Paper details

Paper authors	Isabelle Desportes
In panel on	States and Humanitarian INGOs: Principles, Politics, and Identities
Paper presenter(s) will be presenting	In-Person / Online

Abstract

This article aims to examine the tensions between state and international non-governmental organizations (INGOs) in the increasingly common—yet still understudied—authoritarian and low-intensity conflict settings. It details the disaster response to cyclone Komen in 2015 Myanmar, characterized by state neglect towards minority groups, and restrictive and socio-politically volatile conditions for humanitarians to operate in. I ask if and which strategies INGOs devised for relief to reach minority groups, and with which success. Four months of qualitative fieldwork in 2017/2018 allowed to exchange with INGOs, but also international organizations and civil society actors operating in Rakhine and Chin, the two Myanmar states which were most hit by the cyclone and count numerous ethnic and religious minorities. INGOs find it challenging to generate and access trusted information, to rally the most strategic authorities and partners, and to manage how they are perceived by distinct domestic (i.e. state and societal entities in their diversity) and international audiences. Social navigation, the act of moving within a moving environment, emerges as a key process for INGOs to stay afloat multiple and rapidly evolving political realities. In low-intensity conflict settings, partnership building and supporting minorities in essence is a balancing act.

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