Becoming an International Humanitarian Aid Worker


Book Description

Becoming an International Humanitarian Aid Worker draws on the experiences of those currently working and those hiring people to work in humanitarian aid today, and an analysis of job postings over a 9-month period. It provides relevant information and advice to help jobseekers make more informed decisions about what steps to take. It first pushes prospective job seekers to reflect on whether this is the right career path for them. It then provides tried and tested strategies for preparing for a humanitarian career and being competitive in the humanitarian job market, serving as a comprehensive guide for those thinking about a career in international humanitarian aid. - Features advice drawn from an analysis of humanitarian jobs, a survey of aid workers, and interviews with human resource staff and humanitarian professionals - Written in a conversational style with anecdotes, advice and stories from people working in the industry today - Features useful tips and exercises in every chapter to help you put your best foot forward - Provides links to useful and relevant internet resources through a dedicated web page




Chasing Misery


Book Description

“What motivates any of us to do the work we do? And more importantly does that work make a difference?” This is the question film producer and founder of filmaid.org, Caroline Baron, reflects on when she calls Chasing Misery an “unblinking” account of what it's like to be a woman on the front lines of global humanitarian responses. Twenty-one first person essays and 23 stunning photographs give readers a glimpse into the lives of real women who respond to emergencies—their hopes, fears, questions, challenges, frustrations as well as glimpses of the humour, beauty, and hope they find in the midst of misery.




Psychosocial Support for Humanitarian Aid Workers


Book Description

Humanitarian aid workers are trying to make a difference in an increasingly dangerous world. Psychosocial Support for Humanitarian Aid Workers: A Roadmap of Trauma and Critical Incident Care highlights the risks of such work, educates professionals responsible for their duty of care, and brings together current thinking to promote collaborative working to support the carers of our world. From the humanitarian aid worker trying to organise support amongst chaos, to the professional offering a safe place for recovery, all of these individuals are at risk of becoming traumatised. Therefore, it is vital that we recognise the psychological risks on these individuals, and that they recognise how they can support themselves, so they can continue to function in the work that they do. This book can be used as a trauma awareness guide for all staff whose work exposes them – directly or indirectly – to trauma, and therefore becomes a risk to their physical or mental wellbeing. Psychosocial Support for Humanitarian Aid Workers will appeal to all those working in the field of humanitarian aid, counsellors and psychotherapists, emergency first responders, as well as those who are looking to support themselves after surviving trauma.




Working in International Development and Humanitarian Assistance


Book Description

This is an indispensable career guide for everyone wanting to work in or already working in the international development and humanitarian emergencies sector. It provides a general introduction and insight into the sector, for those exploring it as a potential career, and offers students up-to-date advice when choosing a course, whether it’s at undergraduate or postgraduate level. Should they study International Development, or will Public Health, Environmental studies or Media get them closer to where they want to get? This book offers graduates or career changers who are new to the sector an understanding of what skills and experience will make them stand out above the competition and get that job. It enables those already working in the sector to gain a long term view of where they want to go and how they might structure their professional development to gain the skills and competencies necessary to get their career on to an upward trajectory. This book draws heavily on insiders’ advice, case studies and top tips, to provide the reader with various perspectives and insights. How do you become a country director for an international NGO? How can one become a gender mainstreaming expert? What can you do to get in to consultancy? Career trajectories, Career clinics Q&A boxes and the personal planner in the appendix will help you get to where you want to go. It also gives a detailed account of the myriad of careers and specialism available within the sector and methodologically describes the pros and cons of each option. So if you are not sure where you want to go with your career, you will be after you have read this book. Whether it’s Programme Management, becoming an Environmental Advisor, or an Acadmic this book will give you an insight into what the job entails and how you can get in to it. It will be an invaluable guide to all readers, irrespective of their country of origin, who are interested in the sector.




Chasing Chaos


Book Description

Jessica Alexander arrived in Rwanda in the aftermath of the 1994 genocide as an idealistic intern, eager to contribute to the work of the international humanitarian aid community. But the world that she encountered in the field was dramatically different than anything she could have imagined. It was messy, chaotic, and difficult—but she was hooked. In this honest and irreverent memoir, she introduces readers to the realities of life as an aid worker. We watch as she manages a 24,000-person camp in Darfur, collects evidence for the Charles Taylor trial in Sierra Leone, and contributes to the massive aid effort to clean up a shattered Haiti. But we also see the alcohol-fueled parties and fleeting romances, the burnouts and self-doubt, and the struggle to do good in places that have long endured suffering. Tracing her personal journey from wide-eyed and naïve newcomer to hardened cynic and, ultimately, to hopeful but critical realist, Alexander transports readers to some of the most troubled locations around the world and shows us not only the seemingly impossible challenges, but also the moments of resilience and recovery.




The Vulnerable Humanitarian


Book Description

The Vulnerable Humanitarian challenges the prevalence of stress and burnout culture within the aid sector, laying bare the issues of power, agency, security and wellbeing that continue to trouble organisations and staff. Engaging and insightful, this book illustrates the problematic and unrealistic expectations of aid workers through the archetype of the perfect humanitarian, and considers why burnout is so endemic, yet so rarely acknowledged, within aid organisations. The book provides practical means through which staff and managers can reflect upon and discuss damaging organisational cultures and behaviours, and develop a more inclusive and caring work environment. Drawing on original academic research and interviews with national and international aid workers and development experts, the book proposes a feminist, anti-racist and decolonial agenda in challenging oppressive systems and structures within the sector. With extensive professional experience as an aid worker herself, Gemma Houldey also shares her own struggles with mental health and what she has learned from feminist practices for self- and collective care. Proposing new ways of addressing wellbeing that are sensitive to the multi-faceted personalities and lived experiences of people working on aid and development programmes, The Vulnerable Humanitarian is essential reading both for current aid sector employees and for prospective employees and students.




Humanitarian Ethics


Book Description

Humanitarians are required to be impartial, independent, professionally competent and focused only on preventing and alleviating human suffering. It can be hard living up to these principles when others do not share them, while persuading political and military authorities and non-state actors to let an agency assist on the ground requires savvy ethical skills. Getting first to a conflict or natural catastrophe is only the beginning, as aid workers are usually and immediately presented with practical and moral questions about what to do next. For example, when does working closely with a warring party or an immoral regime move from practical cooperation to complicity in human rights violations? Should one operate in camps for displaced people and refugees if they are effectively places of internment? Do humanitarian agencies inadvertently encourage ethnic cleansing by always being ready to 'mop-up' the consequences of scorched earth warfare? This book has been written to help humanitarians assess and respond to these and other ethical dilemmas.




The Idealist's Survival Kit


Book Description

75 brief self-care reflections that will aid workers, activists, and volunteers prevent burnout, renew their sense of purpose, and achieve fulfillment Heal from over-exhaustion, prevent burnout, and regain your motivation with these short readings from a psychologist who has spent many years in the field working in conflict and disaster areas. Gathered from Alessandra Pigni’s interaction with humanitarian professionals and backed up by cutting–edge research, these concrete tools offer new perspectives and inspiration to anyone whose work is focused on helping others.




Managing Humanitarian Relief 2nd Edition


Book Description

Managing Humanitarian Relief is aimed at the relief worker who in the midst of these complex situations is putting together a programme of action to help people in extreme crisis. It provides humanitarian relief managers with a single comprehensive reference for many of the management issues they are likely to encounter in the field.




Humanitarian Economics


Book Description

While the booming humanitarian sector faces daunting challenges, humanitarian economics emerges as a new field of study and practice--one that encompasses the economics and political economy of war, disaster, terrorism and humanitarianism. Carbonnier's book is the first to present humanitarian economics to a wide readership, defining its parameters, explaining its utility and convincing us why it matters. Among the issues he discusses are: how are emotions and altruism incorporated within a rational-choice framework? How do the economics of war and terrorism inform humanitarians' negotiations with combatants, and shed light on the role of aid in conflict? What do catastrophe bonds and risk-linked securities hold for disaster response? As more actors enter the humanitarian marketplace (including private firms), Carbonnier's revealing portrayal is especially timely, as is his critique of the transformative power of crises.