In a compelling piece of storytelling, she teases out the angels and demons of the humanitarian aid industry. In Chasing Chaos: My Decade In and Out of Humanitarian Aid Jessica Alexander captures these tensions. Aid agencies responsible for implementation are accountable mainly to donors and funding organizations, rather than to the aid beneficiaries in the affected areas. But when disaster strikes and emergency aid is quickly channeled to a crisis zone, very little of this talk is heeded. But in the business of humanitarian aid, services and products are regularly delivered without consulting the aid recipients or affected community members consumers of the aid cannot ask for changes in policy.Īid literature abounds with suggestions to shift the paradigm, for example recommending consultations with stakeholders and community engagement. Consumers of commercial products and services in a free market must be appeased-their demands are explored and met-or else the business will not survive. The consumers-in this case, the beneficiaries of the aid-have little or no say in holding the aid providers accountable. It is tempting to think it is managed like a business, but unfortunately there is a significant difference.
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