ABSTRACT
The reflections in this case study are integrated into my own trajectory as a humanitarian worker. The context under study is an active conflict zone where deep compromises must be made by humanitarian actors to provide assistance. The theme is not the security of the international staff but the consequences to national staff of security management decision-making. The case study is a ‘no-go’ area for international NGO expatriate staff due to a kidnapping risk and so a place where a ‘remote management’ system was in place. This meant that national staff were on the front line for day-to-day implementation of the humanitarian programming and were the ones sometimes to suffer the most. These are moral as well as operational dilemmas. The reflections are expanded to touch on the localisation agenda via the Covid-19 crisis.
