Ethics in Execution of Humanitarian Aid

million rupiahs to restore houses destroyed. Subsequently, the community did not want to clear out their house rubbles upon fear of not receiving compensation fee. This complaint was mentioned by university students who were volunteers in clearing post-quake rubbles and debris. Generally, humanitarian aid lacking involvement of recipient community is perceived as gift resulting in the lack of ownership. It would end differently if the community were initially involved in programs such as building clean water facility, restorationimprovement of houses, farmland, and roads, so that a sense of ownership grows along with a greater responsibility to build and nurture them well. 6. Degradation of human dignity Aid donors and providers sometimes treat aid recipients with less dignity. They are considered as second class citizens who have to obeyreceive whatever is distributed without regards to their actual needs or opinions. As is the case in Bantul, the community felt they had become a showcase and promotional object since several aid organizations only chose villages that were easily accessible and made them into facilities to promote their company or institution. The amount of aid given was actually insignificant but they invited mass media excessively to cover the story. They did not care that the villages had become targets of many aid organizations. They only prioritized their own interest and did not care of the fact that there were still many remote villages which had not received aid. 7. Abuse on women and children In an emergency situation, due to several attention required by victims, women and children could experience abuse or negative impact from arrival of other people. Children who were separated from or lost their parents could endure unwanted impacts being brought out of their villages by people with vague credibility. Their goal might be admirable in finding foster parents, however, the long term impact is frequently very grave. Since everything is intended to be done as quickly as possible, it is often the case that verification of the foster parent to be is not done thoroughly so the children would experience difficulty in their growth instead. That is also the case for teenage girls who could be deceived by offers from irresponsible parties that would ultimately exploit them for the benefit of the outside party. 8. Aid program disruptive to well established habitcustomreligion At times there are also humanitarian organizations that use their activities as a pretence to force messages that could disrupt unity and harmony of the community such as spreading a different religion. These kinds of practice could trigger conflict with the community which would put aid programs that have been executed properly and responsibly by other organizations at a disadvantage. On the other hand, there are organizations that truly strive to improve insensible or obstructive customs such as exorbitant dowry, excessive burial ceremony, etc. in the community. These organizations need to be appreciated for wanting to improve and amend traditions obstructive to the community’s rise of prosperity. 9. Humanitarian organizations competing in providing service to community in the same region Due to lack of coordination or intent of the program running on target, there is the possibility that two or more humanitarian organizations operate on the same region providing almost the same services. This situation can be used by the community to compare or even put organizations in contest which would result in an unhealthy situation. As an example, Organization A provides stipend to the first child of a family, while Organization B provides stipend to the second child of the same family with a slightly different amount resulting in their parents complaining over difference in the services