Centering the Experiences of Women in the Humanitarian Sector

In the summer of 2019, an open-ended question was posted on a Facebook group for women in the aid sector, asking what challenges women faced working in humanitarian settings. Responses were overwhelming and disturbing. Following this, a group of women decided to collect this data in a more systematic way, drafting a survey that was then passed around social media.

Within five days, 600 women had responded. It was clear that women were eager to share their stories.

VOICE, in partnership with the Arab Institute for Women (AiW), is hosting a panel just after World Humanitarian Day to discuss women’s experience in the world of humanitarian aid and calling attention to the neocolonial ways in which aid is delivered, making it racist, distinctly non-feminist and anti-women. This conversation will center around how we envisage a new world with a feminist approach to delivering humanitarian aid and women-centered aid worker safety and security.