Relief workers need professionalism

Relief workers are more affected by organisational issues and security problems than by witnessing suffering, says a report published by the Overseas Development Administration in London. The report, based on a questionnaire survey of 200 expatriate aid workers, says that recruitment to relief work is often casual, management in the field is poor, and workers are not always fully debriefed.

“The whole framework for intervention has changed, with more agencies now working in the middle of conflict zones,” says Jo Macrae, a research fellow at the Overseas Development Institute. “There were 135 non-governmental agencies working in Rwanda. Ten years ago aid workers would have been in refugee camps …