The good folks at the ICRC Law & Policy blog have been kind enough to post a new Humanicontarian blog on their site. This time, I’m responding to — really, just adding to — an earlier post by the ICRC’s Hugo Slim. The topic is as important as they come. Trust. The problem is that we humanitarians tend to discuss trust only halfway. We talk about the problem (and it is an important problem) of people not trusting us.

What’s the other half? It sits in our blindspot. The “more fundamentally humanitarian and costly problem may be the degree to which we humanitarians do not trust others.” This isn’t about feel-good platitudes. This is about power.

“At the center of the sector’s persistent resistance to change one finds mistrust, which manifests in a series of perceptions and beliefs: that local authorities, communities, people and NGOs are not democratic enough, not unbiased enough, not reliable enough, not expert enough, not neutral enough, etc. This mistrust functionally places on hold any shift in power and meaningful participation until the main (Western) donors and international agencies feel reassured that the local is ready. Mistrust is thus one pillar upon which the sector’s paternalism stands the test of time.”

Hope you enjoy the read. And thanks to the ICRC for being open to this discussion.