The lead Editorial in this week's Conflict Special Issue of The Lancet says that many aid agencies sometimes act according to their own best interests rather than in the interests of individuals whom they claim to help.
While the Editorial also examines the role of politicians and the media in crisis situations such as the devastating earthquake in Haiti, it focuses its attention on the Aid sector, now undoubtedly an industry in its own right. It says: "Large aid agencies and humanitarian organisations are often highly competitive with each other. Polluted by the internal power politics and the unsavoury characteristics seen in many big corporations, large aid agencies can be obsessed with raising money through their own appeal efforts. Media coverage as an end in itself is too often an aim of their activities. Marketing and branding have too high a profile. Perhaps worst of all, relief efforts in the field are sometimes competitive with little collaboration between agencies, including smaller, grass-roots charities that may have better networks in affected counties and so are well placed to immediately implement emergency relief."
The Editorial concludes: "Given the ongoing crisis in Haiti, it may seem unpalatable to scrutinise and criticise the motives and activities of humanitarian organisations. But just like any other industry, the aid industry must be examined, not just financially as is current practice, but also in how it operates from headquarter level to field level... Although many aid agencies do important work, humanitarianism is no longer the ethos for many organisations within the aid industry. For the people of Haiti and those living in parallel situations of destruction, humanitarianism remains the most crucial motivation and means for intervention."
The Lancet Press Office. T) +44 (0) 20 7424 4949 E) pressoffice@lancet.com
For full Editorial see: http://press.thelancet.com/confedit.pdf
Journal
The Lancet