Humanitarian aid ‘must be need based’

ISLAMABAD: The Action Aid report issued on Tuesday stressed the need to make humanitarian assistance more ‘needs based.’ Focusing on the IDP crisis in 2009, the report looked at the perceptions of humanitarian organisations and aid from the perspective of affected communities.

The report recommended that ‘humanitarian agencies be mindful of the potential for creating dependency and must not compromise the dignity of affected communities.’ Speaking on the occasion, Wajid Ali Khan, NWFP Provincial Minister for Environment said, “It is a positive move by an international development agency to carry out a balanced and objective research, whose findings will not only help organisations but also the larger population.”

Highlighting the need for transparency in humanitarian work, Action Aid’s Country Director Fikre Zewdie said that humanitarian agencies should strive to strengthen the perception of humanitarian aid.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 30th, 2010.