In the Eyes of Others: How People in Crises Perceive Humanitarian Aid.

The way humanitarian aid workers are perceived has recently attracted increased attention, mainly because of the emergence of new elements in crisis contexts that challenge the very foundations of humanitarian action, and of growing difficulties in accessing populations in conflict zones.1 Different studies have sought to understand the mechanisms that determine the perception of humanitarian action.2 The aim of this work is to develop the debate on the role of humanitarian action in crisis contexts through an evaluation of how MSF’s work is perceived in volatile environments.

By publishing the results of this research, MSF hopes to give something back to the people who have been interviewed during this survey, provide some tools to help understand the environment in which MSF staff work, and, finally, contribute to the debate about the place of humanitarian organizations in volatile contexts.