Tuesday, December 25, 2007
Friday, December 21, 2007
MSF issues 'Top Ten' most underreported humanitarian stories of 2007
People struggling to survive violence, forced displacement, and disease in the Central African Republic (CAR), Somalia, Sri Lanka and elsewhere often went underreported in the news this year and much of the past decade, according to the 10th annual list of the "Top Ten" Most Underreported Humanitarian Stories, released today by the international medical humanitarian organization Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF).
The countries and contexts highlighted by MSF on this year's list accounted for just 18 minutes of coverage on the three major U.S. television networks' nightly newscasts from January through November 2007.
The 2007 list also highlights the plight of people living through other forgotten crises, in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Colombia, Myanmar, Zimbabwe, and Chechnya, where the displacement by war of millions continues. It also focuses on the ongoing toll of medical catastrophes like tuberculosis (TB) and childhood malnutrition.
You can read the list and MSF's press release on their website.World Bank: HIV/AIDS, Nutrition, and Food Security: What We Can Do, a synthesis of international guidance
This 2007 report from the World Bank is a synthesis of existing technical guidance on HIV and AIDS, nutrition, and food security at global and regional levels. The synthesis aims to provide decision makers and service providers, especially those who design and manage programs, with guidance on how nutrition may be integrated into HIV prevention and AIDS treatment. Guidance is particularly aimed at national AIDS programs in Sub-Saharan Africa.
The synthesis draws on available international guidelines and related documents from AED/FANTA, FAO, IFPRI, PATH, UNAIDS, UNHCR, UNICEF, USAID, WFP and WHO.
The document is divided into 5 main sections:
1) Improving HIV and AIDS outcomes through nutrition support
2) Treatment, care and support
3) Food assistance as HIV and AIDS treatment support
4) Food, food security, HIV and AIDS
5) HIV, AIDS, Nutirition and food in an emergency context
The report is available to download from the World Bank website.
The synthesis draws on available international guidelines and related documents from AED/FANTA, FAO, IFPRI, PATH, UNAIDS, UNHCR, UNICEF, USAID, WFP and WHO.
The document is divided into 5 main sections:
1) Improving HIV and AIDS outcomes through nutrition support
2) Treatment, care and support
3) Food assistance as HIV and AIDS treatment support
4) Food, food security, HIV and AIDS
5) HIV, AIDS, Nutirition and food in an emergency context
The report is available to download from the World Bank website.
Wednesday, December 19, 2007
Blog post from Nick Young in Indonesia
13 December
Flying into Calang in the south west of Indonesia's Aceh province, it was easy at last to see the full impact of 3 years of building work. As our 6 seater plane flew low over the area of Teunom, where British Red Cross has been working, we could see clearly the red roofs of the 1930 houses that we have built.
This was one of the areas worst hit by the 2004 earthquake and tsunami, destroying many of the houses. The land here is a completely flat plain, and the sea simply rolled in unobstructed, leaving many with no hope of escape.
Today, there are new houses everywhere, many of them built by our own team, and to a standard which no other agency has matched. They do indeed stand out for their pastel colours, sturdy design and professional appearance.
With our cameraman, who was here to record the ceremony of handing over the final house to the final beneficiary, we visited first a small estate of about 200 houses which we have built for those who owned no land, or whose land was and remains inundated, or whose parents both died - the most vulnerable, in other words. It looks just lovely, the soft green houses with their red roofs set off beautifully by the flowers already planted outside by their new owners.
We talked to Idris, who lost his wife and two children. He had just moved in, the two bedroom home that he shares with his remaining son completely bare of furniture. He lost his fishing boat too, but doesn't want to go back to sea so he is farming a little piece of land to make ends meet.
We met another man whose previous job was climbing trees to collect coconuts: he was up a tree when the tsunami struck, and clung on until the water started to subside. With his wife, he now sells cigarettes from a tray because he simply can't bring himself to climb another tree.
And then young Nazir, who tomorrow will receive the keys to the 100,000th house built in Aceh province - one of ours. Aged 15, he lost both his parents and his brother and sister, and now lives with his remaining sister.
Our next stop was a small riverside community hidden in the forest. Most of our houses are in these difficult-to-access areas. Before the tsunami, the land was 2 metres above the level of the water; now it is just a foot or two, and the area floods regularly. Here, we have built houses on solid reinforced concrete pillars well above river level.
We laughed and joked with the local people who flocked to meet us, and visited with a mother and her daughter who who each lost a husband and have just moved into two adjoining British Red Cross houses. On the way back to camp, our driver Amir told us how his parents both died in that very spot, and of his 2 week walk through the devastation of the tsunami to reach them from the college where he had been studying.
14 December
After a night of torrential monsoon rain, we returned to our "housing estate" for the ceremonial handover of keys to the 100,000th by the Head of the Indonesian Government's Aceh Reconstruction Agency (BRR), Pak Kuntoro.
In a moving ceremony, he paid the warmest possible tribute to the British Red Cross team, and praised the high quality of the houses, which he said were the best he had seen. He has been under huge pressure to get houses built, and the local Bupati (mayor) had some harsh words to say to him on that score! There is still much to do, and we have done well to complete our work so quickly.
Next stop was our own project completion party, and a chance for me to say thank you in public to our building team leader Gabriel Constantine (to whom I presented a Badge of Honour, richly deserved), the local contractors Wika and the consulting engineers and supervisors Kogas. They have all worked wonderfully well together, in a true Red Cross spirit.
It was also nice to be able to thank our fundraising director Mark Astarita who was with me on the trip, as well as our livelihoods team who have worked so hard helping local people to get back on their feet financially.
My last words were for the brave survivors of the tsunami. "We can't fill the gap in your lives left by the death of your loved ones," I said, "but we will always carry in our hearts the memory of the people of Teunom, and we hope you will hold us in your hearts too, and the friendships we have made with the houses we have built."
And then it was time to go home - "jakwoe" as it said in Acenese on our T-shirts. That night, as the rain tipped down again, everyone gathered together to dance and sing along to the local folk superstar Rafli, who had risen from his hospital bed (dengue fever) to sing at this special concert. For a while, the worries of the last 3 years, and the sadness, slipped away with the music.
Flying into Calang in the south west of Indonesia's Aceh province, it was easy at last to see the full impact of 3 years of building work. As our 6 seater plane flew low over the area of Teunom, where British Red Cross has been working, we could see clearly the red roofs of the 1930 houses that we have built.
This was one of the areas worst hit by the 2004 earthquake and tsunami, destroying many of the houses. The land here is a completely flat plain, and the sea simply rolled in unobstructed, leaving many with no hope of escape.
Today, there are new houses everywhere, many of them built by our own team, and to a standard which no other agency has matched. They do indeed stand out for their pastel colours, sturdy design and professional appearance.
With our cameraman, who was here to record the ceremony of handing over the final house to the final beneficiary, we visited first a small estate of about 200 houses which we have built for those who owned no land, or whose land was and remains inundated, or whose parents both died - the most vulnerable, in other words. It looks just lovely, the soft green houses with their red roofs set off beautifully by the flowers already planted outside by their new owners.
We talked to Idris, who lost his wife and two children. He had just moved in, the two bedroom home that he shares with his remaining son completely bare of furniture. He lost his fishing boat too, but doesn't want to go back to sea so he is farming a little piece of land to make ends meet.
We met another man whose previous job was climbing trees to collect coconuts: he was up a tree when the tsunami struck, and clung on until the water started to subside. With his wife, he now sells cigarettes from a tray because he simply can't bring himself to climb another tree.
And then young Nazir, who tomorrow will receive the keys to the 100,000th house built in Aceh province - one of ours. Aged 15, he lost both his parents and his brother and sister, and now lives with his remaining sister.
Our next stop was a small riverside community hidden in the forest. Most of our houses are in these difficult-to-access areas. Before the tsunami, the land was 2 metres above the level of the water; now it is just a foot or two, and the area floods regularly. Here, we have built houses on solid reinforced concrete pillars well above river level.
We laughed and joked with the local people who flocked to meet us, and visited with a mother and her daughter who who each lost a husband and have just moved into two adjoining British Red Cross houses. On the way back to camp, our driver Amir told us how his parents both died in that very spot, and of his 2 week walk through the devastation of the tsunami to reach them from the college where he had been studying.
14 December
After a night of torrential monsoon rain, we returned to our "housing estate" for the ceremonial handover of keys to the 100,000th by the Head of the Indonesian Government's Aceh Reconstruction Agency (BRR), Pak Kuntoro.
In a moving ceremony, he paid the warmest possible tribute to the British Red Cross team, and praised the high quality of the houses, which he said were the best he had seen. He has been under huge pressure to get houses built, and the local Bupati (mayor) had some harsh words to say to him on that score! There is still much to do, and we have done well to complete our work so quickly.
Next stop was our own project completion party, and a chance for me to say thank you in public to our building team leader Gabriel Constantine (to whom I presented a Badge of Honour, richly deserved), the local contractors Wika and the consulting engineers and supervisors Kogas. They have all worked wonderfully well together, in a true Red Cross spirit.
It was also nice to be able to thank our fundraising director Mark Astarita who was with me on the trip, as well as our livelihoods team who have worked so hard helping local people to get back on their feet financially.
My last words were for the brave survivors of the tsunami. "We can't fill the gap in your lives left by the death of your loved ones," I said, "but we will always carry in our hearts the memory of the people of Teunom, and we hope you will hold us in your hearts too, and the friendships we have made with the houses we have built."
And then it was time to go home - "jakwoe" as it said in Acenese on our T-shirts. That night, as the rain tipped down again, everyone gathered together to dance and sing along to the local folk superstar Rafli, who had risen from his hospital bed (dengue fever) to sing at this special concert. For a while, the worries of the last 3 years, and the sadness, slipped away with the music.
Wednesday, December 12, 2007
UN-OCHA: Climate Change heating up conflict
BALI, 10 December 2007 (IRIN) - Increasing pressure caused by climate change on essential resources like water could not only trigger domestic conflicts but also have a destabilising effect globally, warn UN officials.
"It is not far-fetched to begin to see growing tensions; not far fetched to think climate change will globally have a destabilising effect," said Achim Steiner, Executive Secretary of the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), who drew a scenario in which countries heavily affected by climate change would blame those not seen as doing enough to cut emissions.
Steiner's comments followed the release of a report, Climate Change as a Security Risk, by the German government's scientific advisory body on 10 December at the UN climate change conference in Bali, Indonesia: it warned that environmental shocks could outpace the adaptive capacities of some societies in the coming decades.
...
Research in recent decades has shown that land degradation, water shortages and resource competition, when combined with other conflict-amplifying factors, have caused violence and conflict in the past, said the German study. Earlier this year, UNEP cited the war in Darfur as an example of the impact of climate change on stability.
"We are not trying to depoliticise the conflict," said Steiner, "[but] we need to learn, to understand, that if we had taken into account some of the factors [related to climate change], we could have avoided some of the conflicts that have exploded."
Regional hotspots highlighted by the report are in the longer post - click on the link below.
Regional hotspots
The German government's report draws scenarios of the social impact of climate change in regional hotspots. Some of them are:
North Africa: The populous Nile Delta will be at risk from sea-level rise and salinisation in agricultural areas. A drop in food production, water scarcity, high population growth and poor political problem-solving capacity could intensify political crisis and migratory pressure.
Sahel zone: Drought, water scarcity and food insecurity in a region already characterised by weak states and instability could aggravate social crises.
Southern Africa: Droughts and water scarcity could overstretch capacities in some of the poorest countries in the world.
Central Asia: Above-average warming and glacial retreat could exacerbate problems in the region, characterised by political and social tensions.
India, Pakistan, Bangladesh: Glacial retreat in the Himalayas would jeopardise water supply to millions of people, with sea-level rise and cyclones aggravating crises characterised by cross-border conflicts (India and Pakistan) and unstable governments.
"If we look at South Asia alone, the melting [glaciers would mean] tens of millions of people will have to leave their livelihoods. Where will they go? How will they impact on the host communities that receive them?" said Steiner. "We must look at the potential security threat posed by these changes - we cannot bury our heads in the sand."
"It is not far-fetched to begin to see growing tensions; not far fetched to think climate change will globally have a destabilising effect," said Achim Steiner, Executive Secretary of the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), who drew a scenario in which countries heavily affected by climate change would blame those not seen as doing enough to cut emissions.
Steiner's comments followed the release of a report, Climate Change as a Security Risk, by the German government's scientific advisory body on 10 December at the UN climate change conference in Bali, Indonesia: it warned that environmental shocks could outpace the adaptive capacities of some societies in the coming decades.
...
Research in recent decades has shown that land degradation, water shortages and resource competition, when combined with other conflict-amplifying factors, have caused violence and conflict in the past, said the German study. Earlier this year, UNEP cited the war in Darfur as an example of the impact of climate change on stability.
"We are not trying to depoliticise the conflict," said Steiner, "[but] we need to learn, to understand, that if we had taken into account some of the factors [related to climate change], we could have avoided some of the conflicts that have exploded."
Regional hotspots highlighted by the report are in the longer post - click on the link below.
Regional hotspots
The German government's report draws scenarios of the social impact of climate change in regional hotspots. Some of them are:
North Africa: The populous Nile Delta will be at risk from sea-level rise and salinisation in agricultural areas. A drop in food production, water scarcity, high population growth and poor political problem-solving capacity could intensify political crisis and migratory pressure.
Sahel zone: Drought, water scarcity and food insecurity in a region already characterised by weak states and instability could aggravate social crises.
Southern Africa: Droughts and water scarcity could overstretch capacities in some of the poorest countries in the world.
Central Asia: Above-average warming and glacial retreat could exacerbate problems in the region, characterised by political and social tensions.
India, Pakistan, Bangladesh: Glacial retreat in the Himalayas would jeopardise water supply to millions of people, with sea-level rise and cyclones aggravating crises characterised by cross-border conflicts (India and Pakistan) and unstable governments.
"If we look at South Asia alone, the melting [glaciers would mean] tens of millions of people will have to leave their livelihoods. Where will they go? How will they impact on the host communities that receive them?" said Steiner. "We must look at the potential security threat posed by these changes - we cannot bury our heads in the sand."
Independent: Conflict Zones
Today's Independent contains a special Conflict Zones pullout, timed to coincide with the Dispatches from Disasters Zones event that we're hosting at the Foreign Press Association today.
The eight-page pullout, produced in association with the ICRC, includes coverage of Red Cross work in Afghanistan, Somalia, Colombia and Israel and the Occupied Territories, as well as a piece on our refugee services in the UK. There is a special editorial headlined 'The need for an organisation as sure-footed as the Red Cross is now greater than ever'.
The eight-page pullout, produced in association with the ICRC, includes coverage of Red Cross work in Afghanistan, Somalia, Colombia and Israel and the Occupied Territories, as well as a piece on our refugee services in the UK. There is a special editorial headlined 'The need for an organisation as sure-footed as the Red Cross is now greater than ever'.
Thursday, December 6, 2007
RC Climate change videos from the Caribbean
Julia Brothwell has pointed out the DIPECHO page on the Caribbean Red Cross website, which has the rest of the videos from the series - we featured the Antigua and Bermuda video a few months ago.
Thanks Julia!
Thanks Julia!
Sahel Working Group: Beyond Any Drought: Root Causes of Chronic Vulnerability in the Sahel
This report examines how vulnerability is understood and addressed by development agencies and government departments in Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso. The 2005 food crisis highlighted the extent of vulnerability in the Sahel region, increased international attention paid to the people of the Sahel and led to large sums of money being released to help those people survive the immediate crisis. Most studies written in the aftermath of the crisis have looked at the particular circumstances of the events of 2005. This report was commissioned by the Sahel Working Group, which was concerned that too much attention has been paid to a quite specific scenario and too little to the unacceptable and growing levels of vulnerability that pre-dated the crisis and persist two years later.
The present study took place during April and May 2007 and is based on a series of interviews with development practitioners and donor representatives in London, Washington DC, Bamako, Niamey and Ouagadougou, and on a desk review of academic and grey literature including commissioned reports on development approaches from Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso.
The report is available for download from Reliefweb.
The present study took place during April and May 2007 and is based on a series of interviews with development practitioners and donor representatives in London, Washington DC, Bamako, Niamey and Ouagadougou, and on a desk review of academic and grey literature including commissioned reports on development approaches from Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso.
The report is available for download from Reliefweb.
Wednesday, December 5, 2007
Wahenga.net: Social transfers - briefs and case studies
The Regional Evidence Building Agenda, operated by the Regional Hunger and Vulnerability Programme (funded by DFID and AusAID) have just published a series of briefing papers describing case studies on various different types of cash programme in southern Africa.
The papers are available to download from the link above, and include case studies on Emergency Transfers in Malawi, Food Assistance in Mozambique, and Food Security in Zambia.
The papers are available to download from the link above, and include case studies on Emergency Transfers in Malawi, Food Assistance in Mozambique, and Food Security in Zambia.
Monday, December 3, 2007
Iraq: Calls for a “Humanitarian Surge”
Both speakers presented a very interesting analysis of the crisis and the humanitarian needs. This included the massive displacement of people both within and outside Iraq, the fact that this crisis affects everyone in Iraq, that women, children and minority groups are especially vulnerable and that with the huge numbers of people fleeing the country Iraq has now become the largest refugee crisis in the world (even larger than Darfur).
To illustrate this, UNHCR gave some approximate figures on displacement, (bearing in mind that these are very approximate as no one knows for sure the numbers affected): 4.5m Iraqis displaced in total, 2m in Iraq, 1.2m in Syria, 500-750k in Jordan, 80k in Egypt, 50k in Lebanon and 200k in the Gulf States. 1 in 7 Iraqis are now displaced. This is the biggest refugee crisis in the Middle East since 1948 and it is the biggest urban crisis that UNHCR has ever faced.
However, an interesting debate came from IMC who argued that due to the recent improvement in the security situation in Iraq, now was the time for a “humanitarian surge”. NGOs need to move in now, step up activities and get a presence on the ground whilst there is this window of opportunity. They argued that it was time to stop doing endless assessments as the situation changes so rapidly; assessments go out of date and are useless in a matter of weeks. Instead agencies need to get in there and do something to make a real difference to the lives of Iraqis. If Iraqi people see a direct difference to their lives this will increase chances of stability in the country.
IMC concluded that this humanitarian surge needs to happen now before the situation deteriorates again. IMC is able to operate because they gain acceptance from local communities and tribal elders and therefore advises that this strategy would also work for other NGOs. Concern was expressed by representatives from other agencies attending the talk regarding the overall insecurity and volatility of the country, plus the apparent lack of multilateral/bilateral funding available for agencies aiming to work in Iraq.
We will therefore have to watch and see over the coming months as to whether agencies heed this call for a “humanitarian surge”, whether the security situation improves enough to allow this and whether enough is done to actually make a difference to the lives of the millions of Iraqi people currently facing the world’s largest crisis.
Saturday, December 1, 2007
World Aids Day
- ODI's World Aids Day page includes a wealth of information and papers on a variety of related issues
- UNAIDS have just released a new HIV Epidemic Update, available from their website - it includes fact sheets by region, and useful slides and graphics.
- ChristianAid report: Don’t Take on an Empty Stomach: Why HIV Treatment Won’t Work without Food
- More people are living with HIV and AIDS in Washington DC (the capital) than in any other US city, according to Reuters.
- British Red Cross have launched redcrosshiv.org, a dedicated HIV/AIDS site, which includes Youtube videos and links to Facebook and Bebo pages - Web 2.0 has arrived at Moorfields...
'This campaign is as a result of work undertaken by BRC. Ipsos MORI conducted a survey in Great Britain, Ethiopia, South Africa and Kyrgyzstan. In each country, 300 young people aged 14-25 were interviewed. Interviews in Ethiopia, South Africa and Kyrgyzstan were carried out face-to-face, in-home, and in Great Britain interviews were carried out online using a pre-recruited sample from Ipsos MORI's research panel.Events at Moorfields:
Presentations in the auditorium, 2-3.30pm
-ICW Achievements over 15 years and outlook for the future - Fiona Pettitt, ICW
-Prevention of mother to child transmission - Nicola Stevenson and Alyson Lewis
-Communications project: International survey of young people and HIV - Amelia Lyons and Corinne Evans
-Celebration of partnership with ICW (International Community of Women Living with HIV/AIDS) - Matthias Schmale
Please come along to hear the latest research, attitudes and support towards people living with HIV. You are also invited to light a candle in City Point square between 12 noon and 2pm in support of people living with HIV.
Friday, November 30, 2007
ODI: Is cash a feasible alternative to food aid for post-drought relief in Lesotho?
This report summarises the findings from a study undertaken to assess whether or not a cash based response by World Vision to the current drought in Lesotho would be appropriate and feasible, as part of the organisation's overall relief response. This was motivated both by a desire to respondwith the most appropriate and effective resources in Lesotho and to increase the capacity within World Vision more globally to use cash basedresponses as one of a range of options for response in humanitarian crises.
The report concludes that a cash programme would be preferable to an in-kind or voucher based response and would be unlikely to have negative side effects.
Migration
- The UNHCR have published a discussion paper on their strategy for dealing with increasing numbers of mobile people, and
- The Forced Migration Review No. 29 is jam-packed with interesting articles about humanitarian reform and its impact on migration, and asks - Is it fulfilling its promise? The contents list is in the longer post (click the link to read it).
- Humanitarian action: a Western-dominated enterprise in need of change by John Holmes
- The Global Humanitarian Platform: opportunity for NGOs? by Elizabeth Ferris
- Challenges of collective humanitarian reponse in Sri Lanka by Firzan Hashim
- Unity in diversity - the One UN, UNHCR, and Rwanda by Tim Maurer
- UNHCR, IDPs and humanitarian reform by Jeff Crisp, Esther Kiragu and Vicky Tennant
- Is humanitarian reform improving IDP protection and assistance? by Anne Davies
- Reform in focus: the IFRC perspective by Robert Mister
- Integration and UN humanitarian reforms by Eric Stobbaerts, Sarah Martin and Katharine Derderian
- Insecure environments: the missing piece? by Matthew Benson
- Iraq: towards a field-focused humanitarian reform by Cedric Turlan
- Strengthening the Humanitarian Coordinator system by Claire Messina
- Neglecting the third pillar by Manisha Thomas
- Humanitarian reform: a view from CAR by Toby Lanzer
- Humanitarian reform: saving and protecting lives in DRC by Ross Mountain
- Assessing the impact of humanitarian reform in DRC by Nick Bennett
- The state of humanitarian funding by Peter Walker and Kevin Pepper
- Worlds apart? Muslim donors and international humanitarianism by Mohammed R Kroessin
- Cluster approach - a vital operational tool by Allan Jury and Giammichele De Maio
- Early recovery from disaster: the Pakistan earthquake by Andrew MacLeod
Climate Change: UNDP and IDS reports
Several things have emerged recently relating to climate change:
- UNDP have warned in a new Human Development report that the world should focus on the development impact of climate change that could bring unprecedented reversals in poverty reduction, nutrition, health and education
- The Institute of Development Studies has produced a set of eight two-page briefing notes on a variety of issues relating to adaptation to climate change
Tuesday, November 20, 2007
Tufts: HA2015 - Sri Lanka country study
Tufts have announced the publication of the latest study in their Humanitarian Agenda 2015 (HA2015) series. This report examines the issues of universality, terrorism, coherence, and security in relation to the humanitarian enterprise in Sri Lanka.
The report is available to download from the Tufts website; click on the link below for more information on the conclusions of the report.
International humanitarian involvement is widely welcomed in Sri Lanka provided assistance arrives, as the Good Samaritan, in a spirit of an unconditional universality that strives to help a country in need. However, in a society already polarized by notions of contested identities — be they spatial, ethnic or political — the humanitarian enterprise is soon sullied by powerful national stakeholders who deploy divergent claims and constructs of international humanitarianism as they compete to advance their own interests and objectives.
The report is available to download from the Tufts website; click on the link below for more information on the conclusions of the report.
Through individual interviews, focus group discussions, and questionnaires, this study analyses the responses from 245 respondents comprising aid workers, aid recipients, non-recipients, and observers of assistance in Colombo and the districts of Galle, Trincomalle, Kandy, and Anuradhapura. The study’s four themes and the shaping of the respondents’ perceptions are framed against descriptions of four key periods: the first conflict period (1983-2001) between the forces of the secessionist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) and the Government of Sri Lanka (GoSL); the post-ceasefire agreement period (2002-2005); the post-tsunami period (2005-2007); and the overlapping emergence of a second conflict phase (2004-2007).
Universality was found not to be significantly challenged in Sri Lanka. Western involvement, as long as it avoided clashing with local culture and religion, was both welcomed and expected. However, the humanitarian community is widely regarded as a self-serving enterprise. The suspicion that agencies were using humanitarian action to pursue other agendas, especially pro-LTTE leanings, was found to be particularly prevalent. Aid agencies were identified as being ineffective in communicating their mandates. This failure of communication enables local political interests to construct populist interpretations of humanitarianism.
Local political interests relating to the prosecution of the war between the LTTE and the GoSL were found to inform popular perceptions of the relationship between terrorism and international humanitarian involvement. While the GoSL has been influenced by the Global War on Terror in adopting the rhetoric of humanitarian intervention in wresting back territory occupied by the LTTE, the international community has struggled against allegations of internal meddling and support for the LTTE when advocating a return to the peace process and the observance of human rights.
The negative local political construction of the humanitarian enterprise was shown to have hampered the delivery and effectiveness of assistance. It has also endangered the lives of aid workers.
The report concludes that humanitarian engagement in Sri Lanka is likely to become increasingly difficult and dangerous unless international actors become more aware about how they are being politically manipulated and can better communicate their mission to a wider local audience so as to counter the dominant negative view of their motives that has been constructed and repeatedly reinforced in furthering local interests.
Monday, November 19, 2007
IPCC approve 4th Assessment Synthesis Report
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change launched the fourth and final part of their Working Group reports.
This report synthesises the previous three:
This report synthesises the previous three:
- The Physical Science Basis (February 2007)
- Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability (April 2007)
- Mitigation of Climate Change (May 2007)
Bangladeshi Blogs
In the aftermath of Tropical Cyclone Sidr, Bangladeshis at home and abroad are blogging about their experiences and the news coming out of the stricken areas.
From the PassItOn eForum: Mukesh Kapila on HV/AIDS
WAD 2007: The fight against HIV: there are no short-cuts
By Dr Mukesh Kapila
Special Representative of the Secretary General for HIV
International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies
*********************************************************
In the neighbourhood of Mabopane, a suburb of the South African capital Pretoria, she is known as ‘Auntie Elizabeth’. This 37-year-old woman single-handedly looks after the five children left behind by her sister - who died of AIDS in 2003. One of the children is living with HIV.
Elizabeth is alone in having to care for the five children who would otherwise have been left to fend for themselves. The family is crammed into a garage, for lack of anywhere better to live. However the most painful difficulty is that family lives in isolation, scorned by the neighbours who stop the youngsters from playing with their own children.
They feel it’s ‘too risky’.
Auntie Elizabeth’s situation is by no means unusual - and that’s just the problem. There are thousands of children living without an adult, deprived of all family contact when the extended family is wiped out by AIDS. The older children are often forced to interrupt their studies in order to look after the younger ones. Girls are particularly vulnerable. They are easy prey for those who try to buy their virginity in order to cure themselves of AIDS - or so they mistakenly think. This is what certain charlatans posing as healers have tragically promised them - for a fee.
This is the reality of HIV. Southern Africa, where more than 12 million people are living with HIV - of whom 860,000 are children under the age of 14 - has been hit particularly hard by the pandemic. The number of children orphaned by AIDS in this region alone is expected to double by 2010.
While southern Africa is the hardest hit region, the rest of the African continent is also seriously affected. Very often there are associated serious breaches of basic human rights. This includes violence against women: not only the rape of women and girls in situations of armed conflict but also sexual and gender based violence that is highly prevalent in most domestic and community settings.
But Africa does not have a monopoly on suffering when it comes to HIV. The vulnerability of women and girls can be just as striking in other regions, a reflection of socio-cultural factors as well as the pervasive inequality of the sexes. This is so, even in well-off parts of the world such as in Latin America and the Caribbean where, over past decades, women have become much better educated and economically active, but gender
inequalities persist, and the HIV epidemic has an increasingly feminine face.
The same is true for Asia and Europe - particularly eastern Europe. Ignorance remains one of the driving forces behind infection. Many young people in the former Soviet republics do not perceive HIV as an issue that concerns them. Meanwhile, each day women are giving birth to children who are HIV-positive.
In recent years, progress has been made in making a wider range of anti-retroviral treatments available to those living with HIV. This trend is encouraging but reliable access to treatment is still something of a lottery. Civil society efforts must be combined with those of organizations of people living with HIV to demand that governments provide greater - and more consistent - availability. However, treatment is not the quick fix to the epidemic. Primary prevention needs to be re-energised and the key to this is the greater inclusion of currently stigmatised and marginalised sections of the community.
We must scale-up action on all fronts. Hence, one year ago, we launched the Red Cross Red Crescent Global Alliance on HIV, which aims to double our HIV programming by the end of 2010. Some 50 of our 185 member National Societies have already actively joined up to ‘do more and to do better’ in HIV prevention, treatment. care, and support, and in addressing stigma and discrimination. They are doing this by expanding outreach through our network of members and volunteers in communities, who are thus taking on
practical responsibility and leadership.
A specific example is the Filles Libres - project of the Cameroon Red Cross Society. This targets one of the most vulnerable and stigmatized groups: women who sell sex. Red Cross volunteers make contact with these women - who often take up prostitution as survival livelihood - to encourage them to get themselves tested voluntarily and to protect themselves. They also work with the clients of the sex workers to do the same. This campaign is possible only because our volunteers include a number of women who come
from the same background as the sex workers, speak the same language, understand the problems they face, and get to trust each other. This is essential to break the vicious cycle of infection: unprotected paid sex, infection of the spouse when the ‘client’ returns home, and the transmission of the virus from mother to child.
This example illustrates the daily challenges of HIV work: tackling prejudice and stigma, re-enforcing prevention messages, helping people living and dying with HIV, and not forgetting the factors that underlie personal and societal vulnerability. The point is that there is no substitute for communities having to take charge of their own destinies and shaping their future for the better. This is a long-term task requiring permanent commitment. There are no short-cuts.
By Dr Mukesh Kapila
Special Representative of the Secretary General for HIV
International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies.
By Dr Mukesh Kapila
Special Representative of the Secretary General for HIV
International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies
*********************************************************
In the neighbourhood of Mabopane, a suburb of the South African capital Pretoria, she is known as ‘Auntie Elizabeth’. This 37-year-old woman single-handedly looks after the five children left behind by her sister - who died of AIDS in 2003. One of the children is living with HIV.
Elizabeth is alone in having to care for the five children who would otherwise have been left to fend for themselves. The family is crammed into a garage, for lack of anywhere better to live. However the most painful difficulty is that family lives in isolation, scorned by the neighbours who stop the youngsters from playing with their own children.
They feel it’s ‘too risky’.
Auntie Elizabeth’s situation is by no means unusual - and that’s just the problem. There are thousands of children living without an adult, deprived of all family contact when the extended family is wiped out by AIDS. The older children are often forced to interrupt their studies in order to look after the younger ones. Girls are particularly vulnerable. They are easy prey for those who try to buy their virginity in order to cure themselves of AIDS - or so they mistakenly think. This is what certain charlatans posing as healers have tragically promised them - for a fee.
This is the reality of HIV. Southern Africa, where more than 12 million people are living with HIV - of whom 860,000 are children under the age of 14 - has been hit particularly hard by the pandemic. The number of children orphaned by AIDS in this region alone is expected to double by 2010.
While southern Africa is the hardest hit region, the rest of the African continent is also seriously affected. Very often there are associated serious breaches of basic human rights. This includes violence against women: not only the rape of women and girls in situations of armed conflict but also sexual and gender based violence that is highly prevalent in most domestic and community settings.
But Africa does not have a monopoly on suffering when it comes to HIV. The vulnerability of women and girls can be just as striking in other regions, a reflection of socio-cultural factors as well as the pervasive inequality of the sexes. This is so, even in well-off parts of the world such as in Latin America and the Caribbean where, over past decades, women have become much better educated and economically active, but gender
inequalities persist, and the HIV epidemic has an increasingly feminine face.
The same is true for Asia and Europe - particularly eastern Europe. Ignorance remains one of the driving forces behind infection. Many young people in the former Soviet republics do not perceive HIV as an issue that concerns them. Meanwhile, each day women are giving birth to children who are HIV-positive.
In recent years, progress has been made in making a wider range of anti-retroviral treatments available to those living with HIV. This trend is encouraging but reliable access to treatment is still something of a lottery. Civil society efforts must be combined with those of organizations of people living with HIV to demand that governments provide greater - and more consistent - availability. However, treatment is not the quick fix to the epidemic. Primary prevention needs to be re-energised and the key to this is the greater inclusion of currently stigmatised and marginalised sections of the community.
We must scale-up action on all fronts. Hence, one year ago, we launched the Red Cross Red Crescent Global Alliance on HIV, which aims to double our HIV programming by the end of 2010. Some 50 of our 185 member National Societies have already actively joined up to ‘do more and to do better’ in HIV prevention, treatment. care, and support, and in addressing stigma and discrimination. They are doing this by expanding outreach through our network of members and volunteers in communities, who are thus taking on
practical responsibility and leadership.
A specific example is the Filles Libres - project of the Cameroon Red Cross Society. This targets one of the most vulnerable and stigmatized groups: women who sell sex. Red Cross volunteers make contact with these women - who often take up prostitution as survival livelihood - to encourage them to get themselves tested voluntarily and to protect themselves. They also work with the clients of the sex workers to do the same. This campaign is possible only because our volunteers include a number of women who come
from the same background as the sex workers, speak the same language, understand the problems they face, and get to trust each other. This is essential to break the vicious cycle of infection: unprotected paid sex, infection of the spouse when the ‘client’ returns home, and the transmission of the virus from mother to child.
This example illustrates the daily challenges of HIV work: tackling prejudice and stigma, re-enforcing prevention messages, helping people living and dying with HIV, and not forgetting the factors that underlie personal and societal vulnerability. The point is that there is no substitute for communities having to take charge of their own destinies and shaping their future for the better. This is a long-term task requiring permanent commitment. There are no short-cuts.
By Dr Mukesh Kapila
Special Representative of the Secretary General for HIV
International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies.
Wednesday, November 14, 2007
Summary findings of KZN Integrated HIV/AIDS Project 2006-10, South African Red Cross
· All community interviews acknowledged HIV&AIDs as a problem in their communities; however 26 percent of them reported to be doing nothing on the fight against HIV. None of the communities interviewed in Umzimkulu had mechanisms in place to fight HIV&AIDS as they said that they do not have people trained in the communities to speak about AIDS.
· Stigma and discrimination was a concern in 57 percent of the villages surveyed. Main factors causing stigma and discrimination were lack of education on HIV and its transmission and fear about status disclosure as there not enough support mechanism in place. A total number of 77 stigma and discrimination reports were issued in the 12 months prior to the survey, out of which 44 (57 percent) were followed up and solved with appropriate action.
· Almost all the villages surveyed (86 percent) saw gender-based violence (GBV) as a big problem in their communities. Fuelled by an increased number of orphans and vulnerable children in the communities with no adequate adult protection, drugs and unemployment, 64 percent of the communities had mechanisms in place to tackle GBV. A total number of 19 gender-based violence cases were reported in the 12 months prior to the survey, out of which, 5 ( 26 percent) of them were followed up and solved with appropriate action.
· Four hundred and thirty-four (434) youth in-school were surveyed. Males were found to be more sexual active than females, however males tended to have partners of the same age contrary to females that tended to have partners on average 3.5 years older than them.
· Big variations on condom use amongst in-school youth with non-regular partners were found among districts. While 53 percent of the respondents had had sex with more than one non-regular partner in the last 12 months, only 40 percent used condom at last non-regular sex. Pietermaritzburg district, with most of the population surveyed being urban or semi-urban, had over half of the respondents engaged in multi non-regular partner sexual relationships and less than 20 percent used condom.
· Three percent of all the in-school youth interviewed mentioned that Red Cross was supporting their schools with life skills training and HIV&AIDS education campaigns. Comparing the three groups interviewed by the Behaviour Change Survey, in-school youth are the ones receiving less HIV prevention information despite being in school.
· Data indicated that in-school youth engages in sexual practice at a very young age (15.5 years of age), and despite being exposed to HIV prevention very often, comprehensive knowledge about HIV and correct beliefs about AIDS remains very low (23 percent).
· Despite most of the in-school youth having access to confidential Voluntary Counselling and Testing, only 15 percent went for an HIV test. Of those who went for a test (85 percent), 68 percent went back for their results.
· Two hundred and seventy-five (275) out-of-school youth was interviewed. Of the 275, 76 percent received HIV&AIDS prevention information in the 12 months prior to the survey. However, and despite all the information received, knowledge on prevention methods and correct beliefs about AIDS and stigma and discrimination were very low (under 30 percent) for both indicators. Alarming data was found in Zululand where only 10 percent of the males and 7 percent of the females responded correctly to prevention methods and AIDS beliefs questions.
· Forty-two (42) percent of the youth out-of-school have had sex with more than one non-regular partner within the 12 months prior to the survey. Of those, almost half (45 percent) used condom at last non-regular sex.
· Almost 30 percent of the youth out-of-school had an HIV test within the last year, and of those tested, 85 percent received their results.
· The behaviour change questionnaire also targeted 373 between the ages of 20 to 49. Over 70 percent had had sexual intercourse, and 54 percent of men and 41 of women had had sex with more than one partner in the 12 months prior to the survey. One-third (33 percent) of those having sex with more than one partner did use condom.
· Information about HIV prevention methods amongst the 20-49 years old group was high in all the communities surveyed. However, only 34 percent reported comprehensive knowledge on HIV prevention methods and correct belief about AIDS.
· Seventy-four percent of the people interviewed had access to Voluntary Counselling and Testing within 12 months, however only 43 percent of them went for an HIV test, and out those 89 percent went back to get their results.
· A total of 742 households were randomly selected and data from 4036 household members was collected. The average household size of those household interviewed was 6.9 people per dwelling. Fourteen percent of the households were headed by people over the age of 65, out of whom 66 were women. Only one child was found to be headed a household. On average households were caring for an average of 3.5 children. More than half of the households surveyed did not have a regular source of income.
· Amongst the 63 percent of the households with members on Anti-retroviral treatment (35 percent) and TB treatment (44 percent), adherence to treatment was found high, with 96 percent on the interviewees being adherent over 90 percent to the ARV treatment and 92 percent of the people on TB taking over 90 percent of the treatment.
· Adult/Client Status Index was completed for 501 people on ART/TB treatment, on HBC programmes or members that have seen seriously ill for the last 3 or more months. Overall CSI rating for adults was 0.711, which falls in the highest category, meaning that no major concerns about the interviewees were found.
· Twenty-one percent of the Adult Status Index interviewees were benefiting from Red Cross at the time the interview was conducted. However external assistance from institutions, government and/or organizations was found very erratic, with only 56 percent of all the interviewees receiving support. Access to health services, provided mainly by the Ministry of Health, was the most extended support, received by 33 percent of the people interviewed. Nursing care was the second most expanded service, with Red Cross catering for more than 69 percent of the people surveyed with counselling and weekly household visits.
· Child Status Index was completed for 679 children, out of whom 422 met the criteria of orphans and vulnerable children. CSI rating OVC/Non-OVC ratio was 1.0, which indicates that OVCs overall wellbeing and status does not differ from Non-OVCs. Out of those children identified as OVCs, 26 percent had lost one parent, 13 percent experienced the death of a household member and 13 percent had at least one parent sick in the 6 months prior to the survey.
· Access to education was granted to 73 percent of the children interviewed as they are enrolled and do attend to school regularly. Difference on attendance was found when comparing OVCs and non-OVCs, with non-OVCs attending more regularly to school (21 percent) than OVCs (16 percent). However this figure differs when data is analysed only for children between the ages of 6 to 17. Data from the CSI indicates that 77 percent of the 6 to 17 years old children do go to school regularly, however OVCs go more (79 percent) than Non-OVCs (73 percent). See Table 11.
· Only 11percent of the Child Status Index interviewees were benefiting from Red Cross at the time the interview was conducted. External assistance from institutions, government and/or organizations was found very erratic, with only 36 percent of the OVCs and 32 percent of the children not receiving any type of assistance in the last 12 months. Livelihood support, provided mainly by the Government consisting mainly on grants, was the most extended support, received by 54 percent of the OVCs. Access to education was the second most expanded service, with Red Cross providing for 42 percent of it.
· In general, people interviewed whether through Behaviour Change or Household Survey, continue to remain in denial about AIDS, even when a close friend or relative is dying from AIDS. AIDS continued to remain stigmatized and there is well-founded fear of rejection from family and friends when you are diagnosed with HIV.
· Stigma and discrimination was a concern in 57 percent of the villages surveyed. Main factors causing stigma and discrimination were lack of education on HIV and its transmission and fear about status disclosure as there not enough support mechanism in place. A total number of 77 stigma and discrimination reports were issued in the 12 months prior to the survey, out of which 44 (57 percent) were followed up and solved with appropriate action.
· Almost all the villages surveyed (86 percent) saw gender-based violence (GBV) as a big problem in their communities. Fuelled by an increased number of orphans and vulnerable children in the communities with no adequate adult protection, drugs and unemployment, 64 percent of the communities had mechanisms in place to tackle GBV. A total number of 19 gender-based violence cases were reported in the 12 months prior to the survey, out of which, 5 ( 26 percent) of them were followed up and solved with appropriate action.
· Four hundred and thirty-four (434) youth in-school were surveyed. Males were found to be more sexual active than females, however males tended to have partners of the same age contrary to females that tended to have partners on average 3.5 years older than them.
· Big variations on condom use amongst in-school youth with non-regular partners were found among districts. While 53 percent of the respondents had had sex with more than one non-regular partner in the last 12 months, only 40 percent used condom at last non-regular sex. Pietermaritzburg district, with most of the population surveyed being urban or semi-urban, had over half of the respondents engaged in multi non-regular partner sexual relationships and less than 20 percent used condom.
· Three percent of all the in-school youth interviewed mentioned that Red Cross was supporting their schools with life skills training and HIV&AIDS education campaigns. Comparing the three groups interviewed by the Behaviour Change Survey, in-school youth are the ones receiving less HIV prevention information despite being in school.
· Data indicated that in-school youth engages in sexual practice at a very young age (15.5 years of age), and despite being exposed to HIV prevention very often, comprehensive knowledge about HIV and correct beliefs about AIDS remains very low (23 percent).
· Despite most of the in-school youth having access to confidential Voluntary Counselling and Testing, only 15 percent went for an HIV test. Of those who went for a test (85 percent), 68 percent went back for their results.
· Two hundred and seventy-five (275) out-of-school youth was interviewed. Of the 275, 76 percent received HIV&AIDS prevention information in the 12 months prior to the survey. However, and despite all the information received, knowledge on prevention methods and correct beliefs about AIDS and stigma and discrimination were very low (under 30 percent) for both indicators. Alarming data was found in Zululand where only 10 percent of the males and 7 percent of the females responded correctly to prevention methods and AIDS beliefs questions.
· Forty-two (42) percent of the youth out-of-school have had sex with more than one non-regular partner within the 12 months prior to the survey. Of those, almost half (45 percent) used condom at last non-regular sex.
· Almost 30 percent of the youth out-of-school had an HIV test within the last year, and of those tested, 85 percent received their results.
· The behaviour change questionnaire also targeted 373 between the ages of 20 to 49. Over 70 percent had had sexual intercourse, and 54 percent of men and 41 of women had had sex with more than one partner in the 12 months prior to the survey. One-third (33 percent) of those having sex with more than one partner did use condom.
· Information about HIV prevention methods amongst the 20-49 years old group was high in all the communities surveyed. However, only 34 percent reported comprehensive knowledge on HIV prevention methods and correct belief about AIDS.
· Seventy-four percent of the people interviewed had access to Voluntary Counselling and Testing within 12 months, however only 43 percent of them went for an HIV test, and out those 89 percent went back to get their results.
· A total of 742 households were randomly selected and data from 4036 household members was collected. The average household size of those household interviewed was 6.9 people per dwelling. Fourteen percent of the households were headed by people over the age of 65, out of whom 66 were women. Only one child was found to be headed a household. On average households were caring for an average of 3.5 children. More than half of the households surveyed did not have a regular source of income.
· Amongst the 63 percent of the households with members on Anti-retroviral treatment (35 percent) and TB treatment (44 percent), adherence to treatment was found high, with 96 percent on the interviewees being adherent over 90 percent to the ARV treatment and 92 percent of the people on TB taking over 90 percent of the treatment.
· Adult/Client Status Index was completed for 501 people on ART/TB treatment, on HBC programmes or members that have seen seriously ill for the last 3 or more months. Overall CSI rating for adults was 0.711, which falls in the highest category, meaning that no major concerns about the interviewees were found.
· Twenty-one percent of the Adult Status Index interviewees were benefiting from Red Cross at the time the interview was conducted. However external assistance from institutions, government and/or organizations was found very erratic, with only 56 percent of all the interviewees receiving support. Access to health services, provided mainly by the Ministry of Health, was the most extended support, received by 33 percent of the people interviewed. Nursing care was the second most expanded service, with Red Cross catering for more than 69 percent of the people surveyed with counselling and weekly household visits.
· Child Status Index was completed for 679 children, out of whom 422 met the criteria of orphans and vulnerable children. CSI rating OVC/Non-OVC ratio was 1.0, which indicates that OVCs overall wellbeing and status does not differ from Non-OVCs. Out of those children identified as OVCs, 26 percent had lost one parent, 13 percent experienced the death of a household member and 13 percent had at least one parent sick in the 6 months prior to the survey.
· Access to education was granted to 73 percent of the children interviewed as they are enrolled and do attend to school regularly. Difference on attendance was found when comparing OVCs and non-OVCs, with non-OVCs attending more regularly to school (21 percent) than OVCs (16 percent). However this figure differs when data is analysed only for children between the ages of 6 to 17. Data from the CSI indicates that 77 percent of the 6 to 17 years old children do go to school regularly, however OVCs go more (79 percent) than Non-OVCs (73 percent). See Table 11.
· Only 11percent of the Child Status Index interviewees were benefiting from Red Cross at the time the interview was conducted. External assistance from institutions, government and/or organizations was found very erratic, with only 36 percent of the OVCs and 32 percent of the children not receiving any type of assistance in the last 12 months. Livelihood support, provided mainly by the Government consisting mainly on grants, was the most extended support, received by 54 percent of the OVCs. Access to education was the second most expanded service, with Red Cross providing for 42 percent of it.
· In general, people interviewed whether through Behaviour Change or Household Survey, continue to remain in denial about AIDS, even when a close friend or relative is dying from AIDS. AIDS continued to remain stigmatized and there is well-founded fear of rejection from family and friends when you are diagnosed with HIV.
UNOCHA: Updated humanitarian figures for Iraq
- Population: 27.5 million
- Population growth rate: 2.6 percent
- Life expectancy at birth: 69 years
- Adult literacy rate: 74 percent
- GDP – Official exchange rate: US$ 40.66 billion (2006 est.)
- GDP – Real growth rate: 1.9 percent (2006 est.)
- Inflation rate (consumer products): 64.8 percent (2006 est.)
Full report available from Reliefweb.
WATER AND SANITATION
- Access to water is a priority need to almost 22 percent of IDPs in the 15 central and southern governorates in Iraq(2).
- Hygiene and sanitation is considered a priority need by almost 8 percent of IDPs in Iraq(3).
- Only one in three Iraqi children under the age of five has access to safe drinking water, according to UNICEF(4).
- The ongoing humanitarian crisis and increased displacement continue to place enormous pressure on the existing water and sanitation facilities in Iraq, leaving a large segment of the population with no access to water and, whenever access exists, populations are increasingly at risk of water-borne diseases(5).
HEALTH AND NUTRITION
- Access to healthcare is a priority need to almost 13 percent of surveyed IDPs(6).
- 11 percent of IDPs surveyed cannot access health care(7).
- 34 percent of IDPs surveyed can not access the medications they need(8).
- 48 percent of IDPs surveyed had participated in a vaccination programme(9).
- Immunization coverage of infants with DPT3, OPV3 and measles vaccinations dropped to 78 percent in 2006 from 84 percent in 2005. Insecurity makes mothers reluctant to go to health facilities for preventive essential health services like immunization(10).
Notes:
(1) CIA World Fact Book (2007 estimates)
(2) IOM Emergency Needs Assessment. Bi-weekly report 1 November 2007
(3) Cluster F: IDP Update. 19 September 2007
(4) Report of the Secretary General to the UN Security Council, 15 October 2007
(5) UNICEF: Update for Partners on the Situation of Children in Iraq. August/September 2007
(6) IOM Emergency Needs Assessment. Bi-weekly report 1 November 2007
(7) IOM: Iraq Displacement. 2007 Mid-Year Review.
(8) Cluster F: IDP Update. 19 September 2007
(9) Cluster F: IDP Update. 19 September 2007
(10) WHO: Iraq Annual Report 2006
http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/rwb.nsf/db900SID/SHES-78WNQ6/$File/Full_Report.pdf
- Population growth rate: 2.6 percent
- Life expectancy at birth: 69 years
- Adult literacy rate: 74 percent
- GDP – Official exchange rate: US$ 40.66 billion (2006 est.)
- GDP – Real growth rate: 1.9 percent (2006 est.)
- Inflation rate (consumer products): 64.8 percent (2006 est.)
Full report available from Reliefweb.
WATER AND SANITATION
- Access to water is a priority need to almost 22 percent of IDPs in the 15 central and southern governorates in Iraq(2).
- Hygiene and sanitation is considered a priority need by almost 8 percent of IDPs in Iraq(3).
- Only one in three Iraqi children under the age of five has access to safe drinking water, according to UNICEF(4).
- The ongoing humanitarian crisis and increased displacement continue to place enormous pressure on the existing water and sanitation facilities in Iraq, leaving a large segment of the population with no access to water and, whenever access exists, populations are increasingly at risk of water-borne diseases(5).
HEALTH AND NUTRITION
- Access to healthcare is a priority need to almost 13 percent of surveyed IDPs(6).
- 11 percent of IDPs surveyed cannot access health care(7).
- 34 percent of IDPs surveyed can not access the medications they need(8).
- 48 percent of IDPs surveyed had participated in a vaccination programme(9).
- Immunization coverage of infants with DPT3, OPV3 and measles vaccinations dropped to 78 percent in 2006 from 84 percent in 2005. Insecurity makes mothers reluctant to go to health facilities for preventive essential health services like immunization(10).
Notes:
(1) CIA World Fact Book (2007 estimates)
(2) IOM Emergency Needs Assessment. Bi-weekly report 1 November 2007
(3) Cluster F: IDP Update. 19 September 2007
(4) Report of the Secretary General to the UN Security Council, 15 October 2007
(5) UNICEF: Update for Partners on the Situation of Children in Iraq. August/September 2007
(6) IOM Emergency Needs Assessment. Bi-weekly report 1 November 2007
(7) IOM: Iraq Displacement. 2007 Mid-Year Review.
(8) Cluster F: IDP Update. 19 September 2007
(9) Cluster F: IDP Update. 19 September 2007
(10) WHO: Iraq Annual Report 2006
http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/rwb.nsf/db900SID/SHES-78WNQ6/$File/Full_Report.pdf
UNISDR: Prevention Web: A new tool to increase knowledge on disaster risk reduction
The UN/ISDR secretariat is launching PreventionWeb.net, a new website for increasing knowledge sharing on disaster risk reduction (DRR) issues, for both the general public – including media and teachers – and DRR specialists, on 15 November.
For the first time, a website will provide a common tool for both specialists and non-specialists interested or working in the area of disaster risk reduction (DRR) to connect, exchange experiences and share information at all levels of the International Strategy for Disaster Reduction: local to global, UN, international and non-governmental organizations to citizens and companies.
"Information and knowledge are key to reducing disasters, and this new tool will facilitate the sharing of information, expertise and experience. Prevention Web will be a reference for experts, practitioners and all people interested in building resilience to natural hazards,” said Salvano Briceño, Director of the UN/ISDR secretariat in Geneva.
Prevention Web is a product of many months of user research, information architecture, visual and technical design, and testing, to meet the needs of target audiences in this field. Prevention Web relies on contributions from the DRR community and includes: disaster risk reduction news, country reports, publications, good practices, fact sheets, networks and communities, and more. The beta release period will emphasize content development by calling for contributions from the community at large – UN, international, non-governmental, academic, and civil society partners. The website will be managed by a dedicated team of seven information managers between Geneva, Panama City, Nairobi, Cairo, Bangkok, Kobe and Bonn. DRR practitioners are invited to submit their contents online at: www.preventionweb.net/english/submit/
Craig Duncan, senior coordinator of the project, said “Prevention Web is expected to become an indispensable tool for practitioners working to build the resilience of nations and communities to disasters, much like Relief Web has served the humanitarian response community in the effective delivery of emergency assistance.”
For more about the project, visit the website or contact Craig Duncan. Prevention Web will organize a press briefing later this year to explain to media and the public at large how they can use the tool to facilitate their coverage and understanding of disasters.
For the first time, a website will provide a common tool for both specialists and non-specialists interested or working in the area of disaster risk reduction (DRR) to connect, exchange experiences and share information at all levels of the International Strategy for Disaster Reduction: local to global, UN, international and non-governmental organizations to citizens and companies.
"Information and knowledge are key to reducing disasters, and this new tool will facilitate the sharing of information, expertise and experience. Prevention Web will be a reference for experts, practitioners and all people interested in building resilience to natural hazards,” said Salvano Briceño, Director of the UN/ISDR secretariat in Geneva.
Prevention Web is a product of many months of user research, information architecture, visual and technical design, and testing, to meet the needs of target audiences in this field. Prevention Web relies on contributions from the DRR community and includes: disaster risk reduction news, country reports, publications, good practices, fact sheets, networks and communities, and more. The beta release period will emphasize content development by calling for contributions from the community at large – UN, international, non-governmental, academic, and civil society partners. The website will be managed by a dedicated team of seven information managers between Geneva, Panama City, Nairobi, Cairo, Bangkok, Kobe and Bonn. DRR practitioners are invited to submit their contents online at: www.preventionweb.net/english/submit/
Craig Duncan, senior coordinator of the project, said “Prevention Web is expected to become an indispensable tool for practitioners working to build the resilience of nations and communities to disasters, much like Relief Web has served the humanitarian response community in the effective delivery of emergency assistance.”
For more about the project, visit the website or contact Craig Duncan. Prevention Web will organize a press briefing later this year to explain to media and the public at large how they can use the tool to facilitate their coverage and understanding of disasters.
Thursday, November 8, 2007
Two Journal of Humanitarian Assistance Articles on Food Security
Now available on Reliefweb:
Local and Regional Procurement of Food Aid in Africa: Impact and Policy Issues
The research hypothesis for this study was that local and regional procurement of food aid can make a much larger contribution to the economies of developing countries, and poor people in particular, and that policies can be put in place to increase such benefits. The report includes some recommendations.
Reversing Food Insecurity: Linking Global Commitments to Local Recovery Needs
At national and international levels, there is no lack of commitment from global citizens of high moral and financial standing, world leaders, and national authorities to tackle the problems of food insecurity and chronic marginalisation of poor households. Yet, despite all of this publicity, concern, and financial assistance, hunger continues to affect 850 million people, most of them in Sub-Saharan Africa. This paper attempts to identify the disconnect between commitments and achievements - and includes an interesting survey of our problem-solving abilities as a sector and a race.
Local and Regional Procurement of Food Aid in Africa: Impact and Policy Issues
The research hypothesis for this study was that local and regional procurement of food aid can make a much larger contribution to the economies of developing countries, and poor people in particular, and that policies can be put in place to increase such benefits. The report includes some recommendations.
Reversing Food Insecurity: Linking Global Commitments to Local Recovery Needs
At national and international levels, there is no lack of commitment from global citizens of high moral and financial standing, world leaders, and national authorities to tackle the problems of food insecurity and chronic marginalisation of poor households. Yet, despite all of this publicity, concern, and financial assistance, hunger continues to affect 850 million people, most of them in Sub-Saharan Africa. This paper attempts to identify the disconnect between commitments and achievements - and includes an interesting survey of our problem-solving abilities as a sector and a race.
Tuesday, November 6, 2007
Away days and emergencies - yes folks, Brangelina is televising our lives. Sort of.
Reuters are reporting that Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt are making their first joint producing effort with an HBO series about aid workers.
The as-yet untitled drama will explore the behind-the scenes politics of an international aid organization, and chronicle the lives of humanitarian workers assigned to dangerous zones and the needy people they assist.
Jolie and Pitt will serve as executive producers, along with Scott Burns, who will write the pilot. Burns co-wrote "The Bourne Ultimatum" and was a producer of "An Inconvenient Truth."
Thursday, November 1, 2007
Reuters Alertnet: SOUTHERN AFRICA: HIV-induced famine's impact on agriculture
Hunger and HIV/AIDS are reinforcing each other in Southern Africa, "leading to a potentially tragic new level of famine", says a book published by a regional agricultural think-tank. The World Bank's annual report, released last week, also raises concerns over the pandemic's impact, pointing out that most people affected by HIV and AIDS depend on agriculture.
Food consumption has been found to drop by 40 percent in homes afflicted by HIV/AIDS, according to the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO); globally, Southern Africa is the region most affected by the pandemic. The situation has been exacerbated by severe drought in Lesotho, Swaziland, Zimbabwe and southern Mozambique this year, with significant production deficits and high staple food prices limiting market access for households that have already run out of food they have managed to grow themselves.
AIDS has killed around 7 million agricultural workers since 1985 in the 25 hardest-hit countries, mostly in east and southern Africa, where AIDS-related illnesses could kill 16 million more before 2020, and up to 26 percent of their agricultural labour force within two decades, said the FAO.. And here is the rest of it.
Read more on Alertnet.
Food consumption has been found to drop by 40 percent in homes afflicted by HIV/AIDS, according to the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO); globally, Southern Africa is the region most affected by the pandemic. The situation has been exacerbated by severe drought in Lesotho, Swaziland, Zimbabwe and southern Mozambique this year, with significant production deficits and high staple food prices limiting market access for households that have already run out of food they have managed to grow themselves.
AIDS has killed around 7 million agricultural workers since 1985 in the 25 hardest-hit countries, mostly in east and southern Africa, where AIDS-related illnesses could kill 16 million more before 2020, and up to 26 percent of their agricultural labour force within two decades, said the FAO.. And here is the rest of it.
Read more on Alertnet.
UN SG Report on Implementation of the International Strategy for Disaster Reduction
The number of disasters and the scale of their impacts continue to grow, driven largely by the increasing vulnerability to natural hazards, but also by the effects of climate change, threatening the lives and livelihoods of ever more millions of people and the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals. There is growing urgency to increase efforts to implement the Hyogo Framework for Action 2005-2015: Building the Resilience of Nations and Communities to Disasters. The world is not on track to achieve the aim of a substantive reduction in disaster losses by 2015.The report is available for download from Reliefweb.
Decisive and systematic action is therefore needed. That means a high-level commitment to reduce risks, supported by sound policies, strong institutional capacities and adequate budgets, at both national and local government levels. One notable step in accelerating the implementation of the Hyogo Framework for Action was the convening of the first session of the multi-stakeholder Global Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction from 5 to 7 June 2007 as the main global forum to facilitate concerted efforts in disaster risk reduction at all levels.
The present report provides an overview of progress on the implementation of the International Strategy for Disaster Reduction and the Hyogo Framework for Action at the national, regional and international levels, in response to General Assembly resolution 61/198. It also considers trends in disasters and disaster risks, and the development of coordination, guidance and resourcing through the International Strategy for Disaster Reduction system.
Disarmament diplomacy: The Road From Oslo: Emerging International Efforts on Cluster Munitions
Read more at the Acronym.org website.On February 23, 2007, 46 countries made an historic declaration at a conference in the snow-covered hills above Oslo in Norway. The Oslo Declaration contained commitments to complete an international treaty by the end of 2008 to "prohibit the use, production, transfer and stockpiling of cluster munitions that cause unacceptable harm to civilians" and to "establish a framework for cooperation and assistance that ensures adequate provision of care and rehabilitation to survivors and their communities, clearance of contaminated areas, risk education and destruction of stockpiles of prohibited cluster munitions."
Only one year earlier, such collective resolve on cluster bombs was very hard to envisage...
What changed? What does the Oslo Declaration mean, and what comes next? Does the Oslo Conference mark the beginning of another "Ottawa process" - as some are proclaiming and others fear - which a decade ago achieved a treaty banning anti-personnel mines? First, however, what humanitarian problems do cluster munitions cause, and what are the big political issues in dealing with them?
Tuesday, October 30, 2007
SG of Kenya Red Cross awarded 'UN in Kenya Person of the Year'
Nairobi, 22 October – The United Nations in Kenya, on the occasion of UN Day on 24 October, has decided to award the 2007 "UN in Kenya Person of the Year" to Mr. Abbas Gullet, Secretary General of Kenya Red Cross Society.
Speaking for the UN agencies based in the country, the United Nations Resident Coordinator Elizabeth Lwanga said: "Today the United Nations family in Kenya recognizes Abbas Gullet for his important contributions in making the Kenya Red Cross Society (KRCS) the first place the Government of Kenya and locally based humanitarian organizations look to for leadership in times of national emergencies.
Ms. Lwanga added that “it is also our judgment that Mr. Gullet’s many years of professional and personal sacrifice exhibits a character of extraordinary accomplishment, integrity and courage – and one determined to relieve human suffering and misery in his country.
Abbas Gullet’s timely interventions and leadership has made the KRCS the leading National humanitarian organization in the country, recognized across the world as one of the best performing National Red Cross Societies, and an example of what local relief groups can achieve.
Under his leadership, the KRCS has experienced phenomenal growth. With regional warehouses around the country, offices linked by radio, telephone and Internet, the KRCS today has the capacity to handle 120,000 people in situations requiring humanitarian intervention. Its annual budget has grown from Ksh338 million in 2005 to Ksh1.4 billion in 2006.
Monday, October 29, 2007
Intrac updates: Rethinking Monitoring and Evaluation
INTRAC's latest newsletter ONTRAC deals with 'Rethinking M&E' and included perspectives
on
- the logframe from Oman,
- storytelling M&E from CDRA in South Africa,
- how to combine qualitative and quantitative M&E in QUIP
- Monitoring and Learning and
- Brian Pratt on the increasingly sharp polarisation within civil society M&E.
The newsletter coincides with the publication of their new book 'Rethinking M&E: Challenges and Prospects in the Changing Global Aid Environment' - we hope to have a copy in the BRC Library soon.
Read more about the book in the longer post:
‘Rethinking M&E’ both analyses practitioner issues and situates them within wider aid trends. It takes as its premise the observation that official development aid is shifting towards an increasingly technocratic, managerial, state-centred approach. It follows that M&E within the aid chain worldwide is directed away from its focus on qualitative outcomes and long-term poverty alleviation impacts. Within this context, ‘Rethinking M&E’ provides innovative insights into such areas as M&E of NGOs as donors, the M&E of advocacy and the M&E of humanitarian emergencies.
Wherever you find yourself in the world of development M&E, this book will present useful experiences from others in similar situations. It shows that there is momentum and energy going into making M&E work for learning, empowerment and poverty eradication.'
Thursday, October 25, 2007
Federation: Defusing Disaster, Reducing the Risk: calamity is unnatural
Disaster is unnatural and risk reduction measures diminish the odds of it occurring by doing everything possible before the event to protect life, limit damage and strengthen a vulnerable community’s ability to bounce back quickly from adversity. The solutions may lie in simple things like educating children on what to do in emergencies, or planting trees on unstable hillsides to stop those releasing landslides. The more complex include early warning systems, coastal protection, earthquake-safe construction and urban planning.Part call to action, part showcase of Federation DRR work, this new 12-page publication is now available for download as a pdf from Reliefweb.
Whatever they are, thousands of lives and billions of dollars could be saved every year if a fraction of the cost of disaster response was spent minimizing the impact of hazards. Studies have shown that every dollar invested in risk reduction can save between two and ten dollars in disaster response and recovery cost.
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
RC/RC Movement Cash Guidelines (produced by BRC with Federation support) now available for download from FedNet!
After a long gestational period, the Cash Guidelines are here, they're beautiful, and they are available online or in hardcopy from Charles-Antoine.
Please note that you'll need a FedNet access username and password to download the PDF - follow the links on the page to set one up, if you don't already have one.
UPDATE: The Guidelines are now also available from the ICRC website.
Please note that you'll need a FedNet access username and password to download the PDF - follow the links on the page to set one up, if you don't already have one.
UPDATE: The Guidelines are now also available from the ICRC website.
HPG Policy Brief: Humanitarian advocacy in Darfur: The challenge of neutrality
This latest HPG Policy Brief reviews operational aid actors' international advocacy on Darfur since the outbreak of the conflict in 2003 and assesses the issues and challenges that humanitarian organisations face when undertaking advocacy on high profile political emergencies. It makes the following points:
- In order to gain access to communities affected by war, humanitarians have historically remained neutral in matters of political controversy. However, this strict notion of neutrality has been much eroded in recent years. A more ‘pragmatic' form of neutrality is emerging: sufficiently non-partisan to facilitate access to affected communities, while also sufficiently flexible to allow advocacy.
- Aid actors concerned to retain access to affected communities should do more to define and safeguard this new form of neutrality. This may involve distancing themselves from other non-neutral campaigners.
- There is a lack of clarity around humanitarian actors' role in advocacy. This can lead to aid actors overstepping humanitarian boundaries and being drawn into discussions in which they have limited competence or expertise. More discussion and evaluation of the role of advocacy, and its effectiveness in humanitarian action, is required.
Thursday, October 18, 2007
ECB Report: Promising Practices for Risk Reduction
The Emergency Capacity Building (ECB) Project carried out pilot projects in three countries (Ethiopia, Guatemala and Indonesia) to identify models and promising practices for disaster risk reduction based on practical programs.
This report summarizes some of the more significant learnings and promising practices, and highlights some key examples that give ideas for moving forward with risk reduction in other areas.
The pdf report is available for download from the Reliefweb site.
This report summarizes some of the more significant learnings and promising practices, and highlights some key examples that give ideas for moving forward with risk reduction in other areas.
The pdf report is available for download from the Reliefweb site.
Federation: Global Alliance for disaster risk reduction - Building safer, resilient communities
The Federation have published a new paper on their Global Alliance for DRR - follow the link for the pdf document. Don't forget you can post any comments by clicking on the link below!
Advocacy and Darfur seminar - a summary
HPG event: Humanitarian advocacy and Darfur
Wednesday 17 October – ODI offices, 111 Westminster Bridge Road
A really interesting seminar exploring the difficulties of advocacy within an increasingly insecure environment. There were three speakers; Sorcha O’Callaghan, Research Fellow, Humanitarian Policy Group, Brendan Cox, Executive Director, Crisis Action and Rebecca Dale, Independent Policy Advisor on Sudan. I particularly liked Rebecca who spoke with great clarity and had some thought provoking points to make. To see a summary of their comments, read my blog post below:
Sorcha:
- Focussed on the fact that agencies have now become relatively silent compared to three or four years ago when press releases and public advocacy was at its peak. Agencies are increasingly being pulled into political and military discussions. This is undermining their ability to operate and is manifesting itself in the form of growing insecurity for aid workers, increasing problems with access and further restrictions being imposed by the Sudanese government.
- Maintaining neutrality whilst conducting advocacy – not easy when the Sudanese President claims that the aid agencies are the real enemy of the state. A clearer definition is needed of what advocacy is.
Brendan:
- Representing Crisis Action, a campaigning coalition on armed conflict that works behind the scenes to engender change.
- No clear line between humanitarian action and political advocacy. Agencies must be responsible for their actions. He cited the example of MSF denouncing sexual violence – they could not have chosen a more politically sensitive topic.
- The issue is not with principles but with judgement. Judgement in making decisions needs to be improved, further resources are required and greater professionalisation.
Rebecca:
- Damned if you speak out, damned if you do not.
- Again underlined the responsibility of agencies for their actions. Link between field workers on the ground and advocacy campaigns at headquarters level needs to be strengthened. Those running advocacy campaign must fully understand the implications of their actions.
- ‘War on Terror’ has fundamentally changed the way international NGOs are seen. An association has been created between western politcal powers and NGOs, that they are now somehow instruments of government. The request by international NGOs for a non consensual military force to enter Darfur reinforces this – will an Iraq/Afghanistan type occupation follow this request?
- Are NGOs undermining sovereignty?
- A shift has occurred from NGOs needing to provide purely basic needs to now having to be involved in advocacy, understand the root causes of conflict and become involved in post conflict work.
- Support for humanitarian work is dependent on ease of involvement. There is nowhere near the level of engagement in the US on the humanitarian situation in Palestine compared to the massive engagement on Darfur.
- Agencies under increased pressure to speak out.
- If access is not improved the UN will impose sanctions, this puts a lot of pressure on NGOs to stay and improve access.
- Neutrality does not mean condoning violations of IHL.
Tuesday, October 16, 2007
Northern Uganda: Red Cross support to returning communities
A 20 year internal conflict between the Lords Resistance Army and the Government of Uganda has resulted in hundreds of thousands of people in the north of Uganda displaced from their villages in to overcrowded IDP camps. 2006 saw some signs of improvement in the security situation as peace talks began between the parties to the conflict. The Uganda Red Cross Society (URCS) has been running a relief operation in the north of Uganda for the past 5 years, providing essential items, water and sanitation, and seeds and tools to the IDP camps and is now also supporting those who are starting to return to their villages.
In September 2007, I travelled to northern Uganda to see a project run by the URCS and supported by the British Red Cross. Opimo village is a village in Lira district, northern Uganda, where after years of a brutal civil war, some people who were displaced in to IDP camps have begun returning to their homes as ongoing peace talks have brought some security to the region.
The URCS is working to assist those people who have returned to their villages such as Opimo, to rebuild their lives and regain their livelihoods. One way in which the URCS is doing this is to distribute seed and tool kits to families. This enables families to prepare their land, plant and harvest crops to feed themselves, sell produce at nearby markets and build up seed banks for future harvests.
In September 2007, floods swept across parts of northern Uganda, washing away bridges and roads and devastating farmland. Many crops were washed away or ruined. In Opimo village, although not as badly affected as other parts of the district, the rain fell hard and the waterlogged ground is causing farmers to fear that their harvest will fail. In 2007, WFP had been scaling down food distributions to returning communities but because of the floods, WFP is now having to scale up again to meet the growing demands for food assistance.
I met Lawrence, 28 years old, who lives in Opimo village and is married with one child. He received seeds and tools from the URCS, and was very happy with his harvest in the first half of 2007. He went on and prepared and planted in his land in time for the second harvest of the year. 
However, the heavy rains have brought him and his family concern: “There has been too much rain and this means I will have a very poor harvest.” Lawrence planned to keep some of his beans to plant for the next harvest, but due to the bad weather conditions he has been forced to plant all the bean seeds the URCS gave him in order to maximise what crops he can grow in his waterlogged fields.
The villagers plant their crops wherever they can around the village, with the vegetable gardens being closer to their homes. The waterlogged ground is causing major problems for the farmers, with many of the seeds growing too quickly. This means the crops die off without bearing fruit. With fears of a poor harvest, many people are resorting to planting all of their seeds that they had been keeping from the first harvest in order to maximise the possible crop production from their waterlogged fields.
Therefore if the harvest is as poor as predicted, many families will be reliant again on external food aid.
Despite the flooding and worries about their crops, the people of Opimo Village maintain they are happy to be back in their villages after years of conflict forced them and their families to live in the terrible conditions of the IDP camps. Villager, Ojok Moses, 31 years old and responsible for an extended family of 14 people, returned from the IDP camp to his village nearly one year ago. He said “Returning to my village was very important for me. When we lived in the camp I struggled to provide for my family, and this was a big problem for us. Now I am back I have a garden where I can grow vegetables and feed my children.” Lawrence agreed: “In the camp we were surviving day to day, now we can have a livelihood again.” Another villager, Alfred, put it simply: “No longer do we have to be running, security is better and life is good.”
Sunday, October 14, 2007
Friday, October 12, 2007
ODI Blog: Hugo Slim on killing civilians
Last year, I found myself watching an early round of the African football cup finals on the television at the Acholi Inn in Gulu, Northern Uganda. Next to me was a former senior leader of the Lord’s Resistance Army who had said he might give me an interview about civilian protection after the match.
The game was extremely “physical” and the LRA man was getting quite heated about the conduct on the pitch. Eventually, one deeply cynical tackle was too much for him. He leapt from his chair, shouting at the referee:
“Hey, that’s unfair, that’s terrible, send him off!”
I was gob smacked. Here was a man who had been the official spokesman for one of the most vicious armed groups in the world (whose troops think nothing of the murder and mutilation of unarmed civilians) bitterly complaining about a tackle that went for the man rather than the ball. But he was genuinely outraged. I had obviously got him wrong. After the match, he turned to me and said:
“Why do you want to talk to me about civilians?”
“Because your organization has killed and terrified so many of them and I want to understand why.”
Accusing him of a foul so soon after the match was not a good idea. He grew angry.
“You want to write a book about our war” he said “but you and all the other white people have only just turned up. We have been fighting this war for years but only now are you interested. You talk about civilians. But what is a civilian? Go around this area for a bit and then, if you can tell me what a civilian is, I will talk to you about it.”
Read the rest of his piece on the ODI Online Exchange. His new book, Killing Civilians: Method, Madness and Morality in War, is on its way to the BRC library - it's being published in November.
The game was extremely “physical” and the LRA man was getting quite heated about the conduct on the pitch. Eventually, one deeply cynical tackle was too much for him. He leapt from his chair, shouting at the referee:
“Hey, that’s unfair, that’s terrible, send him off!”
I was gob smacked. Here was a man who had been the official spokesman for one of the most vicious armed groups in the world (whose troops think nothing of the murder and mutilation of unarmed civilians) bitterly complaining about a tackle that went for the man rather than the ball. But he was genuinely outraged. I had obviously got him wrong. After the match, he turned to me and said:
“Why do you want to talk to me about civilians?”
“Because your organization has killed and terrified so many of them and I want to understand why.”
Accusing him of a foul so soon after the match was not a good idea. He grew angry.
“You want to write a book about our war” he said “but you and all the other white people have only just turned up. We have been fighting this war for years but only now are you interested. You talk about civilians. But what is a civilian? Go around this area for a bit and then, if you can tell me what a civilian is, I will talk to you about it.”
Read the rest of his piece on the ODI Online Exchange. His new book, Killing Civilians: Method, Madness and Morality in War, is on its way to the BRC library - it's being published in November.
Friday, October 5, 2007
Report: 10 years of Sphere in Action, enhancing the quality and accountability of humanitarian action
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Ten years later, the Sphere Project continues to maintain these core principles, working together with other quality and accountability initiatives in the humanitarian sector.
This report aims to provide a small insight into the first ten years of the Sphere Project - with reference to some of those who 'govern' the Project as well as to a number of examples of those who 'use' the Humanitarian Charter and the Minimum Standards, citing first-hand experiences and case studies.
The report is available for download from the Sphere website.
The report is available for download from the Sphere website.
Thursday, October 4, 2007
WHO: Risk Reduction and Emergency Preparedness
This six-year strategy is based on the recommendations of a global consultation held by WHO in February 2006. Available for download via Reliefweb.
With the finalization of the strategy, work to bring it into practice had already been started by WHO and its partners. Indeed several new initiatives took place in 2006 while the Strategy was under finalization. The main ones were the development and the implementation of a global survey on country emergency preparedness, a global consultation on mass casualty management in emergency settings, a consultation on the role of nursing and midwifery in emergencies, and another on non-communicable disease management in emergencies. Other initiatives are planned for 2007.
With the finalization of the strategy, work to bring it into practice had already been started by WHO and its partners. Indeed several new initiatives took place in 2006 while the Strategy was under finalization. The main ones were the development and the implementation of a global survey on country emergency preparedness, a global consultation on mass casualty management in emergency settings, a consultation on the role of nursing and midwifery in emergencies, and another on non-communicable disease management in emergencies. Other initiatives are planned for 2007.
Wednesday, October 3, 2007
TUFTS: Sharpening the Strategic Focus of Livelihoods Programming in the Darfur Region
This report by the Feinstein International Center at Tufts University captures the process and outputs from a series of four recent workshops in Darfur that produced a shared and common understanding of the impact of conflict on livelihoods, and based on this developed a more strategic approach for support of livelihoods through humanitarian assistance.
The workshops brought together more than 180 national and international actors of differing views and perspectives, who through a participatory process were able to reach consensus. Important common themes that emerged included:
* Conflict and insecurity are continuing to destroy livelihoods, and the adaptations that particular livelihood groups make, in turn fuel the conflict.
* The continued disruption of markets and trade, particularly impacting those who are still able to engage in some of their pre-conflict livelihood strategies, namely pastoralists and resident farmers.
* The breakdown and failures in local governance, particularly in relation to competition over natural resources and local conflict resolution.
* Acceleration of environmental degradation, particularly in areas of high population concentrations as a result of displacement, but also as a result of the breakdown in natural resource governance and the impact of conflict in constraining livelihoods.
* The inequitable distribution of humanitarian livelihoods programming, with some groups, particularly pastoralists widely neglected.
Download the full report from the Tufts website.
The workshops brought together more than 180 national and international actors of differing views and perspectives, who through a participatory process were able to reach consensus. Important common themes that emerged included:
* Conflict and insecurity are continuing to destroy livelihoods, and the adaptations that particular livelihood groups make, in turn fuel the conflict.
* The continued disruption of markets and trade, particularly impacting those who are still able to engage in some of their pre-conflict livelihood strategies, namely pastoralists and resident farmers.
* The breakdown and failures in local governance, particularly in relation to competition over natural resources and local conflict resolution.
* Acceleration of environmental degradation, particularly in areas of high population concentrations as a result of displacement, but also as a result of the breakdown in natural resource governance and the impact of conflict in constraining livelihoods.
* The inequitable distribution of humanitarian livelihoods programming, with some groups, particularly pastoralists widely neglected.
Download the full report from the Tufts website.
HPG Background Paper: Business engagement in humanitarian relief: key trends and policy implications
A slightly belated link to a paper published in June by Andrea Binder and Jan Martin Witte of the Global Public Policy Institute, funded by HPG.
For decades, companies have occupied a secondary presence in humanitarian relief, providing goods and services to dominant humanitarian actors contracting their assistance. However, recently, the business community has started to respond unconventionally to needs arising from humanitarian emergencies, offering more than just logistical support or the delivery of construction materials on a fee-basis. While most donors expend humanitarian funds only to non-profit organisations, certain key donors have started to contract commercial providers directly for planning and implementation of humanitarian projects.These developments have given rise to much discussion within the humanitarian community regarding the role of the private sector in humanitarian relief. Critics and supporters alike argue that the two trends depicted above, if significant and persistent, have the potential to transform the humanitarian domain and will affect humanitarian principles.
Download the paper from the HPG website; full details of the GPPI project are available from the GPPI website.
Thanks to Jutta for sending this in.
For decades, companies have occupied a secondary presence in humanitarian relief, providing goods and services to dominant humanitarian actors contracting their assistance. However, recently, the business community has started to respond unconventionally to needs arising from humanitarian emergencies, offering more than just logistical support or the delivery of construction materials on a fee-basis. While most donors expend humanitarian funds only to non-profit organisations, certain key donors have started to contract commercial providers directly for planning and implementation of humanitarian projects.These developments have given rise to much discussion within the humanitarian community regarding the role of the private sector in humanitarian relief. Critics and supporters alike argue that the two trends depicted above, if significant and persistent, have the potential to transform the humanitarian domain and will affect humanitarian principles.
Download the paper from the HPG website; full details of the GPPI project are available from the GPPI website.
Thanks to Jutta for sending this in.
MSF Dialogues: Humanitarian NGOs' responsibilities and limitations in providing 'protection'
In this fourth Dialogues publication from MSF, two speakers (Marc DuBois from MSF and Katy Barnett from Save the Children) discuss what they see as the main issues - and respond to each other's viewpoints. The publication is available from the MSF website.
If you find the discussion thought-provoking, or vehemently agree or disagree with one of the speakers, then check out the latest postings related to this debate on the Dialogues website, and post your own opinions.
If you find the discussion thought-provoking, or vehemently agree or disagree with one of the speakers, then check out the latest postings related to this debate on the Dialogues website, and post your own opinions.
Tuesday, October 2, 2007
Tufts: Feinstein International Center: Impact Assessment of Innovative Humanitarian projects in Sub-Saharan Africa
This is the first in a series of four field studies which makes extensive use of participatory impact assessment methodologies in seeking to answer a simple question: What actually is the true impact of humanitarian assistance?
Partnering with five major NGOs and seven assistance programs in Africa this research seeks to understand not just the expected impact but the total impact of a variety of humanitarian interventions. Early in 2008 the project will also be publishing a tool box of PIA field tested techniques for use in impact assessments.
Download the document in pdf format from the Tufts website.
Partnering with five major NGOs and seven assistance programs in Africa this research seeks to understand not just the expected impact but the total impact of a variety of humanitarian interventions. Early in 2008 the project will also be publishing a tool box of PIA field tested techniques for use in impact assessments.
Download the document in pdf format from the Tufts website.
Thursday, September 27, 2007
WFP Guide: Food Assistance Programming in the Context of HIV
There is increased acknowledgment in the development community of the links between food insecurity and HIV, and the corresponding need to integrate food and nutritional support into a comprehensive response to the epidemic. In areas of high HIV prevalence, many food assistance agencies have recognized the need to adjust conventional food assistance interventions to respond to vulnerabilities related to HIV’s impact on individuals, households and communities.
Efforts to effectively respond to food insecurity and HIV are hindered by the lack of both documented, sector-based promising approaches and field-level evidence on appropriate food assistance interventions in the context of HIV. To address these challenges, the Food and Nutrition Technical Assistance (FANTA) Project, working with Technical Assistance to NGOs (TANGO) and funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the World Food Programme (WFP), has developed this guide on Food Assistance Programming in the Context of HIV.
Download the guide from Reliefweb by clicking on the link.
Efforts to effectively respond to food insecurity and HIV are hindered by the lack of both documented, sector-based promising approaches and field-level evidence on appropriate food assistance interventions in the context of HIV. To address these challenges, the Food and Nutrition Technical Assistance (FANTA) Project, working with Technical Assistance to NGOs (TANGO) and funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the World Food Programme (WFP), has developed this guide on Food Assistance Programming in the Context of HIV.
Download the guide from Reliefweb by clicking on the link.
Monday, September 24, 2007
Bulletin views around the world
Friday, September 21, 2007
Matthias Schmale of BRC interviewed by UK news programmes following BRC Africa Floods Appeal
Following BRC's urgent Africa Flood appeal, launched on the 20th September (press release and main donation page available on BRC website), Matthias Schmale gave interviews on the 21st September to Channel 4 news and BBC News 24. Moira Reddick gave a further interview later in the day to the BBC.
Channel 4 news have very kindly posted a video of their report on their website - follow the link and click on the 'watch the report' link.
Sadly the BBC have not posted video of either interview, but they are reporting in some detail on the Red Cross response to the floods, including mention of the BRC appeal and an interview with Benonita Bismarck of the Ghana Red Cross.
On Friday 21st September, Humanitarian Coordinator for Uganda Theophane Nikyema announced a Flash Appeal for around $41m to 'address urgent humanitarian and some limited early recovery needs for 300,000 people affected by the flooding over the coming six months'.
Channel 4 news have very kindly posted a video of their report on their website - follow the link and click on the 'watch the report' link.
Sadly the BBC have not posted video of either interview, but they are reporting in some detail on the Red Cross response to the floods, including mention of the BRC appeal and an interview with Benonita Bismarck of the Ghana Red Cross.
On Friday 21st September, Humanitarian Coordinator for Uganda Theophane Nikyema announced a Flash Appeal for around $41m to 'address urgent humanitarian and some limited early recovery needs for 300,000 people affected by the flooding over the coming six months'.
Friday, September 14, 2007
ODI Online Exchange: Yet another arrogant move? MSF’s stance on its relationship with the rest of the international aid system
Eric Stobbaerts of MSF recently posted a piece on ODI's Online Exchange forum.
Read more on the ODI website.In a recent position paper MSF posed itself the question “…. what will better serve the populations in need: will MSF’s independent approach be beneficial to the most vulnerable at the end of the line? Or on the contrary, …is it indeed the collective effort, which will better serve the vulnerable?”
We came to the conclusion that the best service for populations in need will come as a result of independence of action rather than participation in an integrated effort. Hence our decision in the past years to decline the invitation to join the IASC both at headquarters and field level, to withdraw from SCHR and not to join clusters, meanwhile keeping an open and bilateral channel of communication with all major aid actors.
Just one more example of MSF isolationism and arrogance, or is this the only way of ensuring impartial provision of humanitarian assistance to populations at risk?
ActionAid report on threat to urban poor of urban flooding following climate change
By 2030, the majority of Africa’s population will live in urban areas. Unfortunately, however, global warming is also bringing chronic flooding to the cities, which can be just as disastrous for poor urbanites as droughts are for farmers.
In participatory vulnerability analysis (PVA) with slum dwellers in six African cities, one of the major problems ActionAid uncovered is that there are few, if any, collective mechanisms either for reducing flood risks or for managing floods once they do happen. Instead, poor people are left to fend for themselves with whatever individual coping strategies they can muster.
In this report, available from the Reliefweb site, ActionAid argues that the solutions to the severe flooding of poor urban communities in Africa are relatively simple. Many people understand what needs to be done. Communities can do much for themselves. However, the tasks are best tackled through partnerships with national and international support.
All parties concerned need to collaborate in:
In participatory vulnerability analysis (PVA) with slum dwellers in six African cities, one of the major problems ActionAid uncovered is that there are few, if any, collective mechanisms either for reducing flood risks or for managing floods once they do happen. Instead, poor people are left to fend for themselves with whatever individual coping strategies they can muster.
In this report, available from the Reliefweb site, ActionAid argues that the solutions to the severe flooding of poor urban communities in Africa are relatively simple. Many people understand what needs to be done. Communities can do much for themselves. However, the tasks are best tackled through partnerships with national and international support.
All parties concerned need to collaborate in:
- Making sure the growing human challenge of urban flooding is addressed in all national and international development policies, planning and actions by governments, UN systems, IFIs and NGOs.
- Investing in proper and safe infrastructure, such as drainage, as locally appropriate.
- Ensuring that poor people participate in all decision-making processes equally with experts in flood reduction policies.
- Taking all possible measures to ensure that poor people’s rights to adequate and disaster-safe housing are realised and their tenure is secured.
- Making sure that critical services such as health, water and sanitation are disaster prepared, which means they are able to provide adequate services during floods.
- Implementing the Hyogo Framework of Action, agreed at the World Conference on DisasterReduction in 2005, at all levels of urban planning and service delivery.
HPG study: Opportunities and obstacles to the reintegration of IDPs and refugees returning to Southern Sudan and the Three Areas
This latest HPG study examines the patterns of return and determinants for successful reintegration in two contrasting areas of Sudan (Southern Kordofan and Northern Bhar el Ghazal states). It is the first output of a broader research project looking at one of the world's largest return and reintegration processes.
The study, which was commissioned and funded by the UK Department for International Development, examines a range of themes associated with reintegration, such as livelihoods opportunities, land governance, customary and local government institutions, leadership and security. It highlights inadequacies in the planning, coordination and approaches adopted in support of successful reintegration, including the lack of appropriate funding instruments and resources for medium term programming. In a context burdened by multiple and exceptional post-war challenges, unsystematic support for returnees and host populations risks aggravating discontent and undermining stability, putting pressure on an already troubled peace process. The study recommends a greater focus on area-based recovery that includes the host and returnee populations without distinction.
The full report can be downloaded from the HPG website.
The study, which was commissioned and funded by the UK Department for International Development, examines a range of themes associated with reintegration, such as livelihoods opportunities, land governance, customary and local government institutions, leadership and security. It highlights inadequacies in the planning, coordination and approaches adopted in support of successful reintegration, including the lack of appropriate funding instruments and resources for medium term programming. In a context burdened by multiple and exceptional post-war challenges, unsystematic support for returnees and host populations risks aggravating discontent and undermining stability, putting pressure on an already troubled peace process. The study recommends a greater focus on area-based recovery that includes the host and returnee populations without distinction.
The full report can be downloaded from the HPG website.
UN-ISDR publication: Gender Perspective: Working Together for Disaster Risk Reduction
The UN/ISDR secretariat, in coperation with GROOTS International, a network of grassroots women's organizations, have facilitated the compilation of "Gender Perspective: Working Together for Disaster Risk Reduction." The compilation is based on the many contributions from community-based organizations, NGOs and UNDP country offices and aims to trigger more action towards gender-inclusive disaster risk redcution process.
This publication highlights the fact that disaster recovery and rehabilitation provide good opportunities for women to play public roles with the support of their families and communities. It also underlines the importance of working with both men and women to promote a gender-balanced approach to disaster risk reduction.
Some of the good practices are on awareness-raising and capacity-building, others are on women's participation in and contribution to building safe communities and households and equal access to information. In a nutshell, the publication showcases women's valuable contributions to community resilience.
A pdf version of the document can be downloaded via Reliefweb.
This publication highlights the fact that disaster recovery and rehabilitation provide good opportunities for women to play public roles with the support of their families and communities. It also underlines the importance of working with both men and women to promote a gender-balanced approach to disaster risk reduction.
Some of the good practices are on awareness-raising and capacity-building, others are on women's participation in and contribution to building safe communities and households and equal access to information. In a nutshell, the publication showcases women's valuable contributions to community resilience.
A pdf version of the document can be downloaded via Reliefweb.
UNICEF lists the top causes of child deaths
UNICEF's recent announcement that the number of deaths of children under 5 dropped below 10 million for the first time has been widely publicised.
Less widely reported is the list of reasons for the 9.7 million child deaths which did occur in 2006:
1 NEONATAL CAUSES - 3.6 million perished in the first four weeks after birth due to complications from premature birth, severe infections, birth asphyxia, birth defects, tetanus, diarrhea-related diseases and other causes.
2. PNEUMONIA - About 1.8 million children died of pneumonia, an inflammation of the lung generally caused by an infection that is marked by a cough and difficult breathing. It kills more children than any other single disease. A number of different organisms can cause it including bacteria, viruses and fungi.
3. DIARRHEA - About 1.6 million children died from diarrheal illnesses. Severe diarrhea can cause fluid loss. It is life-threatening in children who are malnourished or have impaired immunity. Diarrhea often is caused by viruses, bacteria and parasites.
4. MALARIA - Malaria killed about 780,000 children under 5 in 2006.
5. OTHERS - Measles killed 390,000 children under 5 in 2006; AIDS killed 290,000. UNICEF also said inadequate nutrition can be considered an underlying cause in about half of the worldwide deaths under age 5.
Read more on the UNICEF website.
Less widely reported is the list of reasons for the 9.7 million child deaths which did occur in 2006:
1 NEONATAL CAUSES - 3.6 million perished in the first four weeks after birth due to complications from premature birth, severe infections, birth asphyxia, birth defects, tetanus, diarrhea-related diseases and other causes.
2. PNEUMONIA - About 1.8 million children died of pneumonia, an inflammation of the lung generally caused by an infection that is marked by a cough and difficult breathing. It kills more children than any other single disease. A number of different organisms can cause it including bacteria, viruses and fungi.
3. DIARRHEA - About 1.6 million children died from diarrheal illnesses. Severe diarrhea can cause fluid loss. It is life-threatening in children who are malnourished or have impaired immunity. Diarrhea often is caused by viruses, bacteria and parasites.
4. MALARIA - Malaria killed about 780,000 children under 5 in 2006.
5. OTHERS - Measles killed 390,000 children under 5 in 2006; AIDS killed 290,000. UNICEF also said inadequate nutrition can be considered an underlying cause in about half of the worldwide deaths under age 5.
Read more on the UNICEF website.
Wednesday, September 12, 2007
Federation Release: Doing the dirty work: sanitation and hygiene save lives in Pakistan
The British Red Cross mass sanitation Emergency Response Unit (ERU) is working with Pakistan Red Crescent volunteers and community members to build temporary latrines, clean up waste and share information on hygiene promotion. This translates into much needed relief for Saeeda, Sima and their families.
Throughout South Asia, an estimated 37 million people have been hit by terrible flooding. In Pakistan, more than 300 people died and over 88,000 homes were damaged or destroyed.
...
Lessons learned from the Pakistan earthquake two years ago are being applied in the flood-stricken area. For example, in the quake-affected North-West Frontier Province, women hygiene promoters have been trained by the Red Crescent to teach other women about the importance of boiling water and regular bathing. The promotion of good hygiene habits is also now being carried out in Baluchistan and Sindh.
"Providing facilities isn’t enough, says Fortune. "By sharing knowledge on hygiene, we ensure that families become safer and healthier as well."
Jean Gilardi, Fortune’s teammate on the British ERU, is in charge of teaching communities about the importance of hygiene and notes the success she has witnessed.
"We’re already seeing changes… the children wash their hands after using the latrines and the women understand that if they practice good hygiene, eat well and drink milk, their babies will be healthier," Gilardi says.
Read more on the Reliefweb site.
Tuesday, September 11, 2007
International Review of the Red Cross focusses on 'Humanitarian Actors'
The latest edition of the Review is themed 'Humanitarian Actors':
'Multiple humanitarian actors with different objectives, principles and modi operandi intervene in situations of armed conflict and internal violence in order to alleviate the plight of the victims: governmental and non-governmental organisations, international organisations, National Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies and private companies, among others. The diversity of actors and approaches can help to alleviate suffering if they manage to act in a complementary fashion, on the basis of their respective operational abilities. This edition explores the distinctive characteristics of the diverse actors and the need to build and nurture an effective partnership among them.'Articles include:
- Non-governmental organizations: an indispensable player of humanitarian aid (Philippe Ryfman);
- Dunant’s pyramid: thoughts on the ‘‘humanitarian space’’ (Daniel Thürer);
- Beyond the Red Cross: the protection of independent humanitarian organizations and their staff in international humanitarian law (Kate Mackintosh);
- The 29th International Conference of the Red Cross and Red Crescent, Geneva, 20–22 June 2006: challenges and outcome (François Bugnion);
- Commentary on the Protocol additional to the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949, and relating to the Adoption of an Additional Distinctive Emblem (Protocol III)
Thursday, August 16, 2007
UN-OCHA article - The humanitarian impact of climate change
By Margareta Wahlström
The greatest risk we face is doing nothing. It is time to roll up our sleeves and get to work in building more disaster-resilient communities. ... Many of the most effective tools at our disposal to save lives are based on mobilizing people, not on expensive technology. Community-based early warning systems, local disaster education and evacuation plans, better crop and land management techniques are all being completed with great success by nations across the resource spectrum.Read the rest of the article on Reliefweb.
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