Sarah Oughton
Is it time to give up food aid in the Horn of Africa?
May 31, 2011 at 3:35 pm
This year, drought, rising food and fuel prices, and conflict are again driving at least 20 million people into hunger in east Africa. But launching an emergency appeal for food aid may not be the answer.
From 2008-2010, the Red Cross launched four international appeals to respond to hunger in the Horn of Africa.
However, an International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies review, completed last December, highlights how such repeated large-scale appeals and relief operations are not the answer to addressing people’s food needs in the region.
Droughts and hunger
Even though hunger can be predicted well in advance of rising needs, drought-related appeals are slow to get going and often deliver too little, too late.
Droughts have always occurred in east Africa and are predictable, but climate change has made the rains even less reliable. Many families have become more vulnerable and less able to cope with and recover from poor rains.
Hunger is a chronic and ongoing humanitarian issue in the Horn of Africa and so large-scale relief operations are often less relevant than addressing the long-term challenges of helping communities better cope with cycles of drought and food crises.
Food insecurity
Mary Atkinson, British Red Cross economic security adviser, says: “We have tended to respond by launching appeals in the wake of severe drought and when numbers of people suffering from hunger and malnutrition are already at their peak.
“In countries such as Ethiopia, Djibouti, Kenya, Somalia and Uganda, many people live in poverty and face a daily struggle to get enough food to eat and so hunger is an ongoing issue that is exacerbated by drought and higher food prices.
“Most people living in hunger, even farmers, rely on purchasing most of their food. Food is usually available in the market but they cannot afford it, particularly now that food prices are so high. If they had more reliable sources of income, they often wouldn’t need to rely on food aid.”
Protecting livelihoods
One of the key lessons from the Red Cross review is the importance of protecting people’s livelihoods, so that families can still afford to feed themselves in times of drought when food is scarce.
Distributing food aid, that is often purchased from abroad, is not usually the best option. Not only does this destabilise local markets, but is also costly and takes time to purchase and distribute.
Repeated distributions of food aid every year do not help families get out of poverty – instead they lock them into dependency. Cash is increasingly used as an alternative to food aid as it is easier and quicker to distribute and allows people to buy what they really need while supporting local markets.
Building resilience
Karen Peachey, British Red Cross east Africa representative, says: “Although the review rightly puts a spotlight on how to improve less effective ways of working, it also recognises there have been successes with timely distributions of seeds and livestock to protect fragile livelihoods.
“There have also been longer-term investments. The Djibouti Red Crescent, with support from the British Red Cross, set up an innovative programme providing small cash loans to help vulnerable families build up small businesses and their resilience to future crises.”
Engaging donors
For the most part, repeated large-scale emergency appeals have failed to generate significant funds and in the current global financial situation it’s unlikely this will change any time soon.
Karen says: “Food is a highly emotive subject and when we hear about people going hungry and see pictures of children with distended bellies, there is an instinctive reaction to want to help. But what we really need is to get people interested in supporting our ongoing work to make communities less vulnerable in times of drought and so prevent hunger.
“Distributing food remains an important option in extreme circumstances, but we should aim to invest more in supporting communities even when the rainfall is good. This will provide opportunities to engage in long-term solutions and that is really exciting.”
Find out more about the Red Cross’ programme in Djibouti
0 Comments and 6 Reactions »Tags: disaster, Djibouti, drought, emergency aid, ethiopia, food aid, Horn of Africa, hunger, Kenya, poverty, Somalia, Uganda
Posted in Emergencies, International, NewsAid worker diary from Indonesia: remembering Yogyakarta earthquake five years on
May 27, 2011 at 3:25 pm
I don’t suppose anyone forgets the first time they’re deployed to a disaster zone: for me it was Yogyakarta in the aftermath of a devastating earthquake, not far from an active volcano, which was bubbling merrily away.
On 27 May, five years ago today, this earthquake in Java, an island of Indonesia, killed more than 5,700 people and injured around 38,000.
As people in the ancient city of Yogyakarta reeled from this disaster, Mount Merapi, one of the most active volcanoes on Java and just 20 km away, was continuing to erupt and thousands of people were being evacuated.
As I headed out on my first deployment with the British Red Cross logistics emergency response unit (ERU) I remember trying to allay my mother’s fears, telling her not to worry because I’d packed my running shoes. I’m not sure she bought my bravado though.
Fortunately, the Indonesian Red Cross is very experienced at preparing for and responding to disasters. In April 2006, when the Centre for Volcanology reported that Mount Merapi was entering an eruption phase and placing it on the highest level of alert, the Red Cross kicked into action and started stocking their warehouses with relief goods and bringing medical expertise into the area.
This meant that when the earthquake happened on 27 May, the Indonesian Red Cross already had a lot of stock and personnel in place ready to respond. However because of the scale of the disaster, international assistance was requested.
The logistics ERU is a four-member team and its role is to set up systems and warehouses for the relief supplies – such as food, tents, hygiene kits – coming into a disaster zone. It ensures those items are accounted for and well organised in order to get them to the people who so desperately need them as quickly as possible.
When I first arrived in Yogyakarta things didn’t seem too bad in the city centre. We quickly set up a warehouse with an office which is where I spent most of my time.
My role involved liaising with our relief team who are the ones who go out to find and meet the people affected by the disaster and assess their situation and what their needs are. The relief team and logistics team then work together closely, to arrange for the goods to be distributed.
One day I got to leave the warehouse and accompany the relief team on a distribution and that’s when I saw the real impact of the earthquake.
As we drove into one of the areas worst-affected by the quake I could hardly comprehend the endless mounds of rubble. It was hard to think about how this was the remains of people’s homes, for those inside there would have been no chance of survival.
The devastation was so widespread, there was nowhere for people to go, all they could do was clear the rubble to the side and live alongside it, putting up tents and tarpaulins where they could.
I met two survivors that day, Darwin and Mei, who told me what happened to them when the earthquake struck. Darwin said: “I was at home. After what had happened in 2004, we were all worried there would be a tsunami, I panicked and ran north. But then I came back because I realised my grandparents were too old and ill to run away.”
Mei said: “I was away from the village staying with relatives near the university. When I came back to all the devastation and witnessed the blood in the street it was shocking. It was so strange to see so many houses in my street flattened, a lot of my neighbours died. My eight-year-old nephew had run back into house as his father was inside – but he had already died.”
Both Darwin and Mei had started volunteering with the Red Cross in the aftermath of the quake.
The distribution itself was pretty amazing to witness and the Indonesian Red Cross had it so well organised. It took place on a football field under the blazing midday sun, where three 5 tonne trucks delivered food parcels, tarpaulins, hygiene kits and baby parcels for 300 people.
Previously the relief team had interviewed everyone in the village to assess their needs and then issued them a registration card entitling them to the relief package.
It was hard work unloading in the heat but lots of the village men, even some quite elderly were really keen to help alongside the Red Cross volunteers. It was a really good atmosphere with people smiling, relieved to be getting some help.
In the first few months after the quake the Red Cross distributed emergency relief items to more than 124,000 families. And over the following year it helped 325,000 people get back on their feet.
One image I will never forget is seeing some graffiti on a wall, which I was told translated as: That’s enough God, please do not repeat.
Since then there has already been a devastating earthquake in 2009, to which the Red Cross also responded, and we know it will happen again.
Indonesia is one of the countries located on the Pacific Ring of Fire, so called because this area sees regular tectonic activity resulting in a large number of earthquakes and volcanic eruptions.
But that’s why it’s important to be prepared and to support programmes which help communities to become more resilient to disasters.
Our Disaster Fund helps us to respond immediately when major disasters strike. Help us be ready in advance and save lives the next time disaster strikes. Please make a donation today.
Visit our website if you’d like to find out more about working for the British Red Cross overseas.
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Posted in Emergencies, InternationalInternational Missing Children’s Day: finding hope
May 25, 2011 at 10:46 am
Even if you don’t have children of your own it’s not hard to imagine the anguish of a parent whose child has gone missing. Unfortunately this is the heartache hundreds of thousands of people face in the UK and around the world every year.
International Missing Children’s Day, 25 May, is about standing in solidarity and hope with the families of missing children as the search to find them goes on.
Today, Stephen Fry, Victoria Beckham and Lorraine Kelly are supporting Missing People’s the Big Tweet in an effort to find missing children by retweeting appeals. The charity will be tweeting an appeal for a different missing child every 30 minutes for 24 hours on its official Twitter account.
For more than 100 years, the Red Cross has also been helping people find loved ones they have been separated from because of conflict or disaster. It works through a global network to put families back in touch – wherever they are.
Recently, I visited Liberia where around 180,000 people have sought refuge after fleeing violence in the Ivory Coast. I heard many stories about how when fighting engulfed people’s villages people were running for their lives and amidst the chaos and fear many were separated from their families.
Life as a refugee is tough at the best of times, but it must be so much worse when you are alone without your family.
I met Guei, 24, when she had literally just arrived in Liberia after a two-week gruelling journey through the equatorial jungle. She was pretty shell-shocked when she told me what had happened. Guei’s village had been attacked and as everyone scattered she was separated from her family but as she fled she found a toddler lost in the turmoil.
A Red Cross volunteer came and greeted Guei and explained about the Red Cross tracing programme and they registered the child.
Volunteers are now trying to find the child’s family.
For those with missing children, today will be tough, but probably no tougher than any other day they spend waiting for news of their child.
So today is also an opportunity to keep hope alive for those still waiting, by celebrating the many children that have been found.
When Almaz Berhanu Yesbasa fled her home in Ethiopia in fear of her life, leaving behind her husband and four daughters, she didn’t know if she’d ever see them again.
Almaz said: “At first I was worried about giving information about my family, but the Red Cross was very helpful. They explained they only share the details with other Red Cross people and no one else. But I still never thought I would get to meet my daughters again.”
Fortunately, Almaz was wrong.
Read Almaz’s story and find out how the Red Cross helped her find her daughters.
Images © Sarah Oughton/BRC
0 Comments and 28 Reactions »Tags: displaced people, ethiopia, finding missing people, IMCD, International Missing Children's Day, international tracing and message service, itms, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Red Cross messages, refugees, tracing services
Posted in International, News, UKHawa’s story: caring for Ivorian children in a refugee camp
May 18, 2011 at 10:00 am
When Hawa Gbah, 32, fled conflict in the Ivory Coast she escaped with her one-year-old son but she doesn’t know what happened to her husband and three older children.
After a gruelling journey through the bush, Hawa arrived in Liberia and is now living in a camp outside Zorgowee town, Nimba county. Bouncing her young son on her knee, she told me: “When the fighting began I was at home with my youngest son, but my three older children were out with my husband.
“I was looking for them as I made my way to Liberia. Although I didn’t find them, I found four other children on the journey who I know from my village. One of them, Vanessa, is friends with my children and I brought them all with me and am now looking after them in this camp.”
Struggle for food
“I feel bad because my husband is not here and I miss him and my other children,” Hawa said. “Now I’m the breadwinner and I have five children to look after but there’s no work here for me and life is very difficult.
“I used to run a restaurant back home, but now I can’t work and I’m sitting doing nothing and I’ve no income.
“I am Liberian but I married an Ivorian and I live in the Ivory Coast. But I don’t feel that it’s safe for me to just go back to the Ivory Coast. I want to be able to start some small business here until the situation improves and I can go back.”
Red Cross support
“My brother-in-law is also here in the camp and the Red Cross has provided us with free phone calls,” Hawa said. “We have both tried calling my husband but cannot get through to him. I think he is still in the Ivory Coast but I don’t know where.”
As well as providing refugees with free phone calls, Red Cross volunteers visit the camp regularly going from tent to tent and talking to people.
For tens of thousands of displaced people in the west of the Ivory Coast and refugees in neighbouring Liberia, there is still concern about the danger of returning home. The Red Cross is distributing food and other supplies, providing drinking water and supporting medical facilities.
Read 12-year-old Vanessa’s story about fleeing fighting in the Ivory Coast and losing contact with her family
Donate to our Ivory Coast Crisis Appeal
Look at photos from Liberia
0 Comments and 4 Reactions »Tags: disaster, displaced people, emergency, Ivory Coast Crisis Appeal, Liberia, Red Cross volunteers, refugees
Posted in Emergencies, International, NewsDelegate diary in Tunisia: frightened children arrive from Libya
May 10, 2011 at 12:40 pm
Michael Kemsley, British Red Cross logistics delegate, reports back from Tunisia, where he’s been working at a transit camp for people fleeing ongoing conflict in Libya:
The camp has been getting a lot busier, with more children and families coming in. When the conflict started, most the refugees were men. Now there are even babies being born in the camp.
Aïcha has a son, just 20 days old. If the International Organization for Migration (IOM) can find the funds, the family should be out of the transit camp and back to their home country before the baby turns one month old. However, IOM’s funds are running low, and it’s becoming harder to help people get home.
Aïcha also has a four-year-old, Khadija, who keeps crying. It’s because she’s scared, Aïcha explains. Khadija’s hurt her lip as well, but nothing serious, she gets help from the medical team and her mother visits a Red Cross psychosocial volunteer, who gives her advice on how to help Khadija adjust, and stop her having nightmares.
While the numbers of people coming over the border fluctuates between 900 – 2000 in a week, it all depends on the situation in Libya, and that number could go up at any time.
Sometimes, whole extended families have made it over the border together. Khaltouma and Admadaoud are part of a family of 24 people. They have settled into six tents next to each other so that they’re not separated. They lived in Libya for nearly two decades, raising children and building their lives.
Khaltouma’s husband had a steady job as a driver. “We left because of war,” she explains. Last night they managed to make it to the border. “When will we be able to go home?” is her first question. After 20 years, Libya is their home, and the only home their children have known. Right now it’s impossible to say when they will be able to go back.
On my last day in the camp I stuck my head into Omar’s tent but he’d gone. It turns out that he’d left early that morning, among the first 400 people to leave after five days in the camp. I hope he made it safely home and gets to fulfil his dream of returning to a peaceful Libya to finish his studies.
The rest of the day was spent tidying up the loose ends and handing over my work over. The afternoon was filled with all the emotional goodbyes. It’s amazing the bond you can develop over such a short period of time. Among the goodbyes is our hygiene promotion team. They all come from the local town. Najet, 25, one of the supervisors, says she has found working in the camp a life changing experience. It has changed her outlook on life and she feels changed the views of everyone in Ben Guardane, the town nearest the camps.
Struggling through the airport with my giant tajine (a parting gift from the hygiene promoters), I came across some of the refugees lucky enough to be able to make their journey home. Hopefully for them, this is the final stage of a traumatic few weeks and epic journeys to return home to build new lives.
But for others affected by the conflict in Libya, they are likely to need help for some time to come.
Visit our website to donate to our Libya & Region Appeal
Images 1 & 3 © Gina Guinta/IFRC
Image 2 © Michael Kemsley/BRC
0 Comments and 6 Reactions »Tags: conflict, Crisis, disaster, Libya, refugee camp, refugees, transit camp, Tunisia
Posted in Emergencies, International, Uncategorized
Tuesday 28 June 2011
Sarah Oughton « Red Cross Blogs - is-it-time-to-give-up-food-aid-in-the-horn-of-africa
