Logos On Aid Supplies: Helpful, Demeaning ... Or Dangerous?
It seems like a pretty simple thing. When a humanitarian group hands out bags of food or sets up toilets for people who are poor or recovering from a crisis, the group puts its logo on the product.
It's a way of taking credit, which makes donors happy. It's a way of letting the recipients know where to complain if there's a problem. And if you're sitting at home and catch the logo on a TV report, you might be inspired to contribute to that particular charity.
But now, some people are questioning the branding of aid goods.
The first concern: How do the logos make aid recipients feel?
, an international reporter and, tweeted an image of a corrugated latrine door from a trip to the Bidi Bidi refugee camp in Uganda in May. Oversize signs for the U.K.'s Department for International Development and UNICEF, the U.N. children's agency, take up nearly half of the door.
