The democratic deficit in global aid: Why humanitarian power needs public accountability : Shared by Niloufar Pourzand

The democratic deficit in global aid: Why humanitarian power needs public accountability 

 By Aarathi Krishnan – August 19, 2025 

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Summary

Aarathi Krishnan argues that the humanitarian sector exercises sovereign authority without democratic accountability, operating like statecraft while shielding itself behind the principle of neutrality. 

Humanitarian organisations deliver essential services, negotiate with armed actors, and manage inclusion systems, yet remain unaccountable to those affected. 

This lack of oversight, she contends, entrenches colonial-era frameworks and donor imperatives that overlook grassroots innovations already shaping survival. Case studies from Sudan, Venezuela, and the Horn of Africa illustrate how communities are creating new governance structures that outperform traditional aid, while humanitarian planning remains trapped in cyclical, technical thinking. Krishnan concludes that humanitarian action must evolve into transparent, accountable statecraft—acknowledging its political nature and practicing governance contestable by the people it affects—if it is to confront accelerating risks like mass evictions, digital exclusion, and corporate land seizures.

Quotes

“The real issue isn't that neutrality has collapsed, but that humanitarian authority has never been democratically accountable.”

“These represent governance structures in their own right, deriving authority from effective service delivery and dispute resolution rather than international mandate.”

“The sector risks endlessly repeating its past, unable to imagine or prepare for forms of vulnerability and harm that fall outside this narrow frame.”

“Instead of concealing political choices behind principle, organisations could practise transparent authority that acknowledges the political visions they implement.”

“Let World Humanitarian Day 2025 mark the transition from virtue to deliberate statecraft: where humanitarian action exercises authority that shapes collective futures.”