Aid agencies reflect on 2022

The year has seen huge humanitarian challenges: war in Ukraine, looming famine in Somalia, protracted crises in Afghanistan, Yemen, and Syria. This week on the Inside Geneva podcast, aid agencies reflect on the year.

“One of the things we see is that wars are not ending, they’re lasting, they’re enduring,” says Jason Straziuso, spokesperson at the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).

“There is no health without peace, so the only solution is peace, in these countries,” says Tarik Jasarevic, spokesperson at the World Health Organization (WHO).

“It just seems that we are in a situation of crises after crises,” says analyst Daniel Warner.

How hard is it for aid workers to keep going?

“It is frustrating to go back to a place and talk again about a place year after year and things are not getting better,” says Jasarevic.

Is the work of humanitarian organisations even sustainable?

“Humanitarians can’t substitute for the state. We can’t step in for the medical system, we can’t step in for the water system. We do in fact do that kind of work, but eventually the state has to take over because this is not a job in the long term for humanitarians,” says Straziuso.

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