Plan
to Thrive is an activist health and wellbeing blog – a collaborative project to
encourage and support the health and wellbeing of people and groups engaged in
working for social and ecological justice. Plan to Thrive (plantothrive.net.au)
is a spin-off project from Plan to Win, a social movement support project based
in Melbourne, Australia, to assist individual, groups, and campaigns to develop
the skills to win change in the world.
Plan
to Thrive published my article on ‘Planning for aid workers to thrive’ on
Friday 12 May 2017. The article appears below:
Humanitarian aid
workers are at significant risk of burnout and trauma. Martina Nicolls explains
the challenges unique to aid workers and the fight for recognition and
effective change so far.
Humanitarian aid
workers worldwide want better work conditions and improved wellbeing in the
workplace. Aid workers often work in high-stress situations and environments,
including conflict zones. They are expected to be strong, psychologically
balanced, and charitable with their time. The downside is that aid workers may
be seen to be ‘weak’ or ‘ill-equipped’ for their job if they ask for help.
Humanitarians, by nature, focus on other people, and not themselves.
The Aid Worker
Security Database (AWSD) compiles information on major incidents of violence
against aid workers worldwide, including killings, kidnappings, and armed
attacks that result in serious injury. AWSD defines aid workers as both
international and national employees of non-profit aid agencies that provide
technical and emergency assistance in humanitarian relief contexts. The
Humanitarian Outcomes report, using the AWSD, documented 190 major attacks in
2014 against aid operations. In total, 329 aid workers in 27 countries were
affected – the second highest number on record. Major incidents are not the sole
concern of aid workers. In July 2015, before the World Humanitarian Summit in
Istanbul, Turkey, about 1,200 aid workers signed an online petition for
improved wellbeing in their industry.
The wellbeing factors
discussed included: burn-out from long work hours, post-traumatic stress,
treatment after critical incidents, psychosocial support, work-life balance,
improved security, LGBTI- inclusion, anti-bullying measures, fair contracts,
and decent rest and relaxation allowances.
The petition aimed to
unify aid workers to get the issue on the table at the inaugural World
Humanitarian Summit in Istanbul on 23-24 May 2016, especially to attract the
attention of organizations that hire aid workers to consider more effective
welfare support. Less than 1% of the estimated 450,000 humanitarian workers
across the globe signed the online petition. What would that have hoped to
achieve?
There are existing policies
and guidelines in place to improve wellbeing issues for aid workers. These
include the Antares Foundation Framework, the Interagency Standing Committee
Guidelines on Mental Health and Psychosocial Support in Emergency Settings,
Sphere Core Standards, and People in Aid Code of Good Practice.
However, there is no
universal, industry-wide wellbeing program to support staff. Organizations have
a duty of care to ensure the physical and emotional wellbeing of their staff,
and each organization is expected to have their own guidelines for support. The
reality is that wellbeing is often associated with ‘therapy’ and few agencies
have a comprehensive wellbeing program that considers all factors for wellness
on a day-to- day basis and for the longer-term. Given the number of global aid
agencies, few have even heard of the People in Aid Code.
The 2015 online
petition called on the 2016 World Humanitarian Summit to support a commitment
to the 8 Core Humanitarian Standard of Quality and Accountability policies that
advocate support for aid workers to do their job effectively and to be treated
fairly and equitably – i.e. for all humanitarian organizations to commit to an
investment in caring for the physical, mental, and psychological wellbeing for
aid workers so that they are better able to help others.
What happened next?
For the first time in the 70-year history of the United Nations,
secretary-general Ban Ki-moon, convened the 2016 World Humanitarian Summit – a
summit he had called for since 2012. Hence the summit was now on the world
stage, regarded as the first of its kind.
The summit was not
without controversy because it was not intergovernmental and it was seen to be
just another ‘gigantic jamboree’ resulting in some high-profile non-government
organizations (NGOs) pulling out of the proceedings. Nevertheless 9,000 people
attended. But aid worker wellbeing was only a minute part of the two-day
summit; the issue was presented in only two (out of the 112) ‘side events’ –
one by RedR UK and the other by Humanitarian Outcomes. In the UN
secretary-general’s report, Outcomes of the World Humanitarian Summit (23
August 2016; A/71/353) there was no mention of aid worker wellbeing programs,
initiatives, or codes – nothing. And no future summits have yet been announced.
The failure of the
issue of aid worker wellbeing to gain prominence globally means that aid
workers still have challenges in amplifying the message. Global campaigns,
petitions, and galvanizing advocates for change are still critical avenues to
explore.
What can individual aid
workers and organizations do? Few organizations have the finance to support
wellbeing initiatives, nor creative low-cost strategies to prevent workplace
stress. Few organizations consider the health of their own permanent staff, let
alone independent aid workers who work on short term assignments. Aid workers
are generally concerned about being stigmatized as weak, and are concerned
about termination, under-employment, or unemployment. Seeking help and
initiating discussions on health and wellbeing, particularly issues such as
burn-out and psychological stress, needs to be destigmatized. Talking about
issues and strategies for decompression and de-stressing are valid and should
be encouraged within organizations and aid agencies.
Importantly,
discussions about wellbeing need to separate the issues of major incidents of
violence, such as killings, kidnappings, and armed attacks, with ongoing duty
of care and wellbeing that enable aid workers to work effectively by reducing
stress and promoting work-life balance and fair work contracts. Aid workers
employed in aid agencies can advocate to ensure that the agency or organization
establishes policies and guidelines that are endorsed and supported by senior
management, using the existing guidelines and standards, particularly focusing
on mental health and safety issues. Aid workers have the right to expect an
enacted duty of care; a readiness program before going to conflict or hardship
zones; safety and security procedures in place throughout all assignments – to
the level of any anticipated threats; follow-up post-assignment debriefs;
psychological support; and other organizational support mechanisms to reduce
workloads, stress, mood fluctuations, depression, and other symptoms
detrimental to wellbeing.
Open, honest and
ongoing dialogue concerning risks to wellbeing should occur at the
organizational level – individually, through a buddy-system, or in small
groups. Individuals also need their own support mechanisms – partners, family,
friends, online and telephone help-desks, and associates – as well as
de-stressing activities, such as hiking, exercise, reading, movies, or lunch
with friends.
Until
the issue of aid worker wellbeing diverts from the current views of stoicism in
adversity and strength in silence, there is a critical ongoing need for
dialogue at all levels at all times. Conversations about health and wellbeing
need to begin in your own organizations and communities, and as an agenda item
in virtually every conference, seminar, and workshop that every aid worker
attends. To help others effectively, you must have your own wellbeing as a top
priority – and aid agencies and organizations must prioritize and support the
wellbeing of people they hire to help others
MARTINA NICOLLS is an international
aid and development consultant, and the author of:- The Shortness of
Life: A Mongolian Lament (2015), Liberia’s Deadest Ends (2012), Bardot’s Comet
(2011), Kashmir on a Knife-Edge (2010) and The Sudan Curse (2009).
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