publicradiointernational:

Somalia, September 2011. (Photo: Yann Libessart/MSF)

Doctors without Borders is one of the few aid groups that works in areas of Somalia controlled by al-Shabab militants. The aid group has just released a new book about the complexities of that sort of work. It’s called: Humanitarian Negotiations Revealed.

Duncan Mclean helps manage the group’s work in Somalia. He says that the hospital Doctors Without Borders operates on the outskirts of Mogadishu treats any injured individual, including al-Shabab fighters.

“A certain degree of that aid that we’re providing will be used for other ends than what we intended it to be,” Mclean said. “And it would be naïve to consider otherwise, to maintain this idealistic image of aid work.”

Full interview with Mclean here.