POLS209 WK9 - NGOs/humanitarian aid

Who coined poornography

Pat Chauncey

poornography

aims to induce emotions of pity and guilt on the part of potential donors through images and descriptions of material poverty and images of helpless others in the global south.

whats wrong w poornography?

value conflicts - created a ‘regime of truth’ that reinforces distinctions between the west and the rest. obscures the structures and processes that sustain poverty and injustice

• images may be taken without permission

• council code of ethics - does not dignify the ppl

• fuels racism/prejudice

• can be misleading

what did Goldring (chief executive of UK NGO) say about poornography?

we have taken part in an intricate dance that sacrifices the long-term building of a balanced view for the short term gain of raising funds for our work

prioritization of fundatising over understanding

what do 57% of UK respondents believe due to poornography

the only thing we can do to tackle poverty in poor countries is to give money to charity and appeals

upward accountability

NGOs should be accountable to a range of stakeholders including agency boards and development ministry officials

downward accountability

NGOs should be accountable to private donors, overseas partners, and southern beneficiaries

what are the current trends of accountability?

only going upwards and favoring institutional imperatives

institutional imperatives emphasize

competition, short term results, secrecy, northern bias

developmental imperatives emphasize

coordination, longer term results, partnership, transparency, southern bias

why do we still do it?

children sell!

what is the puppy effect

psychologists asked ordinary citizens to contribute $5 to alleviate hunger abroad.

1. Rokia in Mali

2. 21 million hungry africans

3. Rokia but presented as a victim of a larger tapestry of hunger

majority chose just rokia.

the more victims, the less compassion.

what are critiques of child sponsorship?

perpetuates ignorance

fosters racism

family rifts

political pawns

maintaining dependence

wasteful spending

no distinction between charity and justice

how has development been made sexy

through celebrities

shift from strategies to generate funds and public awareness in the global north

reimagines social identity of potential donors

shift from guilt about scarcity in global south to a celebration of abundance in the global north

whats the history of the red cross

henri dunant witnessed one of the bloodiest battles of the 19th century

published in 1862 a book “a memory of solferino”

inspired creation

international diplomatic meeting was held in 1864 and assembly formulated geneva convention

what are the fundamental principles of humanitarian aid

humanity - based on needs

neutrality - no political sides

independence - cannot be influenced by other orgs/agendas

defining principles - principles must be defined by humanitarian imperatives to differentiate from other orgs doing humanitarian things

(e.g. military giving out food packs =/= humanitarian aid)

what are the controversial principles for humanitarian aid?

proselytism and neutrality

proselytism

aid conditional to shifting allegiance (e.g. christ)

which org rejected the principle of neutrality?

doctors without borders (MSF) - instead, they adopted policy of impartiality

how does MSF fucntion

rejects certain corporations for conflict of interest- has a lot of donations from individuals instead

what is public funding

ODA (taxes)

what is private funding

individuals, trusts, foundations, corporations

what was the trend in humanitarian funding leading into 2025?

fell by 10% before the cuts announced in 2025

what are the trends in ODA?

world refugee influx since 2015

concern that oda is used to fund refugee support in developed countries

what did sara harcourt say (as cited in cornish)

its absolutely right that we protect people fleeing war and insecurity, but it is wrong to do this by shifting resources away from the world’s poorest people

what are the predicted impacts of trumps budget cut

18.8% reduction in staff members

12% cut to dev budgets

13% cut to peace and security budgets

15% cut to budget of the office of the high commissioner of human rights

what is IHL

international humanitarian law

designed to spare civilians as much as possible the hazards of warfare

how is global humanitarianism biased?

biased towards situations that interests the most powerful western politicians, (e.g., invasian of afghanistan and iraq)

or that trigger emotive response from western public

pattern of aid is more closely related to donors interests than to needs to affected communities

how has covid affected ODA trends?

threatens SDG achievements

boosted spending on emergency assistance

large budget deficits, pushing debt ratios in many developing countries to a crisis level

what are aspirational principles for NGOs

operate with respect to culture and custom

use local resources and capacities as much as possible

participation of beneficiaries should be encouraged

strive to reduce future vulnerabilities

be accountable to both donors and beneficiaries

use information activities to portray victims as dignified human beings, not hopeless objects