This paper seeks to reflect on the often
difficult interplay between humanitarian organisations and the military.
It looks primarily at three countries where Ockenden International works:
Sudan (south), Afghanistan and Iraq.
It argues that notions of the neutrality
of NGOs are difficult to apply in practice. While we may seek to find a
balance in situations of conflict, we wonder if it is largely for our own
benefit rather than any concrete reality. Even if we see ourselves as neutral,
the populations we work with often will not. And the work we do will inevitably
have an impact on a conflict situation.
The boundaries of neutrality and humanitarian
space, never very sharp perhaps, are gradually becoming ever more blurred
or non-existent. In recent conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq this has been
even more the case. Are we striving for the impossible when we seek to
impose the N in NGO?