Abstract

Humanitarian aid organizations are not perfect. Although their organizational goal derives from the mission to alleviate the effects of harm on civilian populations throughout the duration of conflict, several aspects of this mission have reached shortfalls and have been documented and critiqued. By asking the question to what degree do humanitarian aid organizations reflect neocolonial ideas about the “civilizing mission,” and what effect does that value system have on their ability to reduce harm suffered by conflict-affected populations this study explores the shortfalls that have been critiqued both logistically and internally, while assessing how these criteria impact the overall effectiveness of humanitarian aid. Hypothesizing that the presence of these values will increase harms experienced by conflict-affected populations, this study conducts a singular case study analyzing the intervention of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in South Sudan during the South Sudanese Civil War (2013-2020). With the independent variable of this study being neocolonialism and saviorism while the dependent variable encompassing a holistic set of both lethal and non-lethal harm, this study utilizes both qualitative and quantitative methods in order to determine whether a connection exists between embedded values and aid effectiveness. Support was found for the hypothesis confirming prior research on the embedded nature of neocolonial and saviorism values within humanitarian aid organizations, yet results were inconclusive due to a lack of available data distinguishing the ICRC’s effectiveness and statistics associated with the organization’s intervention. Finally, this study offers suggestions for future research for determining the validity of the hypothesis and scope of this study.

Advisor

Leiby, Michele

Department

Political Science; Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies

Keywords

Humanitarian aid, neocolonialism, humanitarianism, harm

Publication Date

2025

Degree Granted

Bachelor of Arts

Document Type

Senior Independent Study Thesis

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© Copyright 2025 Emma Jones