Dr Larissa Fast contributes to 'Aid Workers: Ethics under Fire' exhibition

The Humanitarian and Conflict Response Institute’s Director of Research, Dr Larissa Fast, has worked with The Imperial War Museum North’s (IWM North) to develop their new exhibition Aid Workers: Ethics under Fire, which opened on 2 October 2020. Larissa’s research focuses on the causes and consequences of violence against aid workers, who may be threatened, injured, kidnapped or killed, and on attacks on healthcare and their impact.

IWM North invite guests to interact with the practical and ethical dilemmas that aid workers in humanitarian organisations face in assisting and protecting vulnerable populations fleeing conflict. Its website explains:

“Through combining personal ‘in the field’ testimonies and scenario-based interactives, you can put yourself in the shoes of an aid worker and consider how you might respond to complicated decisions about the reach of aid, funding, responsibility and risk.

The exhibition reveals the dilemmas encountered while operating in areas including Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, South Sudan, Syria and Yemen, from which over 17.5 million people have collectively fled due to recent conflict*”^[1]

As a member of the advisory group for the exhibit, Larissa contributed to developing the interactive scenarios that ask visitors to consider how they might respond to the complicated and difficult decisions about risk, funding, and who to help. She tells us ‘It has been a privilege to work with the IWM team and to think through how the exhibit can help the general public understand more about the everyday dilemmas and experiences of aid workers in conflict situations.’

The exhibition is held at IWM North in Salford and forms part of IWM’s Refugees, a free season of exhibitions which ends on 31 May 2021.

Find out more about Larissa’s research on her research profile.

[1] IVM North https://www.iwm.org.uk/events/aid-workers-ethics-under-fire . * Statistic sourced from UNHRC’s Global Trends, Forced Displacement in 2018 report and UNHRC’s Global Appeal 2018 - 2019.