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ID: 113106

Humanitarian action under fire: reflections on the role of NGOs in conflict and post-conflict situations / Abiew, Francis Kofi

Abiew, Francis Kofi	Journal Article
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2012.

Summary/Abstract

The spate of attacks against humanitarian NGOs since 2003 has raised a series of fundamental questions for humanitarian operations in Iraq, Afghanistan and other conflict and post-conflict situations. This article reflects on the 'new humanitarianism' and how increasingly, this humanitarianism is under attack in violation of the Geneva Conventions on the Laws and Customs of War. It argues that humanitarian action is under attack because of efforts by Western governments (particularly the United States) to make humanitarian NGOs an extension of their military and political agendas. In circumstances of the politicization of humanitarian aid, it becomes difficult for combatants to distinguish between Western governments' agendas and those of NGOs. The article concludes by calling for the insulation of humanitarian aid from politics. This separation of politics and humanitarianism can only be realized by returning to traditional principles that have guided humanitarian action.

Key Words

Iraq ; Afghanistan ; Geneva Conventions ; Humanitarian Action ; New Humanitarianism ; Humanitarian NGOs

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ID: 159418

Humanitarian NGOs as businesses and managers: theoretical reflection on an under-explored phenomenon / Joachim, Jutta ; Schneiker, Andrea

Joachim, Jutta	Journal Article
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Summary/Abstract

Humanitarian nonprofit nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) today exhibit signs of “marketization” and behave like firms, according to a frequently uttered claim in the scholarly literature. However, it is not precisely clear what marketization and behaving like a firm mean. Drawing on the literature concerning nonprofit organizations and public administration, we offer a more sophisticated and multifaceted understanding of a consequential development for NGOs. Rather than merely equating “firm-like” with the adoption of corporate practices, we conceive of it as a mind-set. We suggest that “firm-like” involves not only marketization, but also corporatization and organizational rationalization. Based on a content analysis of the websites of a heterogeneous sample of nine humanitarian NGOs, we illustrate the potential of this conceptualization to shed light on a discourse among these organizations that appears to be self-referential and self-aggrandizing with respect to their capacities.

Key Words

Marketization ; Commercialization ; Humanitarian NGOs ; Organizational Rationalization

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