Working conditions of frontline aid workers
Working conditions of frontline humanitarians
A project with Humanitarian Aid International, Community World Service Asia, COAST Bangladesh and ECOWEB
The problem
Frontline humanitarian workers deliver aid in some of the world’s most challenging places. Over 90% of humanitarian staff are nationals of the countries they work and most frontline workers are employed by local and national NGOs. In 2023, national staff made up 96% of the aid workers who were victims of violence. Yet consolidated information about their working lives and conditions across contexts was limited: their pay, contracts, the protections they have, and their perspectives on these conditions. National NGOs have long argued that risk was being transferred to them without the funding to manage it, but the evidence base to support their case was patchy.
What we did
A group of national NGOs commissioned and led this study: Humanitarian Aid International in India, Community World Service Asia, COAST Bangladesh, and ECOWEB in the Philippines formed a steering committee and convened an advisory group of academics and other sector bodies. We worked closely with the organisations as part of the collective.
We built the study around four questions covering working conditions, access to resources and support, contracts and compensation, and the effect of all of this on wellbeing and effectiveness.
At the heart of the study was a survey of 734 frontline workers, distributed in six languages through the partners’ own networks and reaching over 60 countries across six regions. As far as we know, it was the first survey to capture frontline humanitarians’ views of their own working lives at this scale. We added 20 interviews with sector leaders, a review of more than 30 studies, and an analysis of pay and conditions in 208 online job adverts. Sixteen focus groups reached 107 national staff in Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, Iraq, Pakistan, the Philippines, and South Sudan, and were facilitated, transcribed, and translated by trained humanitarian workers from the partner organisations. Researchers from eight national organisations across Asia, Africa and the Middle East formed the research team, and we built an index method so results could be compared by organisation type, region, nationality, gender and crisis context.
The study found that many frontline workers faced significant risks with minimal protections. Nearly a fifth had no formal contract at all, rising to 43% in sub-national and community-based organisations, and 47% were on contracts shorter than a year. Expatriate workers earned over four times more than national workers, and INGO staff earned two times more than those in sub-national and community-based organisations. 38% of people in sub-national organisations had taken a second job in the past two years. Only 21% of frontline workers had insurance covering accident or death, and fewer than half had evacuation protocols, risk monitoring or security infrastructure. More than a third faced safety threats daily or weekly, two-thirds wrestled with ethical dilemmas in their work, and women frequently reported additional risks of harassment and sexual violence. A third felt overly stressed to the point it affected their ability to work, with safety, contract length and pay the biggest stressors, and stigma kept many from seeking support. The study argued that these conditions stem from project-based funding with low overheads, which often left local and national organisations unable to fund duty of care. Despite these challenges, smaller organisations received higher ratings for organisational culture: 70% of sub-national and local NGO workers called their organisation supportive, compared with 39% in INGOs.
Making it accessible
Alongside these statistics, the published report drew heavily on quotations and first-hand accounts, along with illustrations of some of the frontline workers included in the report. The consortium launched and promoted it through its own networks and platforms, and ALNAP, ReliefWeb, the Global Fund for Community Foundations, and others also picked it up.
What happened next?
One recommendation asked organisations employing frontline workers to develop a Bill of Rights setting out minimum standards on treatment, compensation, wellbeing and safety, and to advocate collectively for it. HAI drafted a Charter of Rights for Frontline Humanitarian and Community Workers and consulted partners on the Charter through 2025. The Charter launched at the Regional Humanitarian Partnership Week in Bangkok in December 2025 and is now open for endorsement. The findings have also been cited in advocacy on humanitarian accountability, and HAI has used them to argue for practical measures, including accident insurance for frontline workers and community volunteers.
GPS
Global, 2024
Research team
Liddy Greenaway, Nishant Joshi, Rajeev K. Jha, Linda Ahimbisibwe, and Lydia Tanner