Thesis advisor: Donald Hafner / This essay examines the effectiveness of international humanitarian aid. It focuses on the case study of Medecins Sans Frontiers (MSF), analyzing how its organizational structure and principles can act as a measure for the effectiveness of its field operations. MSF's HIV/AIDS clinics throughout Kenya as well as their international campaigning efforts are presented as an effective way to provide access, care, and treatment for HIV/AIDS. The overall conclusions of the essay draw specifically from MSF, suggesting that their long-term aid commitments should expand in both breathe and depth and that the organization is a model of effectiveness for other large international humanitarian aid organizations to follow. / Thesis (BA) — Boston College, 2005. / Submitted to: Boston College. College of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: International Studies. / Discipline: College Honors Program.

The international aid sector is a multi-billion dollar industry that has continued to grow in size, influence and complexity since the 1970s. The stakeholders are globalised and diverse, from elite UN politicians in New York and Geneva to malnourished infants in Somalia. This study attempts to focus on the professional development of one category of player in this multifaceted sector, that is the expatriate field leader employed international non-government organisations (INGO) and responsible for the implementation of projects in a cross-cultural environment. The study found that relationships, results, and grit were three foundational traits of exemplary expatriate filed leaders in the international aid sector. This collective case study takes a grounded theory approach to explore the professional journeys of 12 exemplary expatriate field practitioners in the international aid sector who work in Central Asia, Middle East, and North Africa with ten different INGOs and have an average of 12.5 years of field experience. The participants were nominated for the study by their supervisors or peers as being exemplary field leaders. The study purposes to gain insight into the professional journey of exemplary field leaders by examining their work-life experience from age 18 until present. Biographic narrative interviews were conducted and supplemented with professional development timelines to create the initial data set. The study provides insight into the processes of professional identity formation of expatriate aid workers and identifies seven events that shape their professional self-identity. These experiences consist of a variety of reflected appraisals and intrinsic rewards that validated or changed how the research participants saw themselves. Participants credited good relationships and seeing the results of their work as what keeps them going in spite of difficulties. On the other hand, the most difficult work experiences of the aid workers were not carjacking, riots, dust, heat, bugs, strange food, or low funding but relational conflicts and the grief associated with relational disappointments. Interpersonal relationships were core to both the best experiences and the most difficult experiences of the research participants. Gritty appears to be a better construct to describe exemplary field leaders than resilient. Grit is a trait defined as perseverance and passion for long-term goals. The research participants demonstrated grit in many situations, not least of which was in their commitment to learn the local language in-situ of crisis-affected people. The research participants believed that learning local languages was a key to establish and maintain meaningful relationships and cooperation with local people. The study also includes a discussion of an apparent incongruity in the international aid sector. On one hand the sector promotes the necessity of humanitarian professionals to establish and maintain collaborative relationships with crisis-affected people, but survey evidence suggests most workers in the humanitarian sector put a low priority on learning the languages of crisis-affected people while others do not have sufficient opportunity to learn the local languages because of the well-entrenched tradition of short-term employment contracts of 1-12 months and the practice of churning (rotating experienced staff from project to project). It appears that the current system of doing business in the humanitarian sector may actually obstruct professional competence and contribute to failed outcomes.

This thesis examines the operational delivery systems of information-centric Mass Claims Processes. Empirical data is presented which builds upon existing literature within the Operations Management discipline. This thesis aims to extend the area of knowledge which focuses on the rendering of assistance to very large groups of individuals disadvantaged through particular events such as armed conflict, civil unrest, acts of government and other similarly sweeping actions. One such approach of aid delivery is through a legal process known as a Mass Claims Process which delivers assistance. This research examines how this assistance is rendered to the individual, the ‘claimant’, through a legally guided and controlled analysis of claimant-provided information. Such organisations are typically either publicly funded or funded through social schemes, which introduces significant pressure for efficiency. Similarly, the legal nature of MCPs emphasises the need for accuracy in the delivery of justice and law. The research addresses a number of areas not fully explored by the extant literature. There is a lack of research which explores the apparent trade-off between efficiency and accuracy in large scale legal services. Little empirical evidence exists on the application of Postponement strategies in information-centric operations. This research also investigates a previously unexplored context in which strategic frameworks must find optimal alignment between the service concept and the design of the delivery system in a restricted and challenging environment. Fieldwork was carried out over a three year period in two separate organisations, and utilised a polar case approach to increase the validity of the findings. The phenomenon of information interrelation, previously unidentified in the literature, is shown to have significant impact in this context. Several models are presented to describe the dynamic relationships between the characteristics and the strategic choices of the MCP. The results produce a set of findings illustrating optimal design choices for the key delivery system characteristics associated with MCPs. The financial impact of such organisations reaches into the billions (USD), and will continue to be a significant economic consideration for the foreseeable future. As such, research in this area has the ability to increase the efficient use of organisational resources for the organisations, while improving the service for the applicants. Whilst this thesis contributes to the body of knowledge for delivery system design, further research is welcomed, especially on the phenomenon of information interrelation, for the growing area of information-centric organisations.

The instance of rice aid in Haiti definitively demands a reevaluation of humanitarian aid in today's world. In this thesis, I will outline the effects of rice aid on Haitian society and theoretically analyze humanitarian aid’s presence in “developing” countries. In addition to ruining many Haitian farmers' livelihoods, rice imports have aggravated Haiti's economic situation and national stability, the consequences of which have fallen primarily on the poor woman. I focus on the effects on the peasant woman in this thesis. Food insecurity remains a crisis. Throughout my thesis, I draw from the texts of scholars Slavoj Zizek, Jacques Rancière, and Noam Chomsky, in order to attempt at understanding what is really going on here. Such theorists illuminate the historical and theoretical analysis of humanitarian aid and the concept of human rights that said-aid seeks to protect. The purpose of my thesis is to shed new light on the business of humanitarian aid, using rice in Haiti as a case study of sorts. I seek to uncover the role international donor institutions have played in reinforcing the fragile state in Haiti as a result of rice aid, arguing that humanitarian aid has done more to prevent than to inspire sustainable progress in Haiti especially in rural Haiti that continually gets hit the hardest during economic crises such as the one brought on by humanitarian aid in the form of rice.

Many of the recent armed conflicts have taken place in cities of the Developing World. In the resulting emergency situations, water supply and sanitation are among the most essential services to restore. They form part of the urban services available to the city dwellers that are commonly managed by local water sector institutions. This is, in principle, acknowledged by aid agencies but partnerships between them and water sector institutions do not always happen because of concerns such as: independence vis-a-vis the local government; possible corruption arid inefficiency problems; and political obstacles. Moreover, agencies prefer short-term structural rehabilitation to long-term institutional development, for which they do not always feel sufficiently qualified and experienced. This study tackles the problem by determining how these partnerships influence the performance of aid operations, in particular in terms of efficiency I effectiveness in the case of emergency response and of sustainability and coverage in the case of rehabilitation. It is based on a number of case studies selected in: Kabul (Afghanistan); Jaffna (Sri Lanka); Monrovia (Liberia); Beni (Democratic Republic of Congo); Port-au Prince and Port-de-Paix (Haiti), and Grozny (Chechnya in the Russian Federation). For emergency operations, findings show that partnerships tend to take place when the type or level of technology involved and/or security conditions do not allow the aid agency to work independently from water utilities. Partnerships do not necessarily influence efficiency I effectiveness in the short term but are beneficial because they prepare for rehabilitation. In terms of rehabilitation, findings suggest that current practice maintains a separation between large-scale rehabilitation projects and community-based projects focusing on specific neighbourhoods. This has a detrimental effect on sustainability and fails to address the needs of the most vulnerable populations. The study recommends a more coordinated approach that involves a reform of funding patterns, in order to reconcile sustainability and universal service.

The aim of this research was to develop and validate a conceptual design management model for international, collaborative remote site projects. In the last decade or so there has been an increasing number of remotely located and often environmentally sensitive sites becoming the focus for development work involving potential investors/entrepreneurs/stakeholders or government and non-government agencies. There were no previously documented empirical examples, nor theoretical models, for remote site design management. Projects on remote sites are frequently government funded, making the approval processes, and timelines for example, subject to political influence, which means that the projects are potentially more difficult to manage, at all levels of involvement. The conceptual model was developed in association with the development of a typology for remote sites, and an investigation of three previously completed eco-resort and Antarctic science projects located on environmentally sensitive world heritage sites. The model responded to and reflected the perceived need for a well-integrated management approach to remote site projects. The research aimed to also demonstrate the potential portability of the model, in terms of offering a basis for a relevant management framework for built environment projects, international scientific drilling projects and international humanitarian aid projects. Grounded theory and case-study methodology were adopted when developing the typology, the conceptual model and when validating the design management model, as it involved empirical enquiry that afforded investigation of the remote site design management phenomenon within a real-life contexts. Two main case studies were undertaken to test the model, one being an historical Antarctic Science Drilling Project and the other, a current UN Humanitarian Project in Sudan. The findings to date support the conceptual design management model as being relevant for not only non-profit and/or Humanitarian Aid projects in the Post-disaster Reconstruction context, but also for commercially based Antarctic Science projects. Subsequently, the model has also been applied to a Post-disaster Reconstruction project in Aceh managed by the Jesuit Refugee Services (JRS).

The instance of rice aid in Haiti definitively demands a reevaluation of humanitarian aid in today's world. In this thesis, I will outline the effects of rice aid on Haitian society and theoretically analyze humanitarian aid’s presence in “developing” countries. In addition to ruining many Haitian farmers' livelihoods, rice imports have aggravated Haiti's economic situation and national stability, the consequences of which have fallen primarily on the poor woman. I focus on the effects on the peasant woman in this thesis. Food insecurity remains a crisis. Throughout my thesis, I draw from the texts of scholars Slavoj Zizek, Jacques Rancière, and Noam Chomsky, in order to attempt at understanding what is really going on here. Such theorists illuminate the historical and theoretical analysis of humanitarian aid and the concept of human rights that said-aid seeks to protect. The purpose of my thesis is to shed new light on the business of humanitarian aid, using rice in Haiti as a case study of sorts. I seek to uncover the role international donor institutions have played in reinforcing the fragile state in Haiti as a result of rice aid, arguing that humanitarian aid has done more to prevent than to inspire sustainable progress in Haiti especially in rural Haiti that continually gets hit the hardest during economic crises such as the one brought on by humanitarian aid in the form of rice.

The aim of this research was to develop and validate a conceptual design management model for international, collaborative remote site projects. In the last decade or so there has been an increasing number of remotely located and often environmentally sensitive sites becoming the focus for development work involving potential investors/entrepreneurs/stakeholders or government and non-government agencies. There were no previously documented empirical examples, nor theoretical models, for remote site design management. Projects on remote sites are frequently government funded, making the approval processes, and timelines for example, subject to political influence, which means that the projects are potentially more difficult to manage, at all levels of involvement. The conceptual model was developed in association with the development of a typology for remote sites, and an investigation of three previously completed eco-resort and Antarctic science projects located on environmentally sensitive world heritage sites. The model responded to and reflected the perceived need for a well-integrated management approach to remote site projects. The research aimed to also demonstrate the potential portability of the model, in terms of offering a basis for a relevant management framework for built environment projects, international scientific drilling projects and international humanitarian aid projects. Grounded theory and case-study methodology were adopted when developing the typology, the conceptual model and when validating the design management model, as it involved empirical enquiry that afforded investigation of the remote site design management phenomenon within a real-life contexts. Two main case studies were undertaken to test the model, one being an historical Antarctic Science Drilling Project and the other, a current UN Humanitarian Project in Sudan. The findings to date support the conceptual design management model as being relevant for not only non-profit and/or Humanitarian Aid projects in the Post-disaster Reconstruction context, but also for commercially based Antarctic Science projects. Subsequently, the model has also been applied to a Post-disaster Reconstruction project in Aceh managed by the Jesuit Refugee Services (JRS).

This thesis investigates the ways in which children were included in the disaster management efforts of four major humanitarian aid organizations following the 2013 typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines. Central concepts are resilience, vulnerability and participation, and the study builds on how these concepts relates to one another. The study examines both the prevalence of efforts addressing children as active participants, as well as the specific forms of active participation that they constitute. Program evaluation reports by Oxfam, UNICEF, IFRC and Save the Children were examined through a qualitative content analysis. The results indicate that contrary to suggestions of previous studies, humanitarian organizations did include children as active participants in their disaster management efforts following typhoon Haiyan. Additional findings include the dominance of school-based participatory efforts, as well as limitations in addressing power structures potentially preventing the long-term resilience-building of children.

This master dissertation is focused on a humanitarian photo and its role in construction of "the others". By the example of the cholera outbreak in Zambia in 2010 I examine how the humanitarian photo works in respect to the process of otherization. Employing a qualitative research approach (particularly a case study) and an argumentation based on analytic generalization I suggest that each humanitarian photo necessary contains documenting and selling dimension because the humanitarians, on the one hand, speak on behalf of people in need and try to witness particular reality in their visual campaigns; and on the other hand they need to rise funds to be able to provide this humanitarian aid or development assistance, keep their work and authority of the organisation.