The decolonisation of aid. How do we approach such a sensitive subject? Should we do so? Are we the right people to take it on? All these questions were raised in Groupe URD before we decided that this would be the subject of our 17th Autumn School on Humanitarian Aid. We were influenced by the current geopolitical trend, with former colonies – those in the Sahel notable among them – demanding profound transformation in power relations between states. We were influenced too by growing demands from civil society in the ‘global South’ that their role be better recognised and supported by international aid actors. We were influenced by the antiracist struggles throughout society