and the U.N. or NGO steps in to "save the day"
are we assuming that they are un-civilised or un-cultured to have enough IQ or empathy to correct course?

That brings to mind some policies implemented for non whites in the US that ultimately insult them because they rely on an assumption that they are less intelligent. A common occurance when it comes to organizations it seems. Rather than asking communties what they can do to help they decide for them what they think they need.

A friend used to live in Darwin and told me about how at one point the government asked the Aboriginal communities how they wanted their housing, because they kept wrecking the ones they were supplying. They asked for open housing with just walls on certain sides, a sheltered part and I think a fire pit. So that's what was done for them. Unfortunately the tourists didn't understand this and publicly criticised the government for it, so they went back to normal housing to save face.