Paper details

Paper authors	JULES VILLA
In panel on	Ebola and accountability
Paper presenter(s) will be presenting	In-Person / Online

Abstract

Spontaneously, accountability in the aid world refers to the responsibility borne by Global North structures (NGOs or donors for instance) to the assisted population. However, the immense majority of humanitarian personnel are ‘national staff’, oftentimes locals living with and among the beneficiaries of aid. Given the terrible reputation of the Ebola response in eastern DRC, how were the locals involved held accountable by their acquaintances ? What did these frontline workers think of the overall response and what changes did they try to introduce to it? This paper aims to shed light on the conflict of belonging that arose from this situation and describes the relational and interpretative work of the local staff through testimonies of how they felt as part of two entities that were a priori opposed : the Ebola response and the affected population.

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