The Hidden Risk Nobody's Restructuring For: Burnout as an Infrastructural Crisis in Aid & Development

​Hosted by Justyna Linke

​The development and humanitarian sector is in crisis mode — but the loudest conversations are about funding, procedures, and project packaging. Almost nothing is being said about the people doing the work.

This session makes the case that staff mental health isn't a wellness perk — it's an infrastructural risk that is quietly undermining every restructuring effort happening right now.

Drawing on firsthand experience across UNDP country offices, innovation teams, and conflict-affected settings — as well as current research and psychology training — this session will:

• ​Present the data: What the statistics on burnout, substance use, and churn in aid work actually tell us

• ​Reframe the problem: From "we need well-being sessions" → to "we need to redesign how we sustain our people"

• ​Connect inner and outer change: How unaddressed mental health of practitioners limits genuine ownership, participation, and lasting impact in the communities we serve

​The session closes with a short individual reflection exercise — a practical tool to help you assess where you currently stand and what one structural shift in your own work context could look like.

Format: 30–40 min presentation + Q&A + individual exercise