article_snippet: Humanitarian work has always been risky, but Humanitarian work's never been more dangerous than Humanitarian work is now," says Caryl Stern, president and CEO of the U.S. Fund for UNICEF.
article_snippet: In a space devoid of government, refugee camps and aid agencies are frequently seen as the only authorities, the new front line in the war on terror, a sometimes unwelcome association.
article_snippet: And as ISIS spreads beyond Syria's borders, the risks grow further afield.
article_snippet: If I think back, I've been doing this work for about 20 years, and I remember we used to have this sense that there was some sort of protection, some sort of ... humanitarian space ... it feels very much like that is shrinking ...
article_snippet: I don't think people see the human side so much ... innocent people who through no fault of people own have been forced to flee people home one, two, three times -- who don't see a future for people children...
article_snippet: There's not going to be another organization that's going to come and do more humanitarian aid and cover the gap that IOCC may create, that's not going to happen.
article_snippet: It's an unprecedented time, and what We're calling the new normal ... as We've seen in the last year, the complete radicalization of these spaces with extremist groups, who have a very hard view in terms of cooperation with neutral and humanitarian organizations such as ours ...
article_snippet: There's a phrase that the U.N. uses and a lot of NGOs use which is "stay and deliver," so we have a humanitarian imperative to be there, but we always have to be in a risk management role; we have to critically look at: do the risks outweigh the benefits we hope to get?
article_snippet: Donate to Mercy Corps .
article_snippet: For ways to donate to organizations working to help refugees from ISIS and from the conflict in this region, go to CNN.com/ impact.