Monthly Archives: July 2015

The global humanitarian system on the verge of collapse

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The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP), the largest humanitarian relief agency in the world, has announced that it is cutting food rations to Syrian refugees living in Lebanon and Jordan. As a result, nearly 1.6 million Syrian refugees will be at greater risk of hunger and malnutrition. In Syria itself, about one-quarter of the country’s population, rely on the agency’s food assistance to survive.

The WFP and other humanitarian organizations can only respond if resources are available. Yet according to the U.N. Emergency Relief Coordinator, less than 25 percent of global humanitarian needs have been funded in the first six months of 2015. That’s the lowest mid-year percentage in the U.N.’s history.

And it’s not just the WFP. UNICEF has also been forced to make cuts in Syria as a result of budget shortfalls.

It’s not just Syria either. In the past five years, at least 14 conflicts have erupted or reignited across the globe that have caused millions of families to flee their homes. In fact, in its latest Global Trends report, the UNHCR notes that the total number of refugees and internally displaced people worldwide stands at an all-time high.

Globally, one in every 122 people is now either a refugee, internally displaced or seeking asylum. From 2013 to 2014, the number of refugees grew by nearly 8 million — the biggest leap in a single year in UNHCR’s history. Right now, an estimated 78 million people across the globe are displaced through no fault of their own. If this figure were the population of a country, it would be the world’s 24th biggest.

Providing humanitarian assistance in Syria and elsewhere isn’t just the right thing to do. It’s also the smart thing to do. History has proven that helping victims of war and persecution leads to greater stability, prosperity and goodwill for generations to come.

The U.S. government has consistently led the world in fighting hunger and addressing humanitarian needs. Once again, U.S. leadership is needed to mobilize the international community to address this “new normal.” While governments may disagree on the causes and possible solutions to the conflicts, all can agree that no child should suffer from hunger and malnutrition as a consequence of these conflicts. 

[By Rick Leach, the president and CEO of World Food Program USA, a nonprofit organization based in Washington, D.C., that supports the mission of the U.N. World Food Programme] 

A new high-tech low-cost tent for refugees

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Issues as simple as housing have plagued refugee agencies like UNHCR for years. The tents used around the world in refugee camps are cramped, provide little protection from extreme temperatures and only last about six months.

Repeated attempts to reinvent refugee housing failed for one simple reason: cost. What tents lack in comfort they make up for with how easily they can be shipped. Any new housing solution would need to ship easily and cheaply.

The problem of cost plagued Johan Karlsson, a Swedish designer working on the problem. Then one day, while shopping at his local Ikea store, the solution came to him: if the units were flat packed, much like Ikea furniture is, transport costs would be significantly reduced.

After reaching out to the Ikea Foundation for help, Karlsson’s idea became reality. For the Ikea Foundation, which focuses mainly on improving the lives of children, improving refugee housing appeared to be a natural fit.

Now, after a two-year pilot project in Ethiopia and Iraq, UNHCR announced it will purchase 10,000 more “Better Shelter” units in 2015 for refugee camps in Iraq. The new housing units fit up to five people and come with solar panels, built-in lighting and USB ports to power electronics, marking a significant step up from the canvas tents of old.

[CBC]

Philippines: A tooth brush a day keeps tooth decay at bay

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Like many developing countries, tooth decay is the most common chronic childhood disease in the Philippines is  tooth decay, simply because awareness of dental hygiene is not taught to the nation’s children.

Amongst elementary school students participating in a Rise Above Foundation program in Cebu, the simple act of thoroughly brushing teeth once a day effectively improves tooth decay and deterioration by 50%. (If twice daily brushing could be instituted, statistics show that it would cut tooth decay significantly by a further 20%. The challenge here is the fact that the follow-up element, brushing after a second meal, would need to be conducted at the children’s homes.)

In this program, toothbrushes are kept at the school so that this practice of daily brushing can be overseen and monitored during recess. Whereas if the toothbrushes were to be returned home with the child, since the parents also have no dental hygiene background, the practice would soon be lost. The goal here is to eventually build a habit so that the kids at school learn to brush their teeth as they grow up.

As a result of this basic approach, children can focus on their schoolwork, instead of the pain caused by dental issues. Read more

Celebrity humanitarians

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Celebrity humanitarianism has been around for barely a generation. A celebrity playing a humanitarian role acts as a bridge between a (Western) audience and a faraway tragedy, a focus for empathy, an emotional interpreter. While some columnists who write about foreign atrocities freight every sentence with bombast and outrage, a talented actor tells the story with just sufficient cues for the audience to supply the sadness and anger. That’s a far more potent performance.

Celebrities such as Mia Farrow, George Clooney, and Don Cheadle (who played the lead in the movie Hotel Rwanda) converged on the Darfur issue.

In a promotional video for the (RED) campaign, which purports to battle HIV/AIDS through commerce, Bono and Oprah Winfrey stroll down Chicago’s Michigan Avenue, inspecting (RED) products—sunglasses, iPods, cellphones—and eagerly buying them up. Gap T-shirts printed with words such as “INSPI(RED)” are prominent among them. A percentage of each purchase price goes to the Global Fund to Fight HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. The message is not subtle—buy consumer brands and save Africans from dying of AIDS.

Launched in March 2006, a year later (RED) had generated just $18 million for the Global Fund. Subsequent (RED) fact sheets say that (RED) “partners and events” have generated more than $100 million. But the product line had expanded to just thirteen items and its “make history” timeline, as of August 2008, lists no events subsequent to January 2008.

(RED) has been on the receiving side of much criticism, some of it both witty and pointed. For example, the Web site www.buylesscrap.org has a banner: “Shopping is not a solution: Buy (Less). Give More.” It explains how to contribute directly to the Global Fund without buying a pair of sneakers and lists thirteen pages worth of charities, linking to Web sites where donations can be made directly. It displays a T-shirt with the words “Conscience clea(RED).”

[World Affairs]