Is Humanitarian Aid Doing Its Job?

In Polman’s book, she addresses the ulterior motives of charities and aid operations. She says that these organizations have a commercial interest now. For example, by haphazardly donating aid to persons in need, the Red Cross sustained Hutu extremists as they carried out an extermination campaign against the Rwandan Tutsis. This is a huge issue that many people don't know about. We need to inform ourselves and our peers of these pressing issues. We need to shine the spotlight on them and talk about them. Talking about them is the first step in fixing the problem, we need people to see and understand what is so wrong about this issue. 

(Picture of The American Red Cross volunteer helping out.)

She refers to aid organizations are businesses dressed up like mother Teresa because they aren’t doing their job. She says they’re more worried about their public figure. She says that most of their aid is gone to waste. She focuses on the actions and goals of NGO’s and reflects on whether those actions and goals are actually achieved by these NGO’s. Polman says that these journalists don’t report below surface level. She thinks that the media is not doing its job when it comes to reporting on these organizations and their aiding methods.

(This picture shows the different types of roles NGO's can play. I think this is a great example of how NGO's can explain what they do, they just need to go one step further and put statistics and facts about the money and donations involved in these steps.)

I think journalists need to dig deeper into these organizations, ask the painfully truth staking questions that people have been too scared to ask. They need to ask exactly how much money they are receiving and exactly where that money is divided into going. I think the government needs to intervene as well and become more managerial in these NGO’s in making sure they are actually doing what they are supposed to be doing with all this money they are gathering. Many people of this nation have no idea what is going on behind the scenes, as I’m sure most people in this class and on this campus have no idea. I think it’s important for the government or the NGO’s themselves to educate people as to where the money is going and coming from. That way, people can have a greater trust in them and be more willing to donate money because they know exactly where it’s going to go.

(Cartoon of NGO's portraying how some are corrupt and some are not)

The people also need to be more educated about these NGO’s before donating or helping out these causes. We all think we’re doing a good job by donating, and if we don’t know the corruption behind it then that is what we’ll believe. We need to educate ourselves with this knowledge of how these NGO’s work. Although NGO’s are non-government related, I still think the government has a duty to make sure that at least the people of our nation know what is happening behind the scenes.