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Aid worker wellbeing

  • Anonymous woman in an urban environment

    Aid workers and sexual violence: survivors speak out

    Easy access to date-rape drugs, an isolated culture and lack of legal infrastructure creates the conditions for sexual assault to occur unpunished. What can be done?
  • Syrian refugees in frosty field

    Our favourite global development stories of 2016

    From refugees to aid worker safety, leaving no one behind to localising aid, it’s been a busy year for humanitarians and development folk. Catch up our coverage
  • Christmas celebrations in a school in Amritsar, India.

    An aid worker’s Christmas abroad – share your festive stories

    Spending Christmas away from home? Share your memories, photos and stories with us via GuardianWitness
  • Child at airport with family

    'We forgot to tell the kids that moving can suck': the challenges of working abroad

    A development worker explains the trials and tribulations of moving around the world with your family, using the five stages of grief (plus another ...)
  • FILE - In this Monday, July 25, 2016 file photo, a United Nations armoured personnel vehicle stands in a refugee camp in Juba South Sudan. A new report says United Nations peacekeepers fled their posts when fighting erupted in South Sudan’s capital in July, then used tear gas on frightened civilians who sought shelter within the U.N. base. The report on Wednesday, Oct. 5, 2016 by the U.S.-based Center for Civilians in Conflict adds to a growing list of incidents where peacekeepers have been accused of failing to carry out their mandate in South Sudan.(AP Photo/Jason Patinkin/File)

    Attack on aid workers in South Sudan: 'There was incredible naivety'

  • Doctor wearing stethoscope

    How should sexual violence be reported by humanitarian organisations?

    Caelin Briggs in Juba
  • turtle beach

    Secret aid worker: It's ok to not love this job all the time

    The upsides of humanitarian work (saving lives, travelling the world, meeting amazing people) makes it hard to admit it when you’re not enjoying the job
  • President Salva Kiir

    An eye for an eye is the wrong response to attacks on humanitarians

    Anonymous
    I survived the attack in which South Sudanese soldiers murdered and gang raped aid workers – but executing the perpetrators will not bring justice
  • Children sit on stairs in the refugee camp of Lagadikia, Greece.

    Why did you become a humanitarian? Aid workers share their motivations

    Whether out of a desire to help those in need or by accident, readers share their reasons for working as humanitarians – despite near death experiences
  • Middle aged couple having fun on the beach

    Going on holiday? Here’s how to switch off

    Taking time off is not a luxury but a necessity to ‘fill up the well’ and make the most impact back at work. Here are five steps to help you recharge
  • Bullet holes in a metal door that was shot open at the Terrain hotel compound in Juba, South Sudan.

    How should the media report rape and sexual violence?

    Megan Nobert
    Last week Jason Patinkin broke the story of horrific attacks and rapes of aid workers in South Sudan. But did his piece follow guidelines on rape reporting?
  • Chorizo and fennel bake with giant couscous and cherry tomatoes

    Food around the world – what recipes do aid workers bring home from the field?

    Do you remember that delicious meal you ate when you were on your last assignment? Share the best recipes you’ve brought from abroad
  • A Somali refugee wipes his face as he sits on sacks of food aid he received at a food distribution point in the Kobe refugee camp near the Ethiopia-Somalia border on July 19, 2011. Ethiopian authorities and non-governmental organizations have accomodated almost 25,000 refugees at the camp since it was set up less then three weeks ago. Thousands of Somalis have fled in recent months to neighbouring Ethiopia and Kenya in search of food and water, with many dying along the way, as the region suffers what the UN has described as the worst drought in decades. AFP PHOTO/ROBERTO SCHMIDT (Photo credit should read ROBERTO SCHMIDT/AFP/Getty Images)

    Escapism or altruism: what really motivates aid workers?

    Thomas Arcaro
    In a profession that can be dangerous and exhausting, researcher Thomas Arcaro’s new survey sheds light on what drives humanitarians
  • Counsellor and patient

    'I was raped and my counsellor asked me what I had been wearing'

    Danielle Dryke was raped while she was a Peace Corps volunteer in Mali. She didn’t expect her counsellor to make her feel that the attack was her fault
  • A plane carrying much needed UNHCR aid arrives in Yemen<br>A Yemen-based United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) worker inspects emergency aid supplied by the UNHCR arriving at Sana'a International Airport, in Sana'a, Yemen, 16 May 2015. The five day humanitarian ceasefire, now in its fourth day, came amidwarnings from aid agencies that Yemenis were facing a humkanitarian crisis, with 16 million of the country's 25 million people in need of basic goods, as overwhelmed health services were on the verge of collapse due in the main to a blockade which went hand in hand with Saudi-led coaltion airstrikes on positions held by the Houthis and their allies.

    Five tips for staying fit as an aid worker

    It can be tough to exercise in a conflict zone. Here are some tips from a triathlete aid worker
  • Evacuation helicopter vietnam

    How to ensure NGO staff feel safe during an evacuation

    By applying a few basic low-cost recommendations every NGO can improve their duty of care towards their staff working in dangerous locations
  • Sunset in Kathmandu Nepal

    Secret aid worker: is humanitarian work a career for escapists?

    The grass is always greener elsewhere for western expats, says one development worker
  • It was extremely difficult for Megan Norbert to return to South Sudan.

    I was raped in South Sudan ... then went back

    Megan Nobert
    Aid worker Megan Nobert went public about her ordeal while working for the UN, then returned to South Sudan a year later
  • Cartoon HR stress

    'How can aid workers protect their wellbeing while working in disasters?'

    Our expert panel shares advice on how to keep your team, and yourself, healthy and happy with working in disaster situations
  • Protestors against strike on Kunduz

    What makes a country dangerous for aid workers?

    The attack on Kunduz hospital in Afghanistan suggests that humanitarian work is becoming more perilous, but new research reveals the full picture is more complex
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