I'm preparing to go to Aceh next week as part of an evaluation team. One year later and all that. But a straightforward evaluation is not simple enough for us, no. We (my company) are using this opportunity as the first case in a new global project of really listening to aid recipients.
What do people really want? What benefits do they really get?
I should add here that the vast majority of assistance and reconstruction efforts in any disaster is supplied locally. So, what is the purpose of international humanitarian assistance? We all have our answers, some good and some like the following from a letter reprinted at TPM Cafe regarding the earthquake in Pakistan are all too common:
" [I]t is apparent that there is a tremendous strategic opportunity for the United States and its allies. For a fraction of the cost of what is spent in other arenas of the War on Terror, an extremely volatile region and country's hearts and minds can be won over. All that is required is a very substantial, very visible US relief effort. "
First, this is a bold – and false – assumption about how people react to assistance and about how their attitudes are shaped by it. Anyone with familiarity in post-disaster contexts has experienced the backlash against assistance and those who bring it. It is in fact quite common to hear people refer to two disasters: the disaster and then the assistance.
Second, and part of what leads to the backlash, is the insidious phrase "all that is required". If all that is required is the mere thoughtless doing, then
a) anything we do is absolved of responsibility for unintended consequences; and
b) we can, therefore, do anything.
This is not responsible humanitarianism anywhere in the world. Applied to Pakistan - and the War on Terror - this is wishful strategic thinking.
It is possible to gain goodwill through providing assistance to people in need. It is not possible to gain goodwill by simply throwing resources at people.
Humanitarian work is challenging and always takes place under some sort of pressure, but it is still possible to engage the challenges with our intelligence and our experience and to do well while doing good.
Posted by Martial