The UN debate of the day: Where is the 7 billionth baby born?
From our UN-correspondent: In 1999, the UN decided the 6 billionth (is it 6 billionth or 6th billion or 6th billionth?) human being would be born in Sarajevo (picture). The fact that the Balkan area was still recovering from a nasty war, made that decision easy.
For months now, the UN member states have been debating when and where the 7 billionth member of our human community was to be born.
The US veto'd any country which had more than 10% of muslim population, forgetting that would not only outrule the Middle East, half of Asia and Africa, but at the same time would make most of European countries un-eligible.
It seems most other UN member states agreed the 7 billionth baby should be put somewhere with a symbolic value, a developing country. So most member states voted for the US, as a country with the world's highest rate of food-stamp-dependent people, though China veto-ed.
The finger was then pointed at Somalia, but the chances were the baby was going to die pre-maturely from malnutrition, shelling by Kenyan fighter planes, or in the hands of Al-Shabaab, Al Bashaab and Al Babaash extremists, thus limiting the PR-value of the baby. It was agreed the baby had to exceed a lifespan of at least six months. Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iraq were consequently immediately ruled out. Most of the ex-USSR satellite states too, as nobody would be able to pinpoint Armenia or Uzbekistan on the map.
Sudan was a good candidate, but when the UN called Sudan's president Al Bashir, the latter did not pick up. He does not pick up anymore if he sees the UN's number on his cell phone.
The big runner-up was the Democratic Republic of Congo, providing the baby was not to be born in the East, which was too difficult to access, for the press, and too vulnerable for tribal areas. The baby was to be a good vehicle for a PR machine on the plight of sexual abuse of Congo's women and blood minerals (though they are still trying to make the link with the latter).
So after months of hot debates, the member states decided, but they are still awaiting Ban ki-Moon's decision. Which could take years, even though today was chosen as the "7th billion"-day.
Picture courtesy BBC Read the full post...
Wanted: humanitarians with a conscience
- About the small steps from UNICEF to NESTLE, from PEPSICO to WHO
[i-Humanitarian aid cartoon]
Within the humanitarian world, there has always been a debate about the professional profile of development or aid workers. While the world often has an image of aidworkers resembling "the long-haired hippie singing 'We are the world' with a bunch of black kids on our knees, wearing hand-knitted goat-wool socks", many of us agree that the profile of a humanitarian should be different. Rather than "Good Intentions-only" we often look for "professionals", people who can bring an aid organisation to a operational level comparable to the commercial sector.
But somewhere there is a trade-off. We can not only hire shark-like business people, "to cut our overhead and bring more aid for less money", as often this would conflict with our humanitarian mandate. Simple example: We might buy those schoolbooks at 50% of the price, but those are made in sweat shops.
Understand the dilemma?
So, the ideal profile of a humanitarian, in my book, is a "professional with a conscience".
While my ideals stand, I can only validate them up to a certain point. Beyond that, "humanitarian executives" will, more often than not, be career politicians or even mere business people...
According to an interesting article in India Today, quoted below, Ann Veneman -the ex-chief of UNICEF- might be one of those. Switching from the UN agency mandated for child nutrition, promoting breast feeding, to joining the board of Nestle.
Nestle being the very same company which has been heavily critized for its low-faith/low-ethics campaigns luring women in the developing countries into to powder milk for babies... Nestle is the very same company which has been accused by UNICEF of using commercial methods below WHO standards.
As I said, an interesting article:
The United Nations Children's Fund (Unicef) has just released a glossy report on the state of the world's children. Senior officials of the UN body made the right noises about children, the need to improve their nutritional status and so on, at media dos in several important capitals across the globe.
At a similar occasion a couple of years ago, Ann Veneman - who was Executive Director of the agency till April 2010 - had articulated Unicef's position on how exclusive breastfeeding for toddlers is critical to combat hunger and promote child survival. Post-retirement the UN official has undergone a change of mind.
She will now be on the board of a company which has been accused of subverting efforts to promote breastfeeding by flouting laws in order to market its formula foods. Yes, Veneman is joining the Board of Directors of Switzerland-based food giant - Nestle.
Veneman's transition from advocating nutrition and health to the board room of a multinational food company has been rather smooth, but has shocked health advocates all over.
It is nothing short of a coup for the food industry which is increasingly under attack for promoting unhealthy snacking and eating habits among children.
Veneman has had an 'illustrious' past.
In 2005, when she was appointed to the top post in Unicef, not everyone was comfortable because of her past connections with agrobusiness as secretary of agriculture in the Bush Administration.
"Veneman's promotion by the Bush Administration - Unicef is traditionally headed by an American - was greeted with concerns by some grassroots activists because of her good relations with big business and her limited experience in child welfare issues", medical journal The Lancet had noted in 2006.
While at the UN body, Veneman consciously emphasised the use of ready-to-use foods as a strategy to counter malnutrition.
As per her own admission made a few months before her term ended, " Unicef has significantly contributed to accelerating the use of ready-to-use therapeutic foods for treatment of acute malnutrition, with Unicef purchases of the product increasing from 100 metric tons in 2003 to over 11,000 metric tons in 2008". Veneman's appointment is part of the trend which has seen junk food makers trying to position themselves as marketers of healthy and nutritious foods.
A few years back PepsiCo appointed Derek Yach, former Executive Director of non- communicable diseases at the World Health Organisation (WHO), as its head of health and nutrition policies.
Yach frequently writes or coauthors review articles and comments in medical journals, pushing the industry point of view.
Such articles are then cited to influence policy makers.
PepsiCo got the head of cardiovascular diseases at Centre for Disease Control (CDC) - a US government arm - to head its own division on heart health. By appointing people connected with top health bodies, these companies want to portray themselves as part of the solution and not problem, and also want to influence policy making in health and nutrition.
At this rate, the day is not far off when junk food makers will position themselves as 'health and nutrition research' outfits and start dictating national health policies. (Source)
And there is loads more we can say about the positioning of junk food and junk drinks companies within the humanitarian organisations... Right? Right?
H/T to I.T. having the courage to tweet this link...
Cartoon courtesy Polyp.org and Speechless - The Book
United Nations Home Security: The Solution for Safety at Home
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The United Nations now offers your home the same security that countries have enjoyed since 1945. If your house is broken into, the UN will send unarmed observers to watch the burglars and debate the appropriate response.
Hilarious.
Video courtesy BabelGum, discovered via AidBlogs and Alpha
Emily Troutman is now a UN Citizen Ambassador
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We featured photographer, writer and videographer Emily Troutman in two separate interviews here on The Road: one on her video "Why Congo Matters" and another one on her appointment as "UN Citizen Ambassador" after she made a compelling video message to world leaders.
Above is her interview with CNN after she recently received her award from UN Secretary-General Ban ki-Moon.
Well done, Emily!
Let's have a taskforce !
[i-UN Taskforce diagram]
This is part of a hilarious cartoon series by Helo. Check it out.
Thanks to MF for the tip!
Attack us where we work, attack us where we sleep.
[i-UN staff attacked in Kabul]
After the devastating suicide bomb in our office in Islamabad three weeks ago, I knew it was going to be bad day when the first Twitter message I saw this morning was: "UN guesthouse in Kabul attacked, 5 staff dead".
From the NY Times:
The guests were still sleeping when the gunmen, dressed in police uniforms, arrived early Wednesday. In the dark, they shot the guards, scaled the front gate of the guest house and began firing grenades, the beginning of a terrifying two-hour siege that showed just how little it takes for the Taliban to trap foreigners in central Kabul.
By the end of the siege, at least five United Nations employees, two Afghan security officials and the brother-in-law of a prominent Afghan politician were dead, as were their three attackers. (Full)
2008 was a record year in terms of casualties amongst aid workers. 2009 promises to be even worse. I keep track of most of these attacks on The Road Daily.
It is only weeks ago I wrote:
It is strange.. It is only after the hours go by that the cruelty and the reality of the act today really seeps through... And the consciousness that if we are to work in a higher risk environment, there actually is not one place, where one is totally safe. Where would that be? In the office? They drive a truck through the gates and blow it up. In the guesthouse or the hotel? Same thing...(Full)
This is the dilemma we, aidworkers, face today: We are nowhere safe anymore. Terrorism, banditry, sheer violence. And we can not isolate ourselves from the communities we are suppose to serve. We can not lock ourselves up in fortresses, as the US did with their embassies worldwide after the bombings in Dar es Salaam and Nairobi. We need to be "there", we need to be where the aid is required. We need to do the assessments, we need to monitor to ensure the aid goes where it is supposed to go. But slowly, the violence makes it impossible to do our work properly. And who suffers? Those in need. As always.
Picture courtesy Altaf Qadri/Associated Press Read the full post...
Emily becomes UN Citizen Ambassador and has a message for us
On September 22, UN Secretary Ban ki-Moon launched a challenge: "Use your voice as a global citizen and tell these leaders in a short video what you think needs to be done to make this world a better and safer place. Be a Citizen Ambassador to the UN."
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Emily Troutman which we featured before on The Road thought of her core message: "I want us both to agree to say one true thing out loud everyday. To remember one real person. To remind ourselves that our tragedies—yours and mine—are lived and felt one person at a time; just like our hope, our renewal, our future can also be lived and carried out into the world, one person at a time. You have a chance to be that person."
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It was one of five selected out of more than 450 screened by top leaders at the UN. As a result of winning the contest, Emily will be named a "UN Citizen Ambassador", get to travel to New York to attend the UN Day Concert, and meet Secretary General Ban ki-Moon.
So, time to have another chat with Emily:
Photographer, videographer,... What are you now?
Emily: The lines are blurring between the photographer and the videographer. Which for me, opens up the possibility to create really robust narratives. I'm still just a baby in this process, my work leans more towards automated slideshows, but in the future, I expect more and more online articles to contain video instead of still shots.
From the narrative in the video, it seems you are not only good in visuals, but also in wording it.
Emily: People who know me, know that I began my career as a writer through poetry. And even at a young age, was very successful at that. The study and craft of poetry taught me a lot about how to draw a line from complex intellectual constructs into emotion.
And then comes the humanitarian aspect..
Emily: Humanitarian work is considered the next frontier for me. There is a tremendous need for high quality communications tools that also maximize the potential of the internet to bring people together around important issues.
Although I have a Master's Degree in Public Policy, it was really through my blog that I really learned how to talk to people about complicated issues. In 2005, I traveled to Iraq while conducting research for my graduate thesis on democracy. While there, I witnessed the first post-Saddam elections and emailed my friends about what I saw and how it made me feel. I had no idea that the emails would be more important than the thesis, but somehow, I managed to tell real stories about people I met and the lives that touched mine.
From those early emails, I created my blog: who we are / how we live, and really started to embrace an unusual avocation-- to write and talk about complicated problems in a personal way. I tried never to forget my original audience: my little sister, my mom, policy wonks, colleagues.
And then came this video you made for the UN. What message did you try to bring?
Emily: For this project, I genuinely asked myself, "What do *I* want to say to world leaders?" I knew I didn't want to put forward any particular policy or opinion, but instead, to call on them, and all of us, to connect with something true and real. To think less about politics and more about people, actual people that we know. I think this is something humanitarian workers in the field do regularly. When they talk about Iraq, they tell stories about people they know there. When they talk about hunger, they tell stories about hungry people.
It's a subtle but profound shift in thinking. Through this video, and all of my work, I hope to remind myself and others that power is personal. Real change is only created by hope and empathy, by strength and commitment, by listening to others and acknowledging that quiet voice, in my own heart, telling me what needs to be done.
So what's next?
Emily: For now, my professional goals as a writer and photographer are just to get better at what I'm doing and learn more. I have some local projects planned here in Baltimore and DC, but I'm hoping to head back to Africa in the winter. I'm always looking for interesting projects and people to collaborate with.
Check also Emily's website and her blog
Read other interviews on The Road.
Climate change: The girl who silenced the world for 5 minutes
With the media heating up for the December Climate Change Summit in Denmark, it is time to for some reflection.
Does the name "Severn Cullis-Suzuki" mean anything to you? Severn was 12 when in 1992, she raised money to attend the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro. She spoke to the summit members in a speech which became famous. A speech which -sadly enough- could have been given today. It makes one wonder what progress really happened in the past 17 year.
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Do we actually make progress on protecting our planet for the sake of our children, and their children? In an age where Green Goes Commercial, where corrupt companies like Monsanto and Cargill start dominating our food chain, and chase the food prices up so the poor no longer have access to food. A world where Western companies buy up fertile land in Africa to grow biofuel crops so less land becomes available for food agriculture?
Did we make progress, or are we still sliding downhill?
Check out the most recent news and blogposts about the Climate Change summit in Copenhagen on Humanitarian News.
Today is World Humanitarian Day
[i-UN flag recovered from Canal hotel bombing]
With a suicide car bomb killing two UN staff yesterday, a UN compound attacked in Somalia over the weekend, an aidworker killed during a mugging in Zanzibar and an NGO worker for a human rights NGO killed in Chechnya last week, we celebrate World Humanitarian Day today.
"Celebrate" is the wrong word... "Commemorate" should be more appropriate. Commemorating the 81 aid workers killed this year. And the hundreds who have lost their lives in the past years...
If there is one symbol that stands out for the sacrifice of many, it would be this UN flag, recovered from the rubble after the bombing of the UN HQ in Baghdad now 6 years ago.
This is the official World Humanitarian Day video:
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August 19, 2003.
We will not forget.
Video courtesy of OCHA
Picture courtesy UN Media
The UN in the news today. Spot the politics.
[i-un-flag folded]
On Aid Topics page of NewsFeeds, I keep track of news articles in which the UN are mentioned.
Today's selection gives a good overview of what the world body is tackling.
- U.N. Health Aid Plan Unites Air Travelers and Bill Clinton: Clinton, ex-president, and now husband-of is being appointed as the UN's special envoy in Haiti, and suggests to fundraise for good causes by asking air travellers to pay a few dollars extra for their tickets.
- Japan girls with swine flu attended mock UN meet: Two Japanese girls who attended a "UN Assembly Meeting for the Young" in New York, returned with more than just enthusiasm.
- Sexual-Harassment Cases Plague U.N.: UN workers who have made or faced accusations of sexual harassment say the current system for handling complaints is arbitrary, unfair and mired in bureaucracy.
- Harvard Report Calls for UN Investigation Into Burma Rights Abuses: A report from the Harvard Law School cries foul over Burma's military-ruled government.
- UN should impose Somalia air, sea blockade: regional bloc: An African group, meeting in Addis urged the United Nations to slap an air and maritime blockade on Somalia, saying an Islamist-led offensive there is a risk to regional security.
- UN study advises caution over dams: A dam-building spree in China poses the greatest threat to the future of the already beleaguered Mekong, one of the world's major rivers and a key source of water for the region.
- Lebanon complains to UN on Israel's alleged spying: Lebanon complained to the United Nations about alleged spying by Israel, accusing its archenemy of violating a 2006 truce and the country's sovereignty.
Picture courtesy National Army Museum Te Mata Toa (NZ) Read the full post...
UN wants cartoonist for Somalia
[i-cartoonist wanted]
The UN Development Programme is looking for a cartoonist in Somalia. No kidding. The Terms of Reference specify the details..
The background:
Somalia faces significant challenges in achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). (...)
To address this issue, and bearing in mind the low literacy levels in Somalia, UNDP Somalia, through the Human Development and Economics Unit, is seeking a consultant to produce cartoon designs for an MDG comic as well as two cartoon characters (male and female).
The objective of this comic would be to educate local Somalis throughout the country (the civil society in rural and urban areas, and nomads); private sector; educational institutions, and local administrations) on what exactly the MDGs are.
It also specifies what exactly they want:
1. Two cartoon characters (one male and one female).
2. Cartoon to be included in a UNDP Somalia comic depicting correct, neutral and culturally sensitive messages on MDGs that illustrates what MDGs are, how each one may be attained, and who is responsible for attaining them.
(It should be..) Humorous where possible.
It is not just for anyone. You must have, amongst others, the following competencies:
- Have more than 7 years’ experience in design, illustrations and desktop publishing.
- Possess at least 5 years’ experience of working in the context of Somalia, with proof of dissemination of products.
So.. what are you all waiting for? Apply!
Maybe the next step is a cartoonist to educate the Somalia pirates that taking oil tankers is a "no-no"?
Cartoon courtesy Cartoonstock. Read the full post...
The Gaza War Crimes Saga continued.
[i-Gaza UN school bombing]
The Gaza Saga on human rights abuses seems to get a nasty tail. A UN inquiry just published their findings.
A United Nations inquiry into the Gaza conflict earlier this year concluded that Israel intentionally struck a U.N.-run elementary school, killing three young men seeking shelter from the fighting, according to a summary released Tuesday.
The incident was one of eight in which the Israel Defense Forces fired on U.N. personnel or facilities that drew scrutiny from a three-member U.N. board of inquiry. The board found that Israel had repeatedly breached the inviolability of U.N. premises and that, in attacking another elementary school, it exhibited "reckless disregard for the lives and safety" of civilians. Two children were killed and 13 others injured in that attack.
The board also accused Hamas or another Palestinian faction of firing a Qassam-type rocket at an unoccupied World Food Program warehouse on the eastern edge of the Gaza Strip.
There was no evidence, the board said, that Palestinian militants had used U.N. facilities to launch military attacks against Israeli troops. (Full)
Update:While the 184 paged report remains confidential to protect witnesses etc.. you can find the 27 page summary of the UN inquiry report here, which goes into sufficient gruesome details, to understand the extend of the issue. The summary also includes a cover letter by the UN Secretary General.
To no surprise, Israel rejected the report’s findings and its Foreign Ministry says the inquiry board “has preferred the claims of Hamas, a murderous terror organisation, and by doing so has misled the world”. Defence Secretary Ehud Barak repeated that Israel has “the most moral army in the world” and laid full responsibility for casualties on Hamas.
The good news is that the report recommends further investigation of other both UN and non-UN related civilian deaths which have given rise to allegations of breaches of international humanitarian law by both the IDF and Hamas.
The bad news is that in his covering letter, the UN chief says he is “carefully considering” what actions “if any” to take on the 11 recommendations by the inquiry team. Mr Ban goes out of his way to thank Israel for its co-operation in the inquiry. He makes a point – urged on him by Israeli ministers and officials – of speaking out against “continued and indiscriminate” attacks by Hamas. As a conclusion: "I do not plan any further enquiries." (Full)
In short: This report concludes that it looks most probable both Hamas and Israel have committed either war crimes and/or stepped on the international humanitarian laws with excessive civilian casualties as a result. But.. let's all have a drink and forget about it...
Picture courtesy The Guardian Read the full post...
Picture of the day: Sri Lankan civilians trapped in fighting
[i-sri lanka IDPs]
More than 100,000 civilians have fled the area held by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in northern Sri Lanka. Government soldiers and the LTTE rebels continue to fight the apparent endgame of Asia's longest-running war despite calls to protect an estimated 50,000 civilians still trapped in an area controlled by the LTTE.
Meanwhile the UN humanitarian chief tries to negotiate access for the relief organisations. (Full)
More Pictures of the Day on The Road.
Picture courtesy REUTERS/David Gray
The end of the US Dollar as we know it.
[i-Bailout? Money Pit!]
The New York Times published an interesting overview of the programs the US government is financing to support the struggling economy.
Beyond the $700 billion bailout known as TARP, which has been used to prop up banks and car companies, the government has made commitments of $9.9 trillion. $9.9 t-r-i-l-l-i-o-n. (If you want to have an idea what one trillion dollars looks like, check here this post).
- The Government as Investor: $5.4 trillion
Includes direct investments in financial institutions, purchases of high-grade corporate debt and purchases of mortgage-backed securities issued by Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and Ginnie Mae.- The Government as Lender: $2.3 trillion
A significant expansion of the government's traditional overnight lending to banks, including extending terms to as many as 90 days and allowing borrowing by other financial institutions.- The Government as Insurer: $2.1 trillion
Includes insuring debt issued by financial institutions and guaranteeing poorly performing assets owned by banks and Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.(Full)
There seems no end to the money pit left after 8 years of mismanagement in the US. So no wonder that a UN panel recommends the world to ditch the US dollar as its reserve currency in favor of a shared basket of currencies.
The proposal is to create something like the old Ecu, or European currency unit: a hard-traded, weighted basket. (Full)
My suggestion is to ditch the US dollar not only as a world reserve currency, but also as the main currency used within the UN system, where all the accounting is done in the greenback.
Cartoon courtesy Analytical Wealth Read the full post...
UN to the US: "You owe me money, dude!"
[i-Obama and Ban ki-Moon]
United States' debt to the United Nations exceeded $1.5 billion at the start of 2009. By far, the largest amount of debt is for peacekeeping, over $1.3 billion. These arrears make the United States the largest debtor to the United Nations. (Source)
No wonder the UN's Secretary-General Ban ki-Moon asked the UN's biggest single donor to cough up the greenbacks in his recent speech to Congress, calling the US a "Dead Beat Donor".
Ooops! The US did not think it was funny. (Full)
Miguel d'Escoto Brockmann, the president of the UN's General Assembly, thought US-bashing was fun, and joined the rally by lashing out at the United States over their attitude about Iran and Cuba.
Ooops! The US did not think it was funny. (Full)
I think it is just temporary glitch, you know. Once the US hicks up the dope, the UN will all be happy-happy again, and once more we will have "only one letter of difference" between the UN and the US.
Picture courtesy AP Photo/Gerald Herbert
Good news: The UN Does More Good Than Harm
[i-UNdemocracy and human rights]
According to a recent poll by Harris Interactive, amongst the 7,000 people surveyed, the majority believes the "United Nations Does More Good Than Harm".
But many confess they don't really know all that much about the UN. Just one-quarter of Germans (25%) and French adults (28%) say they are familiar compared to a plurality of British adults (40%), half of Spaniards (48%), a majority of Italians (55%) and almost two-thirds of Americans (64%).
People in these six countries all believe that the UN does good work. Three–quarters of French adults (75%), two-thirds of Italians (69%), Germans (67%) and Britons (65%) and at least three in five Spaniards (63%) and Americans (60%) all say the UN does more good than harm. (Full)
[Ed: The cynic in me would say: "Are the ones who believe the UN does more good than harm, the same that don't know the UN?". Seriously, the survey has some good data. Read it!]
Cartoon courtesy SpainVia
UN scours their headquarters corridors for lost art
[i-UN Headquarters: Who got my painting?]
From the Financial Times:
Staff are scouring corridors to try to locate valuable art works that have gone missing as the United Nations prepares to vacate its New York headquarters for a four-year, $2bn renovation.
The lost items include a sculpture by José de Rivera, the 20th century American abstract expressionist, and an oil painting entitled “Evening”, a gift from Belarus. An internal audit said the absence of these art works, listed as gifts in the UN’s files, was of “extreme concern”.
Other missing works, including gifts from member states, do not even figure in the UN’s official art register. Investigators relied on published art books to identify items that had gone astray. (Full)
Picture courtesy Bloomberg News/Landov Read the full post...
Quo Vadis UN Peace Keeping?
[i-UN helmet]
"Tall trees catch a lotta wind", the saying goes. With cost of UN peace keeping operations now peaking at US$8 billion per year, no wonder the troubled UN department is front page news (again).
Deploying and supporting its record number of 113,000 staff, the blue helmets came into the press cross-fire (again) due to the most recent debacles in DRC and Darfur where they don't seem to have any direct positive impact on the peace process.
But one should look at both sides. It is all to easy to blame it on "the UN", as if it was some piece of soap in a bathtub: difficult to grab, and a generic nuisance. "The UN" does what its memberstates define what it should do. If member states only want a 'token' peace force in some country, a 'token' it will remain, despite best efforts on the ground.
Two pieces I recently read, at least tried, to see things in perspective. One from the New York Times:
More than a decade after United Nations peacekeepers failed to prevent massacres in Rwanda and Srebrenica, Bosnia, what many consider the organization’s flagship mission appears to be slouching toward crisis once again, diplomats and other experts say.And one from the book "Blood River" by Tim Butcher (more on this book in a later post):
The most immediate cause, they say, is a sharp rise in the number of peacekeeping commitments worldwide and a type of “mission creep” that has added myriad nation-building duties to the traditional task of trying to keep enemies apart. The new demands come at a time when member states with advanced armies in particular have become more resistant to committing additional troops or even necessary equipment like helicopters.
Those challenges have only added to a deeper and longstanding problem: the continued lack of clarity about how the United Nations should intervene when its members lack either the military force or the political will — or both — to halt carnage.
“Peacekeeping has been pushed to the wall,” said Bruce Jones, the director of the Center on International Cooperation at New York University, which is working with the United Nations on reform efforts. “There is a sense across the system that this is a mess — overburdened, underfunded, overstretched.” (Full)
I have seen numerous UN missions around the world, in Bosnia, Sierra Leone, Liberia and all over the Middle east. Each was castigated by the international media and commentators for being inefficient, bureaucratic and ineffective, but such criticism always misses the point.Picture courtesy genetologisch-onderzoek.nl Read the full post...
Yes, the missions are sloppy and poorly focused, but that is precisely because the international community's attitude to complicated problems like the collapsing Yugoslavia, or rampaging west African rebels, is sloppy and poorly focused.
When the United Nations Security Council addresses these international problems, the questions it ends up answering is not 'What is the right thing to do?' but 'What is the least we can do?'. UN missions around the world evolve at the pace of the lowest common denominator between the nations of the world, and that common denominator is pretty low when nations with interests as divergent as China and America both hold prominent positions in the UN Security Council.
Thirteen years ago
[i-Peter in Uganda (1996)]
Almost to the day, thirteen years ago, I stepped off a plane in Uganda to start my first posting for a UN humanitarian organisation.
Since I had quit my 'normal job', three years before, went on an Antarctic expedition, and worked for the International Red Cross (IFRC) and the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in several short term consultancies for two years. But this was my first full time job since three years.
I originally joined as a telecommunications specialist, but went through many different assignments with postings in Kosovo, Pakistan and Dubai before I ended up at the headquarters in Rome.
When I look back at the picture above (I certify I have not worn sandals with white socks for years!), a lot of memories come back. Mostly memories I am very fond of, and tried to reflect in my eBook.
Today, I was reminded of what it was like, thirteen years ago: I got two Emails from people describing how they have been trying to get a job in the humanitarian world. Both of them described their attempts, and up to a certain level showed doubt if 'they would ever get in'.
Somewhere, today, it was easy to put understand how these people feel. I remember how I found the humanitarian world to be locked by a huge steel door, which was almost impossible to get through. I had the right qualifications, a proven track record and experience. I was motivated, and felt a 'true humanitarian at heart'. And yet, I could not get a full time job. What was wrong with me?
I kept on sending my resume to a multitude of organisations. And resending them, and resending them. Until one day, someone replied showing at least some level of interest. After a couple of exchanges, I got interviewed - via telephone as I was on mission for the Red Cross in Ivory Coast -, and some time after that, it looked like the steel door was finally opening for me. Four months later, I stepped off that plane in Kampala.
I summarized my experience and tips for aspirant aid workers in what is now one of the most read posts on this blog. Looking at the volume of Emails I get asking for suggestions on opening that "steel door", I know how many, today, are in the position I was thirteen years ago.
Apart from the hints listed in that post, the only thing I can say is "Don't give up". Keep on trying. It took me three years to get in, but thirteen years later, I have not regretted my choice to push that door. And bang it at times. So don't give up.
More posts on The Road about aidworkers
Acute hunger spots in the world
[i-Drought in Karamoja - Uganda]
Myanmar faces food shortages in many parts of the country, largely because of last year's cyclone Nargis destroyed most of the delta's harvest and a rat infestation wiped out most of the remaining crops.
A total of 2 million acres (800,000 hectares) of rice paddy were submerged saltwater waves and 85 percent of seed stocks were destroyed. A shortage of labor - 130,000 were left dead after Nargis - higher fertilizer prices and lower rice prices have dissuaded delta farmers from planting, causing about 185,000 tons of emergency food aid needed this year. (Full)
There is a general alert going out for an upcoming wave of hunger due to a drought in the Horn of Africa:
In Uganda's Karamoja region 970,000 people are heading towards starvation. The Government declared the whole region as an emergency area and said "food must [quickly] be distributed to this area to avert this problem." Drought conditions will cause conditions unlikely to improve before October when the next harvest is due. (Full)
The same regional drought also hit Kenya hard. In the South-eastern regions, the third consecutive bad crop will force 3.2 million people to resort to food aid. (Full)
Since August last year, WFP, the UN's main food assistance agency, has lost 4 staff in Somalia due to security incidents. Last week they said if the situation does not improve, they will be forced to cut their food aid, which will affect 2.5 million people. (Full)
In Zimbabwe, the hunger figures are even worse. The prolonged political turmoil has turned Africa's former breadbasket into one of the continent's poorest countries. Currently 4.5 million Zimbabweans are fully dependent on food aid, a figure expected to raise to 6 million in the next month.
Due to lack of donor funding, WFP has been forced to cut core monthly maize rations from 10kg -already 2kg below the recommended ration- to 5kg a month for adults. That is just about 600 calories a day. (Full)
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Picture courtesy James Akena (WFP)