Ethical guidance or epistemological injustice? The quality and usefulness of ethical guidance for humanitarian workers and agencies.

Sheather, Julian; Apunyo, Ronald; DuBois, Marc; Khondaker, Ruma; Noman, Abdullahal; Sadique, Sohana; McGowan, Catherine R

Abstract

This paper explores the quality and usefulness of ethical guidance for humanitarian aid workers and their agencies. We focus specifically on public health emergencies, such as COVID-19. The authors undertook a literature review and gathered empirical data through semi-structured focus group discussions amongst front-line workers from health clinics in Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh and in the Abyei Special Administrative Area, South Sudan. The purpose of the project was to identify how front-line workers respond to ethical challenges, including any informal or local decision-making processes, support networks, or habits of response.The research findings highlighted a dissonance between ethical guidance and the experiences of front-line humanitarian health workers. They suggest the possibility: (1) that few problems confronting front-line workers are conceived, described, or resolved as ethical problems; and (2) of significant dissonance between available, allegedly practically oriented guidance (often produced by academics in North America and Europe), and the immediate issues confronting front-line workers. The literature review and focus group data suggest a real possibility that there is, at best, a significant epistemic gulf between those who produce ethical guidelines and those engaged in real-time problem solving at the point of contact with people. At worst they suggest a form of epistemic control-an imposition of cognitive shapes that shoehorn the round peg of theoretical preoccupations and the disciplinary boundaries of western academies into the square hole of front-line humanitarian practice. [Abstract copyright: © Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2022. Re-use permitted under CC BY-NC. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ.]

Citation

Sheather, J., Apunyo, R., DuBois, M., Khondaker, R., Noman, A., Sadique, S., & McGowan, C. R. (2022). Ethical guidance or epistemological injustice? The quality and usefulness of ethical guidance for humanitarian workers and agencies. BMJ Global Health, 7(3), Article 007707. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjgh-2021-007707

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Feb 15, 2022
• Publication Date: Mar 1, 2022
• Deposit Date: Apr 5, 2022
• Publicly Available Date: Apr 5, 2022
• Journal: BMJ Global Health
• Electronic ISSN: 2059-7908
• Publisher: BMJ Publishing Group
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 7
• Issue: 3
• Article Number: 007707
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjgh-2021-007707
• Keywords: Public Health, COVID-19, Health Personnel, Humans, Altruism, public health, Morals
• Publisher URL: https://gh.bmj.com/content/7/3/e007707