Resources
Tired of hearing our opinions?
Browse our collection of books, videos, and other resources for humanitarian careers.
Books we like
Band-Aid for a Broken Leg: Being a Doctor with No Borders (and Other Ways to Stay Single) (2013)
By Damien Brown
We recommend because: If humanitarian aid had a prototypal image – the sector’s lone cowboy on horseback – it might be the solitary doctor in a remote village hospital. In his book, Brown both lives this quintessential aid worker experience and dispels its myths. Written with flair and humour, it covers Brown’s career as a doctor with Médecins sans frontières in Angola, Kenya, Mozambique, Sudan and Somalia. A must-read for future MSFers, and a really-should-read for budding aid workers of all stripes.
Chasing Chaos: My Decade In and Out of Humanitarian Aid (2013)
By Jessica Alexander
We recommend because: There are many aid worker memoirs, but Alexander’s is one of the best reads. The headline crises of her career (Darfur, Sierra Leone, Haiti) are no longer the humanitarian response epicentres that they once were, but Alexander’s journey, as she puts it, “from wide-eyed and naïve newcomer to hardened cynic and, ultimately, to hopeful but critical realist” is one that resonates with aid workers of any era. Check out the author’s personal site here.
Emergency Sex (And Other Desperate Measures): True Stories from a War Zone (2004)
By Kenneth Cain, Heidi Postlewait, and Andrew Thomson
We recommend because: The book is the classic behind-the-scenes portrait of aid worker life. If you don’t read it now, you’ll probably find copies lying around your NGO guesthouse in the field, or see someone reading it beside the pool while you’re on R&R. Published in 2004, its perspective is a tad outdated but its sketch of humanitarian living still rings true.
Sites we like
Humanitarians of Tinder: For all future — and currently single — aid workers, the site provides cautionary examples of how not to present yourself and your profession on dating apps.
50 Shades of Aid: The Facebook group bills itself as “a global support group for aid workers”, and it is the largest and most widely-known group of its kind. However, it’s only open to working professional humanitarians, so if you’re still in university you’ll have to wait to be admitted.
The New Humanitarian: Glossy and high-brow, the site is the closest thing that we’ll get to a humanitarian magazine. The online publication takes a serious look at humanitarian crises and related issues.
ReliefWeb: You’ve heard us reference it and link to it countless times already here on The Humanitarian Insider. The jobs section of ReliefWeb is the #1 place to find open positions.
The Humanitarian Insider: The site has been hailed by others (who exactly we cannot say) as one of the best humanitarian career resources on the web, and even one of the greatest websites on the entire internet (our sources remain anonymous).
Articles we like
By Peace Direct
We recommend because: This (very long) report offers a current and comprehensive look at the unequal power dynamics of aid work. It concludes that many aspects of the aid system “mirror and are derived from the colonial-era”, including the organisational structures of NGOs and the attitudes of international aid workers. If you intend on becoming one such international aid worker, this report (or at least the executive summary) is a must-read before starting your career.
The NGO Scramble: Organisational Insecurity and the Political Economy of Transnational Action (2002)
Alexander Cooley and James Ron
We recommend because: We discovered this article during our own postgraduate studies years ago. Nowhere else have we found a more accurate dissection of how the mechanics and pressures of the aid industry shape the work culture of humanitarian NGOs. Twenty years after publication, its analysis remains sharply relevant.
Video & audio we like
The Trouble with Aid (2012)
By Ricardo Pollack, BBC4
Watch on YouTube (2 hrs)
We recommend because: It offers a deeply critical look at the aid industry – a perspective that we believe is fundamental for anyone embarking on a humanitarian career with intentions of doing good. Essential viewing for aspiring aid workers. Read more about the film here.
Humanitarian (2018)
Watch on Vimeo (30 mins)
We recommend because: It provides a window into the national staff experience of working for a large international NGO in a protracted refugee response. The gorgeously-shot short film follows two Jordanian humanitarians working for the Norwegian Refugee Council in Zaatari refugee camp. If you don’t have thirty minutes to watch the whole film now, get a taste with the two-minute trailer.
Our Home In The Desert: Life Inside A Refugee Camp (2021)
By Real Stories
Watch on YouTube: Part One (1 hr) | Part Two (1 hr)
We recommend because: Through personal stories, the film touches on nearly all of the humanitarian career sectors that exist in a camp setting: medical services, food distributions, shelter, water, sanitation, and more. Refreshingly, the documentary portrays refugee camp life in a dignified and non-sensationalised manner. You can read The Guardian‘s review of the film here.
Frontline Negotiations: Stories from the Field
By The Centre of Competence on Humanitarian Negotiation (CCHN)
Listen on Amazon Music, Apple Podcast, Google Podcast, or Spotify
We recommend because: The podcast offers a unique window into the specialised — and often overlooked — niche of humanitarian negotiation. Using an intimate story format told by aid workers currently in the field, the weekly program paints a vivid picture of the work in bite-sized 15-30 minute episodes. The groovy intro music alone is worth a listen.