The Humanitarian Machine: Reflections from Practice

As the world reels from the impact of a global pandemic and increasing intensity of climate-caused hazards, the humanitarian sector has never been more relevant. But providing aid to those affected by disasters and crises is more complex than ever.

In The Humanitarian Machine aid workers reflect on their own experiences of working in crisis. As they write about their work and the ways in which they each approach the challenges of helping people, they comment on some of the most vexing issues facing the humanitarian sector. Each speaks from their own perspective, asking tough questions, sharing thoughtful reflections about their ongoing work, and unpacking what it really means to be a humanitarian worker. The stories they tell, whether recounting a specific experience or reflecting on years of practice, reveal the dilemmas they face and demystify the overly romanticized aura that sometimes surrounds humanitarian practice.

Complementing the candid accounts that humanitarian leaders contribute in this book, the editors examine how their stories, perceptions, and understandings align with similar conversations that take place in other settings. Viewed together in this way, the insights and reflections provided in this book will be invaluable for humanitarian practitioners, students, and researchers alike.

Diego Fernandez Otegui has almost 25 years of experience in emergency management and humanitarian affairs, working in East Timor, the Democratic Republic of Congo, India, Mozambique, Trinidad and Tobago, and Spain. He is a board member of the International Humanitarian Studies Association (IHSA) and Representative in the United States of the University Network of the Americas for Disaster Risk Reduction (REDULAC) and has a PhD in Disaster Science and Management at the University of Delaware, USA.

Daryl Yoder-Bontrager has worked for over 20 years in humanitarian assistance and community development with Mennonite Central Committee, ultimately becoming Director of its Latin America and Caribbean programs and helping to lead the organization’s responses to Hurricane Mitch in Central America and the 2010 Haiti earthquake as well as countless smaller disasters in the region. He holds a PhD in Disaster Science and Management at the University of Delaware, USA.