Politicisation and Militarisation of Humanitarian Aid in the UK and Germany: Fact or Fiction?

In recent years, the expressions ‘politicisation of aid’ and ‘militarisation of aid’ are increasingly heard from non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and in the media to describe an apparently growing phenomenon: the linking of humanitarian aid with clear goals of foreign or security policy. While this might not be new for aid that states give out themselves, this now also applies to funds given to NGOs for their, supposedly independent, aid projects. This is seen as highly undesirable by NGOs. The most common line of argumentation is that this impacts negatively on their independence and neutrality and thus decreases acceptance from local communities. Is this an exaggerated claim by humanitarian NGOs or is aid actually politicised and militarised and if so in which ways? The paper will draw on recent examples from the United Kingdom and Germany, two countries in which moves by the government to link aid and security budgets can be observed. The paper aims to make a contribution to understanding the scope and impact the politicisation and militarisation of humanitarian aid has on the programmes of humanitarian NGOs.