Why Ukraine is moving the needle on old debates about humanitarian neutrality

Neutrality’s effectiveness, let alone its ethics, repeatedly come under question in conflict. Ukraine is the latest crisis to challenge humanitarian orthodoxy. It continues to challenge conventional interpretations of neutrality, led by a Ukrainian aid movement that benefits from enough public goodwill and financial independence to keep an arm’s length from the wider international aid sector.

The New Humanitarian spoke to 12 programme staff, researchers, or managers in international and national NGOs who described how neutrality is being questioned, the repercussions for aid, and what the future may hold.