Humanitarian action in the Asia-Pacific during COVID-19: new challenges, modalities, and cooperation

Development from a distance: Exploring an international non‐profit's interactions with communities during the COVID‐19 pandemic

“…For example, one American staff member shared the difficulties of conducting international development work from a geographic distance: This staff member recognized the implicit differences that come with working with an intercultural staff in the international development sector: each group brings their lived experiences and personal lenses with them. By critically reflecting on their Western positionality within the sector, it is possible for American staff members to incorporate intersectionality and intercultural competence into the culturally diverse dance of international development, going beyond technical expertise with the opportunity to positively affect the success of projects designed and implemented by multicultural teams in these contexts (Collier, 2014;Hegwood, 2020).…”

“…The international development sector includes humanitarian, economic, and environmental actors tasked with alleviating poverty, inequality, and conflict. At the onset of the COVID‐19 pandemic, the sector experienced resounding disruption of international non‐governmental organization (INGO) work around the world (‘How Will COVID‐19 Affect the Role of NGOs?’, 2020; Cook & Chen, 2022; Rurka, n.d.). INGO staff were impacted by cancelled field work, withdrawn staff, field staff made redundant, funding reductions, and diminished field resources due to the economic and global health impacts of the pandemic (Blum, 2020; Cornish, 2020; Diaz, 2020; Kumar, 2020).…”