The Overview podcast: do NGOs help or harm?

Critics have highlighted potentially harmful consequences of humanitarian aid work

Red Cross workers
(Image credit: Carlos Becerra/Getty Images)

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Non-governmental organisations (NGOs) support millions of people facing poverty, natural disasters, wars and other crises. But in recent years, international NGOs have faced increasing scrutiny, with critics asking whether they sometimes do more harm than good.

Who decides if a mission has been successful, and do we need a global watchdog for NGOs?

Presented by Julia O’Driscoll, with The Week’s Joe Evans and guests Miriam Bradley, an associate professor at the Barcelona Institute for International Studies, Gabriela Luz, the interim deputy humanitarian director of Oxfam’s Global Humanitarian Team, and Dr Gina Yannitell Reinhardt, professor of government at the University of Essex.

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