The Dangerous Business of Aid A Report on the Risks to Aid Workers in the Field October 2, 2009 Prepared by: Prepared for: Noel Bauer, MA Melissa Thomas, JD, PhD
[email protected] [email protected] Associate Professor of International The author’s views expressed in this Development publication do not necessarily reflect the The Johns Hopkins University views of the Paul H. Nitze School of The Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced Advanced International Studies or Johns International Studies (SAIS) Hopkins University. 1740 Massachusetts Ave., N.W. Washington, D.C. 20036 Cover photo by: Pierre Holtz for OCHA, Creative Commons License 2.0 The Dangerous Business of Aid: A Report on the Risks to Aid Workers in the Field Introduction Over the past decades, a steady flow of articles have warned of the dangers to aid workers, but decried the lack of rigorous study. However, in the last several years various investigations have provided good data on a number of threats to aid workers. Although much remains to be done, there is growing evidence to prove that aid work is an increasingly dangerous business. Increased awareness of the risks to aid workers comes at a time when the field is growing rapidly. A study by the Overseas Development Institute (ODI) shows that the humanitarian worker population alone has more than doubled from 136,204 in 1997 to over 290,000 in 2008 (Stoddard, Harmer, and Haver 2006; 2009). The purpose of this report is to give the International Development Department of Johns Hopkins University’s Paul H.