Humanitarian missions are becoming more common: The rescue of the "Boat People; disasters such as those in Honduras and Venezuela; wars: Lebanon, Zaire, Yugoslavia. These conflicts require interventions that are becoming increasingly more large scale.
In response, in addition to doctors and nurses, people such as heads of mission have come forward to help organize and manage missions.

Their role is vital: working in the country where their non-governmental organization or association works and operates, or in their home country, they represent their organization before local authorities, direct general policy issues and define the strategic orientations of the operation based on the information they receive.

They oversee other areas over which they are ultimately responsible.

Most of the time, they have assistants to whom they delegate some of their tasks.