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How honest is the global humanitarian lottery? : Shared by Mukesh Kapila

How Honest is the Global Humanitarian Lottery? 

Mukesh Kapila 

Fading Causes (YouTube Channel) 

Click here for the video

Summary: Host Mukesh Kapila interviews Thomas Byrnes, CEO of MarketImpact and veteran of the IFRC, NRC, and DRC. 

Byrnes uses his experience founding the Cash Consortium of Yemen to illustrate how the humanitarian system functions like a "lottery" driven by political incentives and exchange rate inefficiencies rather than actual need. The conversation explores whether the aid sector is truly broken or simply functioning as designed to prioritize institutional interests over life-saving mandates. 

Quotes: 

"Is the humanitarian system broken, or is it functioning exactly as designed?"

"The real story [is] less about how much money exists and more about how the system chooses to use it."

"When organizations speak the language of collaboration but operate in a zero-sum environment, can true partnership exist?"

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