World Humanitarian Day: voices from the field revisited
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Version 0 of 1. A string of protracted conflicts has pushed humanitarian agencies to their limits, with demand for help increasing even as funding gaps grow. By this time last year, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (Ocha) had appealed for $17.3bn (£11bn) to meet basic humanitarian needs in countries such as Syria, South Sudan and Central African Republic, said John Ging, director of the agency’s operational division. This year Ocha is appealing for $19.4bn, of which only 34% has so far been funded. “We’re stretched even further then we were last year, which is sadly a predictable trajectory,” he said. “First and foremost, 80% of the humanitarian crises we deal with are generated by conflict - so this problem is manmade. Sadly, there is less generosity then there was last year, too.” He said a lack of commitments from wealthy nations to commit to giving 0.7% of their gross national income (GNI) as aid had hampered humanitarian efforts. “At the moment, from most countries apart from the UK, Sweden, Norway and a handful of others who have stepped up to commit to 0.7%, there isn’t a political priority to help people with the very basic human support.” Marking World Humanitarian Day on Wednesday, Ging praised aid workers who risk their lives to help, particularly those personally affected by the crises unfolding before them. “The biggest humanitarian responses are from local communities themselves, and this is the heart of humanitarian action. Then you have national, international and UN agencies supporting that work,” he said. Last year, we spoke to humanitarians around the world to learn what life was like in their countries. Twelve months on, we hear from some of those aid workers again, as well as others working in crisis areas. Ammar, field monitor for food vouchers programme, World Vision, Iraq I used to think that I knew everything about displaced people and refugees because I had experienced similar situations at various times during my life. I was born an Iraqi refugee in Iran. I didn’t have any chance to go to college, nor could my parents get a job. My belief that I know everything about displaced people started to disappear when I became an aid worker with World Vision and worked with these people, whom I have identified with myself. I still have so many things to learn about the realities of life, especially in Iraq. Once, while helping interpret for some World Vision guests, I felt a special connection with a displaced girl named Shahad. She said she wanted to become a doctor, but had no idea when the war would end so she can begin to pick up the pieces of her future. I remember I felt the same when a bus took us from Iran back to Iraq and dropped us off at the border. I was 14 at the time and had a lot of dreams, but the future seemed hazy. After nearly seven months of working with World Vision, I have begun to love aid work. I go through the challenges of responding to the displaced people’s requests and complaints and try to understand why they do what they do. I have been there myself. Often I need to impose order because the queue is long and everyone needs to be attended to quickly. In my mind, however, I know everyone deserves to be listened to. Hope is important. It is what keeps me going and what will take me to the future I want for me and my family. Bushra Aldukainah, programme manager, Care, Yemen We’ve been living through violence for five months now. Everyone is prepared to die at any moment. Thousands of people have lost their lives, and so many like me have lost loved ones due to a war we did not ask for. When I look back at all that has happened, I wonder where we get the strength to carry on. For me and many of the staff at Care, that strength comes from our work. By being able to help the people in my country, we find hope. My team risks their lives and works tirelessly every day to get relief items to displaced people who need assistance. Gaining access to the people is a huge challenge and violence can break out anywhere and at any time. But we continue to try our best to deliver aid and are doubling our efforts, because people are suffering. With 20 million people in need of water and sanitation, we are providing clean water and rehabilitating water sources, distributing water purifier, as well as hygiene kits with basic items like soap, toothbrushes, diapers and sanitary napkins for women. People are so appreciative and overjoyed to see Care staff arrive with these items, and that’s what keeps us going. Emmanuel, information and communications manager, Save the Children, South Sudan The past year has been very difficult. There has been a lot of work and a lot of displacement. People are moving from Unity state to Upper Nile state to Jonglei state to Akobo. People are displaced multiple times where there is active conflict and fighting. They move, then there is more fighting when they join other groups of displaced people. Then the populace becomes displaced as they move to another location. For aid workers, there is a lack of transport. Sometimes the only way for internal workers to get food out of Juba is by air, by chartering a plane which is very expensive. Access to the affected communities can be very difficult. Sometimes we have to walk for an hour to reach communities. I grew up in a refugee camp. I went to school in a refugee camp. Whatever is happening to the people is not startling to me. I try to help the people affected in the same way people helped me when I was in the same situation. So I always share my story, so that they still have hope that this is not the end of the world, it is not the end of their life; so that they can help support others as well. Sister Mary Sweeney, St Joseph’s School for the Hearing Impaired, Makeni, Sierra Leone This is the first week with no new Ebola cases in Sierra Leone and we have had only two new cases for the first 16 days of August. The intense fear of making contact with a person affected by Ebola has gone. The awareness of the danger of Ebola is accepted as real. This is the protection for the present and hopefully it will also be for the future, even if Ebola spikes again. People have learned lessons about the basic care and protection needed in order to avoid Ebola. No touch, no unsafe cultural burials or traditional health treatments to be performed, and no initiation rites ceremonies. Gatherings for survivors and affected families, where they could share their stories of loss and despair, brought a sharing of empathy and compassion from other wounded people. Somehow they felt cushioned to begin their long journey to healing and beginning life in the community again. There has been a wonderful response from friends, families, school children and people we didn’t know, including generous aid organisations. They supplied us with the basic necessities of food, furniture and clothes. This helped replace some of the items that had been burnt or sprayed because of infection and destroyed. This gave great comfort, and they danced and sang as basic items for living were theirs again. The heroes and heroines facing the possibilities of Ebola every day are to be recognised, as they continue to ensure that basic health care is provided, especially for the most needy. Crispen Rukasha, deputy head of office, Ocha, Somalia I am writing this after returning from a humanitarian assessment mission in an area called Dinsoor, in the Bay region of Somalia. What an experience to see Somali women being humanitarian heroes by supporting their families in the midst of armed conflicts. They sacrifice their lives in providing support to their families in difficult circumstances where, at times, basic commodities are in short supply as a result of a blockade of main supply routes by al-Shabaab, a fighting group against the federal government of Somalia. The blockages starve towns recovered from al-Shabaab by African Union troops and the Somali National Army from supplies, resulting in increased vulnerability. The Somali population, including women, have inspired me in terms of their increasing level of resilience and ability to cope with stress and shocks. In August 2014, I said you have to be mentally prepared as a humanitarian to work in some of these environments. One year down the line, despite the day-to-day security challenges including access to communities that are in need of assistance, there have been positive changes among the humanitarian partners to work together and strengthen the resilience of Somali women, men and children. Somali communities are moving in a positive direction in strengthening their coping mechanisms and ensure the country moves forward. Since 2014, the challenges affecting humanitarian partners are increased threats from al-Shabaab. The humanitarian community has lost colleagues and friends including four Unicef staff in Garowe, Puntland. The loss of friends has strengthened the spirit of humanitarians. This is the time we are needed most to support the Somali population – including malnourished children, vulnerable internally displaced persons, people affected by the armed conflict, and returning refugees who have spent many years in countries like Kenya, Yemen, Saudi Arabia and many others. |