The government had a huge meeting with all the remaining NGOs in Darfur where they told everyone that they would personally be carrying out the activities the "spies" (read: Aid Workers We Kicked Out) were doing. So all that food distribution, health care provision, well digging, latrine making etc will all now be done by the Khartoum Government.
I see this going oh so very well...
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Hi - I love reading your blog. As a 28 year old woman who had her first interview with an aid organization today, it's great to hear a voice from the field. Are there any other aidworker blogs out there you could recommend? I'm not interested in advocacy blogs or anything.
Thanks!
Hi there,
basically I share your doubts. It is questionable if the GOS has the a) interest and b)the capacity to take over work the expelled NGOs have been doing.
On the other hand, I had the feeling that the crisis in Darfur, after dragging on for such a long time, has arrived at point where it was just not sustainable anymore in terms of cost-benefits. I feel it was too complicated for the humanitarian community to be creative in finding new ways of delivering aid, maybe in am more sustainable way, which would have been particularly useful in light of permanent on and off evacuations, accessibility problems, and forced abandon of beneficiaries. Possibly lowering the standard of the aid operation and innovative ways of delivering aid might have helped. This might have been difficult as traditionally it is hard to turn around the wheel of huge interventions and it is always easier to carry on the way things were always done. In addition, lowering standards or anything else "risky" is not "policy" of many NGOs and NGOs may fear their reputation might suffer.
What I want to say is that, despite all the mess now, this could provide an opportunity to find new ways of delivering aid. Once some time will have passed since these incidents, and their true impact is known, it will hopefully provide a valuable case study for lessons learnt both for aid organisations in terms of innovative and more sustainable ways of delivering aid in very complex situations and the international community that need to consider the wider implications of its actions.
Hypothetical situation:
1. You set your own home on fire, with your family inside.
2. When the fire brigade comes, you point a gun at them, and tell them to leave you alone.
3. You call the papers and tell them that firemen have vested interests in creating fires, so they can keep their jobs.
4. Little celebratory dance (optional)
5. Then, you tell everyone: "Hey, no problem, I'll take care of it!"
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