The Crisis Caravan: What's Wrong with Humanitarian Aid?

Linda Polman

Sep 2010 · Sold by Metropolitan Books

About this ebook

A no-holds-barred, controversial exposé of the financial profiteering and ambiguous ethics that pervade the world of humanitarian aid

A vast industry has grown up around humanitarian aid: a cavalcade of organizations—some 37,000—compete for a share of the $160 billion annual prize, with "fact-inflation" sometimes ramping up disaster coverage to draw in more funds. Insurgents and warring governments, meanwhile, have made aid a permanent feature of military strategy: refugee camps serve as base camps for genocidaires, and aid supplies are diverted to feed the troops. Even as humanitarian groups continue to assert the holy principle of impartiality, they have increasingly become participants in aid's abuses.

In a narrative that is impassioned, gripping, and even darkly absurd, journalist Linda Polman takes us to war zones around the globe—from the NGO-dense operations in "Afghaniscam" to the floating clinics of Texas Mercy Ships proselytizing off the shores of West Africa—to show the often compromised results of aid workers' best intentions. It is time, Polman argues, to impose ethical boundaries, to question whether doing something is always better than doing nothing, and to hold humanitarians responsible for the consequences of their deeds.

Ratings and reviews

A fascinating insight into the aid economy with several stories from the front line. Polman addresses an emotive issue and raises several questions over the methods and accountability of charities in crisis zones. In most circumstances it appears the aid is just as destructive as the war which might have caused it to be required. In the worst cases, well meaning organisations have assisted genocide, perhaps unwittingly at first but with the onset of crisis creep, this becomes too conspicuous to ignore. The economic impact of aid appears often to undermine a fragile economy by disincentivising commerce. It takes a strong conscience not to be moved by the human suffering portrayed through Western media but unfortunately this is the game created by a lack of fiscal and political accountability on all sides. The stories relate almost exclusively to Africa, Iraq or Afghanistan and it would have been interesting to compare these with other areas. It was disappointing that the philosophy behind why we give aid at all was not developed at all.

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About the author

Linda Polman is an Amsterdam-based journalist who for fifteen years has reported from war zones for a range of European radio stations and newspapers. She is the author of We Did Nothing, which was shortlisted for the Lettre Ulysses Award for the Art of Reportage.