January 7, 2011

Source: The New York Times

Military and Relief Aid: When the Lines Blur

Published: December 23, 2010

To the Editor:

Re “U.S. Afghan Role Questioned as Relief Worker Deaths Soar” (front page, Dec. 14):

Your article pointing to the danger of blurring lines between military action and humanitarian assistance echoes a growing concern of humanitarian actors.

Our own research in Afghanistan, Somalia and the occupied Palestinian territories, among other places, confirms a worrying trend in which governments’ politicization and militarization of aid have impeded delivery of assistance to millions of vulnerable people and jeopardized the lives of so many humanitarian workers.

Our recently published “Humanitarian Response Index 2010” report, assessing government donor response, found that humanitarian aid was increasingly driven by political, security and military interests in 10 of the 14 crises we visited. This approach is unprincipled, dangerous and counterproductive. It does not help the populations who so desperately need our aid.

What is the solution? Governments need to “go back to basics” and support neutral, independent humanitarian aid based solely on meeting the needs for assistance and protection of affected populations. It is the only way forward.

Ross Mountain
Madrid, Dec. 16, 2010

The writer is director general of DARA, an organization that aims to improve the effectiveness of humanitarian aid.

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To the Editor:

Anyone who has worked in the grass roots of a developing country understands why mixing military operations and humanitarian aid won’t work.

Marriage of the two is untenable. Aid work is about learning local ways and building relationships. Poverty reduction is admired by all as a noble undertaking. Militarizing aid, on the other hand, replaces collaboration with confrontation, putting aid workers and their supporters in harm’s way, and jeopardizing community projects.

In Afghanistan, our leaders lack a local touch. Orchestrating the delivery of aid from above, they flout the reality of daily life in the villages, places hard to see from Kabul or Washington. Their macro solutions, like enlisting soldiers to deliver aid, often fail for lack of attention to micro nuances like culture, language, economics and politics.

Aid work is about living and working with impoverished people to achieve their goals for progress. It’s about dignity, not defense.

Michael Buckler
Washington, Dec. 14, 2010

The writer is the author of “From Microsoft to Malawi: Learning on the Front Lines as a Peace Corps Volunteer.”