Ethical Challenges Encountered by Humanitarian Aid Workers in Temporary Displacement Camps in the Context of Covid-19

Humanitarian aid workers face several ethical challenges. They work in resource-limited settings, navigate power imbalances and face obstacles responding to populations affected by crisis. The Covid-19 pandemic added additional layers of challenge in places such as camps for refugees and internally displaced persons. However, the impact of the pandemic in these settings was varied, and in many cases, less than anticipated, raising questions about calibration of Covid-19 prevention and response to local realities. We conducted an exploratory qualitative descriptive study to better understand humanitarian aid workers' experiences in temporary displacement camps in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic. We interviewed 10 humanitarian aid workers with pandemic experience working in the Middle East, Africa, Asia and Europe, among others. Participants described ethical challenges, including implementing proportionate Covid-19 prevention strategies while mitigating harms of this response; navigating an environment with misinformation; responding to expectations of external authorities; fulfilling aid worker obligations amidst a global pandemic; questioning power imbalances within the humanitarian aid organizational hierarchy. Further understanding these ethical challenges may help orient training and policy to support responses to the needs of displaced populations in future public health emergencies, as well as better support humanitarian aid workers in these situations.