On 27 April 2017, people queued for food aid in the village of Makunzi Wali in the Central African Republic. A Reuters photograph identifies the date and place and says the distribution was delivered by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs and the World Food Programme.
Aid has not finished its journey merely because supplies reach a village. Recipients must be identified and limited goods handed out in order before assistance enters daily life. A queue can support fairness, while leaving outside the frame those unable to travel or wait. The success of food aid is measured not only by stocks in a warehouse, but by whether people in need actually receive them.