread through the rivers and created an epidemic in the region.