Humanitarian Groups Put at Risk by Aid Policies, Oxfam Says

A new report from Oxfam says governments’ military and security goals are driving their spending on foreign aid, a circumstance the international relief charity says compromises humanitarian workers in sensitive locations, AlertNet writes.

The Oxfam study, released Thursday, said in the last decade countries have increasingly channeled aid to Afghanistan and Iraq, at the expense of scores of other conflict-ridden and impoverished countries, such as the Democratic Republic of Congo and Somalia.

Long-term development and anti-poverty efforts “are being damaged where aid is used primarily to pursue donors’ own narrow political and security objectives,” Oxfam said. The charity contended the trend also threatens aid workers because local residents often view them as adjuncts of foreign militaries.