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What is it like to work in a humanitarian organization?
- Page updated onMarch 6, 2026
Many people interested in pursuing a career in international cooperation or humanitarian action are unaware of the inner workings of the organizations with which they might work.
It is important to understand how they are similar and how they differ. These particularities are not only reflected in their identity and mission, but also determine how professional functions are distributed and performed within each one. This can greatly condition the experience of each of the people who work in them.
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Why no two humanitarian organizations are alike
The humanitarian system has evolved over more than two centuries, and today consists of an enormous network of different types of organizations.
Beyond the classic differences between UN agencies and NGOs, to fully understand why no two humanitarian organizations are alike, it is necessary to delve deeper into other factors.
The historical context that motivated the birth of each organization largely determines its identity and values.
If there is one humanitarian organization radically different from all others, it is the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), founded in 1863. The ICRC is defined by its relationship to international law and the specific legal mandate given to it by the Geneva Conventions and States. It is therefore strongly linked to strict neutrality, impartiality and independence.
There are other actors, such as the major UN agencies (UNHCR, WFP, UNICEF) which, although born almost a century later, are intergovernmental bodies. Because of their mandate, granted by the member countries of the United Nations, and because of the way in which the architecture of the humanitarian system has been designed and has evolved, they concentrate two-thirds of all public humanitarian funding and lead, together with other more recent agencies (such as OCHA), their coordination. Their volume, however, also entails large levels of internal bureaucracy.
Although a few NGOs even predate the large UN agencies (such as Save the Children, founded in 1919), most are much more recent. Among the oldest is Médecins Sans Frontières, born in 1971 out of frustration at the humanitarian silence in the face of atrocities. This largely defines the identity of an organization that distances itself from silent neutrality in the face of atrocities and human rights violations. It is also a frontline emergency organization that often takes on greater operational risks.
Most of the NGOs that were born and developed since the 1990s did so in a context marked by the end of the Cold War and the genocide in Rwanda. Many of these organizations, despite also responding in emergencies and with a strong basis of respect for humanitarian principles, distance themselves from the previous ones by having a much more rights-based approach and by aligning themselves strongly with technical standards and coordination mechanisms that emerged in this period.
Finally, we have the organizations born in the first years of the 21st century. Many of these NGOs (many of which are national and local) are born with a very critical view of the humanitarian system in which they have been forced to develop and of its colonial foundations: a system controlled by UN agencies, in which Western NGOs dictate strategies and technical standards. They therefore call for a transfer of real power and humanitarian funding to communities and organized civil society in the countries where humanitarian crises occur.
The country of origin of the organizations also matters
Heterogeneity depends not only on the historical moment in which the organizations were born, but also on the place where they were born. In this sense, and although it is impossible to address the differences between all countries, it may serve as an example to explore some differences between European international NGOs and those in the United States.
Although there are many more factors that determine differences, there are certain relatively common geographical patterns, related to neutrality and dependence on state powers. Thus, European organizations have traditionally inherited the “Dunantist” values of the ICRC. Many, moreover, have traditionally been “rebellious” in their acceptance of international standards and highly critical of attempts to politicize international aid. Many U.S. organizations, however, start from a “Wilsonian” tradition, in which they accept strong links to their government's foreign policy and funding.
All this, in any case, is a somewhat simplistic reductionism that is sometimes simply incorrect.
Professional experience varies greatly between large and smaller organizations, or depending on the funding model.
The size of organizations, largely dependent on their funding model and volume, can also make big differences in their principles and values, and in the professional expertise of their teams.
There are large organizations where much of the work consists of expanding their growth, making their brand visible and trying to attract more funds and resources to be able to provide more and better humanitarian assistance. While their size may allow them to attract better talent and develop greater operational and technical capacity, it also means a significant administrative and bureaucratic burden and a distancing from communities.
In contrast, there are many small (generally local) organizations that maintain a very close proximity and trust with the communities in which they work, which gives them a great deal of knowledge of the operating context. However, their lesser access to financing to cover indirect and structural costs limits their possibilities for growth. They also have fewer resources to maintain security systems or to retain talented and experienced staff, who are in high demand by larger organizations that offer better working conditions and professional development.
Independence from public funding sources, or access to multi-year and flexible funding, mainly from private sources, also results in greater operational freedom. This also translates into less need for staff to spend time and effort searching for funding, writing projects for calls for proposals or being accountable to multiple donors with complex administrative requirements.
What functions exist within a humanitarian organization?
Despite the great differences between humanitarian organizations, all of them have staff covering essential functions. The difference sometimes lies in the number of people dedicated to these functions and their level of specialization, as well as the way in which these functions are distributed among departments, the weight of each of them and the way they relate to and collaborate with each other.
Technical and programmatic functions
Arguably, the core of any humanitarian organization is everything related to interventions in the field. This includes the context analysis and the design, implementation and monitoring of projects.
These functions are usually performed jointly by multidisciplinary teams. In organizations with a mission or mandate related to health, these teams include technical profiles more or less specialized in public health, sexual and reproductive health, nutrition, mental health, epidemiology, water and sanitation, or health and hygiene promotion, among other areas. Likewise, in these multidisciplinary teams, the technical staff works hand in hand with specialists in different fields related to project management, advocacy, and monitoring, evaluation and learning, for example.
The relevance of humanitarian interventions, their basis in the best available scientific evidence and lessons learned, their adaptation to the context and their alignment with the priorities and technical standards set by the humanitarian system as a whole depend on these teams.
Support functions
Project execution, however, is not possible without other indispensable functions, which support and guarantee the availability of resources, among other things. These include, for example, the following:
- Administration and finance, from where they handle everything related to accounting, budgeting, expense and income control and auditing.
- Marketing and fundraising, from where the branding and marketing strategy is directed, alliances are established with companies and private donors, and the collaboration of individuals who wish to donate or become members is sought.
- Communication, to let the general public know what we do and why we do it, either for awareness-raising or fundraising purposes.
- Personnel, to find, develop and keep the talent the organization needs.
- General Services, including information, courier, security, maintenance, cleaning, etc.
- Systems, for everything related to computer equipment, telecommunications, data security and digital tools.
- Logistics, including responsibilities related to purchasing and procurement, vehicle management, storage, stock, product distribution, and even security management, for example.
Strategic and governance functions
Finally, there is a third group of very varied functions that define the overall direction of the organization and lead the making of many key decisions.
The people who perform these functions are often the ones who make the difficult final decision on where to intervene and how to maintain the direction of the organization, its mission, values and principles in the face of threats and adversities. In addition, from these positions, at different levels, institutional relations with authorities, donors and other actors are often led. In many cases, the umbrella of these functions also includes the definition of important internal policies, such as those related to gender equality, transversalization of protection, localization, transparency and accountability, or environmental protection.
Internal structures and organizational models
It is logical to understand that while many of these functions are necessary in any type of humanitarian organization, there are huge disparities in how they are distributed and coordinated.
In large organizations there is often greater specialization and functional difference between geographic levels.
A small organization working in a small geographic area is not the same as a large NGO or agency working in multiple countries or forming part of an international network with common coordination mechanisms. The more staff there are, the more specialized the functions tend to be, whereas small organizations require a high degree of versatility.
Likewise, the work of the pediatrician who attends patients in mobile clinics is not the same as that of the pediatrician who provides support to teams in five provinces from the country's capital to guarantee technical standards, or the pediatrician who leads the development and implementation of technical guidelines or provides technical advice to her colleagues when they need it, for example. Although they share the same professional base, each of these people performs completely different functions (all complementary and necessary) that depend on how they are distributed according to an organizational model.
The degree of decentralization and the form of collaboration with other entities is also a determining factor.
In organizations with centralized structures, many key decisions are made only at the highest hierarchical levels. However, when organizational models are more decentralized, autonomy and responsibility in decision making tends to increase, which may require professional profiles with greater experience and capacity.
In addition, the experience of each professional may also vary depending on the working dynamics with other partner organizations. For example, when the direct implementation of activities is delegated to other actors working in consortium or alliance, the technical functions may become more of a supervisory, coordination or institutional strengthening role.
Working in humanitarian action
How to cite this page
Abarca, B. (March 6, 2026). What is it like to work in a humanitarian organization?. Salud Everywhere. https://saludeverywhere.com/en/humanitarian-careers/working-humanitarian-organization/
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