Description
Using data collected with local and international NGOs in Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, this paper highlights the tensions between the ethical tenets and rights promoted by NGOs in their gender protection programming and the personal values and behaviours of the agents in charge of those programmes. By contrasting codes of conduct, programme materials and PSEA guidelines with NGO agents’ attitudes and experiences, the paper shows that agents working in protection programming may nevertheless hold gender-inequitable beliefs and display improper and harmful behaviour. This disconnect is analysed through the lens of integrity – understood as consistency with one’s values –, leading to a discussion of how agents at the forefront of gender protection perceive and interact with feminist accountability mechanisms. By using critical and post-colonial frameworks, this paper explores why some agents’ behaviour is inconsistent with protection standards, how they elucidate this discrepancy, and whether this says something about the perceived legitimacy of gender protection principles.
