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Together - Saving more lives.
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Greetings | East Africa | Partners | Plan Canada Joins | Pakistan | Japan | Updates from the Community
Our family has grown!
In 2011, the HUMANITARIAN COALITION was pleased to welcome a new member to our team: Plan Canada.
Founded in 1937, Plan is one of the world’s oldest and largest international development agencies, with a focus on improving the lives of children and their families, a proven track record in humanitarian response, and a commitment to ending global poverty. Plan works in 68 countries and 58,000 communities. This works touches the lives of as many as 119.3 million people, including 56 million children.
With Plan Canada’s history and experience, the HUMANITARIAN COALITION has expanded its reach to improve our response to children and families traumatized by disaster. Through our membership, we now have a combined presence in more than 120 countries.
Comprised of CARE Canada, Oxfam Canada, Oxfam-Québec, Plan Canada and Save the Children Canada, the HUMANITARIAN COALITION brings together leading Canadian humanitarian organizations to effectively and efficiently assist as many people as possible in times of emergency.
As we enter a new year, the HUMANITARIAN COALITION hopes more great organizations like Plan will join our efforts. Because together, we can save more lives.
Greetings | East Africa | Partners | Plan Canada Joins | Pakistan | Japan | Updates from the Community
Working Together in Canada
The participation of broadcasters in the HUMANITARIAN COALITION is critical. Over half of you told us that you gave to help the people of East Africa because you saw or heard about us from our media partners. CTV, CBC and Global all have “Rapid Response Programs” in place. Each network is prepared to respond to the HUMANITARIAN COALITION’s call for help by posting online banners and supplying TV and radio airtime without cost.
HUMANITARIAN COALITION media partners help Canadians find out more about the crisis and how they can help.
We are encouraged by the media sector’s appreciation for the non-competitive nature of our cause.
Because HUMANITARIAN COALITION members join forces in times of crisis, our broadcast partners support us without hesitation. With their help our TV and radio ads ran thousands of times on Canadian airwaves during the East Africa and Japan crises this year, helping us inform Canadians about the disasters and the response while keeping our costs at a minimum.
Our media partners agree: working together saves more lives.
Our Rapid Response Partners help to get the message out and some, like Bell, inspire us to do more. Bell’s leadership gift of $250,000 is impressive on its own. Just as inspiring was the generous response from more than 50,000 Bell employees. The outpouring of donations from Bell’s Mississauga and Montreal offices was so massive it caused a security alert from our website host who could not believe the volume of internet traffic to our site from their offices!
Bell Vice President Gary Cameron stood with us in front of the media to encourage you to give more before the September 16th government match deadline. Bell not only gave a gift themselves, they asked their colleagues to give too and stood up publicly to ask all Canadians to give generously.
Three quarters of our donors to East Africa gave their donations on-line. Our on-line partners are vital to helping save more lives. eBay, Kijiji and Paypal are all members of our Rapid Response Network – Canadian corporations who are prepared to help when lives are at stake. Paypal waived their transaction fees to make sure that more of your support made it to people who needed it most.
Greetings | East Africa | Partners | Plan Canada Joins | Pakistan | Japan | Updates from the Community
Updates from the Community
Ottawa Cares: An Evening in Support of Famine Relief
The City of Ottawa came together with Mayor Jim Watson at Ottawa City Hall, September 14, for a gala evening event: ‘Ottawa Cares: An Evening in Support of Famine Relief’.
Watson collaborated with Somali-Canadian community groups, and countless volunteers to produce a stellar event. The evening included cuisine and entertainment graciously provided by over 25 local embassies.
“Part of the richness and unique nature of our great city is the strength and generosity of our people,” said Watson. “They came together and found creative ways to make a difference.”
More than $30,000 was raised during the evening. The generous donations were submitted to CIDA for a match, bringing the total to over $60,000. This event was a great example of how Canadians can help.
“I want to thank all the members of Ottawa’s diplomatic community who made Ottawa Cares possible,” added Watson. “And to all the volunteers who provided entertainment and support throughout the evening, thank you.”
SOS Afrique: Quebec Comedians joining together to support the fight against famine in East Africa
On Tuesday, September 27th at the St-Denis Theatre in Montreal, “SOS Afrique” brought together top comedians in one show, all volunteering their time to be on stage for this cause. Over 2000 tickets were sold and over $90,000 was raised for HUMANITARIAN COALITION member relief programs in East Africa.
Co-presented by Louis-José Houde and Laurent Paquin; the evening showcased: Boucar Diouf, Mario Jean, Mike Ward, Jean-François Mercier, Les Grandes Gueules, Marc Dupré, Jean-Marc Parent, Dominic et Martin, François Massicotte, François Bellefeuille, Alex Perron, Eddy King, Cathy Gauthier as well as Martin Matte. All of these artists were under the artistic direction of Guy Lévesque.
Greetings | East Africa | Partners | Plan Canada Joins | Pakistan | Japan | Updates from the Community
Japan Earthquake and Tsunami
Even the most developed countries can sometimes be hit with a crisis so massive it overwhelms them. The HUMANITARIAN COALITION helps wherever help is needed. That’s why our members did not hesitate when their Japanese partners asked for help coping with the aftermath of a triple disaster in March 2011.
Last March, the northeast coast of Japan’s main island was hit by a major earthquake, which in turn triggered a devastating tsunami. The Fukushima nuclear reactor was damaged by the earthquake and tsunami, causing a meltdown and forcing the likely permanent displacement of tens of thousands.
Together, the three disasters killed over 15,000 people and damaged or destroyed more than 125,000 homes and buildings.
Within days, Save the Children teams were distributing essential household and hygiene supplies such as blankets, towels, soap, diapers and first aid kits. Safe play areas were set up for more than 800 children in evacuation centers. Save the Children trained over 80 volunteers and staff in these centres to monitor children and identify those in particular need of psycho-social support, and how to refer them to social services. Some 1,200 parents received information on how to deal with stress, and support their children in coping. Over 3,000 children were supported in going back to school with kits of school materials, and more than 20,000 were provided with meals at schools.
Oxfam provided funding to local partner organizations to deliver much-needed supplies to mothers and infants. The Japan Women’s Shelter was supported in establishing a 24-hour support line for women in the disaster zone, particularly those affected by sexual or domestic violence. Similarly, the Single Mother’s Forum was supported in setting up a hotline and peer counseling for women at evacuation centers and in affected areas.
Immediately after the disaster struck, CARE organized a convoy to the city of Kamaishi in Iwate prefecture, one of the worst-hit areas, where approximately 25,500 people had sought refuge in 373 evacuation centers. CARE provided hot meals, fruit and emergency supplies including blankets, mattresses, materials for partially damaged homes and evacuation centers. Since June, psychosocial support has helped survivors to cope with their experiences. CARE is helping to rebuild and strengthen social networks by supporting community newsletters, community cafés, and local festivals. The newsletters provide important information for people living in evacuation centers about where to receive food, medical support and other services.
When assistance is requested, the members of the HUMANITARIAN COALITION don’t hesitate. As long as support is needed, the work of our members in Japan will continue.
Greetings | East Africa | Partners | Plan Canada Joins | Pakistan | Japan | Updates from the Community
Overcoming the floods in Pakistan
“I was at home when the flood came and everything in our house was ruined, there was nothing left at all,” laments Basmeen, a widow and young mother. Ten-year old Nalia says, “We lost most of the things in the flood water, as we could not take our belongings with us to Hyderabad and when we came back, everything was either washed away or ruined by the water and mud.”
Today Basmeen is independent and supporting her family with her own sewing business, having received training and support from a CARE Canada vocational skills program. Nalia and her siblings are going to school at a temporary learning centre established by Save the Children. These are just a couple of the more than one million lives you have helped improve in flood-devastated Pakistan through your support for HUMANITARIAN COALITION members.
In July 2010, Pakistan was hit by the worst floods in memory. As much as one fifth of the country’s land – nearly 800,000 square kilometres – was inundated, and as many as twenty one million people were affected. The members of the HUMANITARIAN COALITION launched immediate responses, with the generous support of Canadians and the Government of Canada.
A year and a half later, the members of the HUMANITARIAN COALITION have reached more than one million people with life-saving immediate aid, and long-term programs to assist them in rebuilding their lives.
Working with local partners, CARE Canada has supported flood survivors in Pakistan with primary health services, shelter, emergency supplies, clean water, sanitation systems, hygiene education, food, and agricultural and livelihoods support. Women like Basmeen are receiving vocational training and support to start their own sewing businesses. CARE is also working to provide permanent shelters solutions for families that have lost their homes.
Oxfam has provided safe drinking water and sanitation facilities, engaged in education and awareness activities to promote good hygiene, and supplied families with non-food relief items like kitchen kits.
Save the Children has provided medical care, shelter materials, hygiene items, household kits, water purification sachets and food, livelihood support, nutrition, and water and sanitation activities. Schools are being supported and Child Friendly Spaces have been opened across the country, providing children with psychosocial support and a safe place to play and socialize. Save the Children is training health workers and working with communities to fight pneumonia and malnutrition.
Greetings | East Africa | Partners | Plan Canada Joins | Pakistan | Japan | Updates from the Community
Update: Drought in East Africa
In the Borana region of Ethiopia there are deep wells used by the pastoralist livestock herders to get water for their families and animals in times of drought. They are often called the “Singing Wells” because people have a generations-long tradition of singing as they pass the buckets of water up from hand to hand. The Singing Wells were silent for the first time in remembered history; your support and the recent rains have brought back the singing at the wells.
Although we saw high levels of malnutrition across east Africa this past summer and fall, we did not see a corresponding level of mortality. The members of the HUMANITARIAN COALITION were there and ready to respond to prevent this crisis from becoming more catastrophic. Members support communities to adapt to climate change and become more resilient in times of drought by creating contingency plans; setting aside conservatively estimated stockpiles of grain, and by encouraging growing investments in education and health services and sanitary infrastructure. Some villages where drought resistant programs were in place managed a successful harvest and their livestock survived whereas surrounding villages failed and were forced to migrate to camps.
None would disagree, more still needs to be done, but self-reliance in this region is stronger now than three generations ago. And with your help, the people of east Africa have not lost a generation; they have gained a future.
Oxfam’s local partner organizations are operating the single largest public health program in Somalia, providing clean water to displaced Somalis in camps outside Mogadishu, and providing sanitation and public health education to prevent diseases like cholera and acute watery diarrhea. In the Dadaab camps in Kenya, which have swelled to over 450,000 people displaced by the drought, CARE is the primary provider of food, water and primary education and is also supporting the specific needs of women and girls who have experienced sexual and gender-based violence. With feeding programs, Save the Children is fighting malnutrition in Somali children under five as well as for pregnant and breastfeeding women. Plan is delivering child protection training and strategies have been provided to parents and community members to help keep children safe during a difficult time. CARE is helping communities maintain their livelihoods through measures such as the distribution of subsidized crop seed and animal feed and by implementing cash-for-work programs and cash relief to the most vulnerable households. Save the Children’s cash and voucher program for vulnerable Somali women is ensuring they have access to food and medicines without having to sell family assets. While Oxfam supports pastoralists and refugees in Kenya with essential water, sanitation and hygiene activities as well as desperately needed livelihoods support.
In response to the drought, new HUMANITARIAN COALITION member, Plan Canada, has continued its work in Ethiopia, Kenya and South Sudan, with a focus on the specific needs of children – especially girls and young women, who are often the last to eat. This includes providing high-protein and calorie-rich food supplements to children, breastfeeding moms, and pregnant women suffering from malnutrition. Plan’s school feedings have ensured that young people aren’t distracted by hunger while trying to learn in school. Seeds and livestock have been provided to families that lost crops and farm animals. Plan has also been facilitating health promotion in communities, medical training for health workers, and medicines. Clean water has been provided to health facilities and schools. Now that some rain has finally begun to fall in parts of East Africa, Plan continues its emergency response, while at the same time supporting the region’s early recovery from a months-long drought that had far-reaching effects, like delayed or lost food crops. Even while in the stages of early recovery, Plan recognizes the need to also focus on longer-term and sustainable recovery solutions. Which is why, for example, Plan is now installing and re-building water infrastructure (like boreholes) to sustain access to water now - and in weather cycles to come. Together, the members of the HUMANITARIAN COALITION will continue to work, supporting communities in adapting to the effects of climate change to reduce the impact of future droughts.
Greetings | East Africa | Partners | Plan Canada Joins | Pakistan | Japan | Updates from the Community
As 2011 draws to a close, I want to thank all the Canadians who supported the work of the HUMANITARIAN COALITION and its members. This past year was a big one for us.
The HUMANITARIAN COALITION grew this year. We are very pleased to have Plan Canada join our team. More collective strength is definitely welcome, as it has unfortunately been a busy year for emergency responses.
We entered the year with the first anniversary of the devastating earthquake in Haiti. The members of the HUMANITARIAN COALITION are still there, supporting the Haitian people on their long road to recovery. Pakistan was again hit by major flooding. Although the Coalition did not launch an appeal this time, our members were already there on the ground, responding immediately. Of course, 2011 saw the Coalition appeal for the support of Canadians to assist the survivors of the triple disaster – the earthquake, tsunami, and Fukushima nuclear meltdown – in Japan.
The response from Canadians to our appeal for support in East Africa was incredible. After we sounded the alarm on July 6, more than $14 million was donated to prevent the drought from becoming famine. It was a clear demonstration that the HUMANITARIAN COALITION’s partnership works. Together we raised Canadian awareness of a growing crisis, and engaged Canadians’ legendary generosity to fight it.
All the members of the Coalition have long been engaged in East Africa. In fact, their ongoing work over the past two decades has ensured communities were already much more resilient and prepared to face this year’s drought. The impact of this drought will likely be far less severe in lives lost than the Ethiopian famine of 1984. Nevertheless, the situation remains grave and your support continues to be needed.
Looking forward, the HUMANITARIAN COALITION continues to seek opportunities for improving Canada’s humanitarian response capacity and getting more help to those who need it. In November, the members of the HUMANITARIAN COALITION met in Toronto for our annual assembly. Together, we established our priorities for 2012 to ensure we are even better prepared to respond quickly to support those touched by the inevitable disasters of the future. We continue to work towards our vision to unite Canadians to save more lives.
I want to thank corporate Canada for its growing support of the HUMANITARIAN COALITION. Canadian media and business are seeing the value in working together and are rallying to support our work through donations and assistance in raising awareness.
And in closing thanks again to you. Your support has helped us give the greatest gift of all, the gift of life, to millions of people affected by disasters around the world.
Nicolas Moyer
Executive Director
Learn more about our governance
Board of Directors
The Board of Directors is made up of the CEO or Executive Director of the five member organizations.
SAVE THE CHILDREN - PATRICIA ERB : Patricia Erb has been the President and Chief Executive Officer of Save the Children Canada since the spring of 2011. After earning a Master’s degree in International Development Planning at Cornell University, Patricia began working for Save the Children and has done so for more than twenty years. Key positions she has held include: Interim Program Director, Country Director for Bolivia and Peru, as well as Regional Director for Latin America. Her efforts in the area of both human and children’s rights, have received international recognition from both government and civil society. She has served as a board member for 27 non-governmental organizations including the Board of Directors of Defense for Children International (Bolivia Chapter). Patricia believes that the world can change for the better but only if we work for that change together.
OXFAM CANADA - ROBERT FOX: Robert Fox has served as Executive Director of Oxfam Canada since July 2005. In that time, he has led a renewal process that had seen Oxfam Canada adopt women’s rights and gender equality as the central focus for its program, policy, campaign and advocacy work. Robert is the Executive Director with lead responsibility for aid effectiveness for Oxfams globally, participating in the High Level Forums in Accra and Busan. He sits on the Board of Oxfam International and has chaired the boards of several CSOs. Robert has worked as the Oxfam Canada Representative for Central America and Mexico, based in Managua, Nicaragua and as Director of Communications for the Canadian Union of Public Employees.
PLAN CANADA - ROSEMARY MCCARNEY: Rosemary McCarney is the President and CEO of Plan Canada. She has more than 20 years of international development work – always with a focus on children. Her skills and passion have backstopped Plan Canada’s sector-leading growth in revenues. Among her many accomplishments, she has played a pivotal role in Plan’s expansion into Darfur. She is also a major driver of the nine-year Because I am a Girl campaign that advocates for girls’ rights. Not many international development experts spent time as a corporate lawyer on Wall Street, but then again Rosemary McCarney is certainly an original. Despite her unrelenting schedule, she enjoys a close relationship with her three children.
CARE CANADA - KEVIN MCCORT: Kevin McCort is President and CEO of CARE Canada. He was previously vice president and chief of staff for five years. Kevin joined CARE Canada in 1992 as an expert in emergency response and food security. During his years with CARE, Kevin has led the intervention of emergency in Somalia, Haiti, Tanzania, Burundi, Democratic Republic of Congo and Bosnia. He served as country director of CARE Canada in Zambia for three years, working with refugees and development projects leading educational, agricultural and urban. He has lived, worked and visited over 50 countries and has extensive knowledge of politics, economics and social issues for more than 30 countries where CARE operates. Mr. McCort studied international development at the University of Toronto, graduating in 1989 with a B.Sc. (Specialist/Honours). In 2005, he earned a Master of Business Administration from Queen’s University.
OXFAM-QUÉBEC- PIERRE VÉRONNEAU : Pierre Véronneau is the Executive Director of Oxfam – Quebec. He graduated in Arts from Université de Montréal, he has a Bachelor Degree in Geography from Université du Québec and a Master Degree in Demography (population and development) from Université de Montréal. After several stays in Africa and Asia, Pierre Véronneau worked with SUCO (Canadian University Service Overseas). In 1983, he co-founded OCSD (Organisation canadienne pour la solidarité et le développement) and became Programme Director. Pierre Véronneau played a key role in the merging of Oxfam-Québec and OCSD in 1993. Pierre Véronneau has been Chair of the Board of CCIC (Canadian Council for International Cooperation), Chair of the Board of AQOCI (Association québécoise des organismes de coopération internationale) and member of the Board of ACP (Africa Canada Partnership). Since 1995, Pierre Véronneau is member of the Board and Ed’s Council of Oxfam International.
Structure
The HUMANITARIAN COALITION is a legal corporation registered with the Canadian Revenue Agency (CRA) as a private foundation. The HUMANITARIAN COALITION is accountable to its member organizations through the Board of Directors and is managed on their behalf by the appointed Executive Director. The member organizations also contribute directly in the management and oversight of the collective initiative through standing committees populated by personnel from within their organisations.
The following is a diagram representing our structure:
Membership Criteria
Potential members approached for recruitment, or seeking membership, must share the purpose and vision of the HUMANITARIAN COALITION; in particular the principles of transparency and accountability, and excellence in the delivery of humanitarian services. These criteria are not negotiable. Wherever possible the HUMANITARIAN COALITION will make decisions on membership based on published, objective and easily verifiable information and criteria. Because of the high level of member engagement and participation in HUMANITARIAN COALITION activities, new members will also be assessed against their ability to fully contribute to the objectives of the organization. Full details of our membership criteria can be found in the link below.
DOWNLOAD FULL MEMBERSHIP CRITERIA
Financial Statements
The HUMANITARIAN COALITION has operated under independent legal registration with Industry Canada and the Canada Revenue Agency since June 2010. Prior to this, joint appeals were administered by CARE Canada. Financial statements for the period of June to December 2010 can be downloaded using the link below.
DOWNLOAD FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 2010 (June-Dec)
Annual Reports
Because 2010 represented a partial financial year (January – December), an annual report will be produced in 2012 for the 19 month period of June 2010 to December 2011.
Humanitarian Crisis Workshop
The HUMANITARIAN COALITION will host a special Humanitarian Crisis Workshop to help Canadian reporters, editors and producers understand what’s happening behind the scenes of major disasters.
DATE: June 8th, 2011
Location: Delta Hotel, 33 Gerrard Street West, Toronto
COST: $250/person
When the world’s turned upside down, there’s no question that getting the right information at the right time can help save lives. Right now, in places like Libya, Liberia and Japan, reporters who understand the humanitarian system can quickly categorize the players and their purpose, more readily identify where to go for information and rapidly spot problems in disaster response.
KEYNOTE ADDRESS by Brian Stewart
“Emergency Coverage in an Age of Cynicism: The Power & Responsibility of Disaster Reportage ”
Former foreign affairs reporter and senior correspondent for CBC TV News Brian Stewart is a Distinguished Senior Fellow at the Munk School of Global Affairs.
Canadian experts in disaster response will lead sessions in:
- The first 48 hours of a disaster: Exploring the chain of events that triggers an emergency response. Presented by Mia Vukojevic, Manager Humantarian Programs at Oxfam Canada.
- The humanitarian system: When a disaster strikes, who jumps into the fray? How do they work together? Presented by Anna Miller, Program Manager, Humanitarian and Emergency Response at Save the Children Canada.
- Humanitarian standards: No two disasters are the same – what to look for in disaster response.Presented by Diana Gee-Silverman, Program Manager Emergency Response at Plan Canada.
- Trends in humanitarian response: the future of humanitarian aid, the militarization of aid, and other key issues. Presented by Kevin McCort, President and CEO of CARE Canada.
Training will be held June 8 in downtown Toronto and cost $250 per person . (Lunch and materials will be provided).
To register, and for further workshop details, please click here. Payments can be made by VISA, MC, AMEX and PayPal.
For more information please contact
MESSAGE FROM THE HUMANITARIAN COALITION | HAITI | FLOODS IN PAKISTAN | UPDATES FROM THE COMMUNITY
UPDATES FROM THE COMMUNITY
heARTS for Pakistan
heARTS for Pakistan, a silent art auction and fundraiser, was held on October 18th at Toronto’s Gladstone Hotel. More than 200 guests bid on more than 80 pieces of art, including paintings, photography, and sculptures, which were generously donated by Canadian and international artists.
By the end of the night, more than $15,000 was raised in support of flood relief programs in Pakistan. Thanks to the Canadian government match, these funds were increased to almost $23,000. We extend our sincere thanks to the organizers of this event who worked very hard to make the event a success and raise much needed funds for the people of Pakistan.
Corporate Support
Once again, the support of Canada’s corporate sector has allowed the HUMANITARIAN COALITION to reach out to Canadians across the country. The support of CTV, CBC and ebay Canada during the recent Pakistan Appeal was a great demonstration that we can help more people when we work together. Simply by offering TV and radio airtime and online banners, these corporations helped Canadians find out more about the crisis and how they could help. We extend our thanks to these organizations and the many others that continue to support us. Together, we can save more lives.
| MESSAGE FROM THE HUMANITARIAN COALITION | HAITI EARTHQUAKE | ASIA-PACIFIC DISASTER |
| EAST AFRICA DROUGHT | UPDATES FROM THE COMMUNITY |
EAST AFRICA DROUGHT
In the fall of 2009, almost exactly 25 years after the 1984 East Africa famine, seven countries in the region once again faced the threat of severe hunger. The annual rains failed in many parts of the region for the fifth year in a row, due at least in part to the effects of global climate change. The lack of rain brought crop failures, even to areas that are usually unaffected by drought. As Stephen Gwynne-Vaughan, Country Director for CARE in Kenya, observed, “The resiliency of these people has just been stretched beyond its limits. They can’t take any more shocks.”
Farmers and herders were particularly hard hit, losing much of the livestock herds that are their life and livelihood. In Somaliland, herders reported losing as much as 70 to 80 percent of their animals.
With more than 200 million people at risk, the HUMANITARIAN COALITION gave funds for drought-affected communities in Kenya that were suffering acute hunger, allowing them to buy lifesaving goods. In Somalia we provided shelter, water and sanitation relief as well as education campaigns to promote good hygiene and sanitation practices. In Ethiopia, we constructed and rehabilitated boreholes, ponds and traditional wells to capture and contain rain water, and brought in emergency water by truck. Sanitation and hygiene programs worked to reduce diseases such as cholera. Emergency seed supplies were also given to farming households that had lost their crops..
MESSAGE FROM THE HUMANITARIAN COALITION | HAITI | FLOODS IN PAKISTAN | UPDATES FROM THE COMMUNITY
CATASTROPHIC FLOODS IN PAKISTAN
“The massive floods hit our village – we had no time to pack our belongings. We were not able to take anything with us because the water was already up to our knees, we had no food, no shelter, no clothes, no toys… nothing.”
—Sumaira, 10, Save the Children
The HUMANITARIAN COALITION emergency appeal for Pakistan flood survivors was unlike any other.
A flood differs from an earthquake or a drought – its impact takes longer to assess. As floodwaters rose so did the number of people affected, of homes washed away, of crops destroyed, of livestock drowned and of schools and hospitals destroyed.
The HUMANITARIAN COALITION members were among the first Canadian organizations to come to the aid of the millions of flood survivors. Together, the members of the HUMANITARIAN COALITION raised more than $3.3 million from generous Canadians like you. Of those funds, more than $3 million were doubled by the Canadian government’s matching fund.
Since the floods, HUMANITARIAN COALITION members have reached far more than 2 million Pakistanis. More than 746,000 people received clean water through installation of water tanks, repairing of wells and water pipes and delivery of water to communities with no safe water supply. Members also distributed hygiene kits containing items such as bars of soap, towels, plastic kettles for washing and buckets with lids to nearly 1 million people.
In addition, more than 80,000 people have benefited from cash-for-work programs, nearly 1,800 people have received shelter and thousands received mosquito nets, plastic floor mats, water purification tabs, hygiene kits and kitchen sets. Members continue to address issues that threaten children’s well-being and have established 153 child-friendly spaces to help children overcome the trauma they have experienced.
The people of Pakistan face critical challenges as they grapple with the loss of crops and livestock, damaged schools, homes and roads and the threat of sickness and disease through the winter. The members of the HUMANITARIAN COALITION continue to work alongside Pakistanis. Together, we will do everything we can to help the millions of children and families struggling to rebuild their lives.
MESSAGE FROM THE HUMANITARIAN COALITION | HAITI | FLOODS IN PAKISTAN | UPDATES FROM THE COMMUNITY
Haiti: A year of action
In 2010, HUMANITARIAN COALITION members increased their focus on fostering recovery and reconstruction in addition to emergency relief during the cholera outbreak and Hurricane Tomas. HUMANITARIAN COALITION members have partnered with communities and organizations across Haiti as they work to rebuild their livelihoods. We continue to reach hundreds of thousands of Haitians every day with essential and urgently needed assistance.
During the initial response, HUMANITARIAN COALITION members worked with local women on sanitation and latrine issues in camps now housing most of Port-au-Prince’s population. Pregnant women and newborns have received specialized health kits. Many children who arrived in camps unaccompanied have received special care. Clean water supplies allow camp residents to cook, clean and wash up. These are just some examples of the great work that has been done to bring assistance to earthquake survivors.
But progress is not easy as Haitians struggle to balance everyday needs with long-term rebuilding. Challenges include existing vulnerabilities such as poverty, poor infrastructure, weakened governance and unfavourable land ownership regulations. To strengthen livelihoods and communities, better health and education services and improve security and long-term stability will require patience and significant long-term support. With international donors, the Haitian government and civil society, the UN and non-governmental organizations like ours working together, change is possible.
As the earthquake’s one-year anniversary approaches, the HUMANITARIAN COALITION members have prepared comprehensive reports on their work in Haiti and how your generous donations have been used. A special website has been launched to provide information, reports and to allow Canadians to send messages of support to the people of Haiti this holiday season. We encourage you to visit the site to find out more and show your support: http://www.haitiportal.humanitariancoalition.ca
THE HUMANITARIAN COALITION IN HAITI
Over 1 Million Haitians reached by HUMANITARIAN COALITION staff, including:
- 123,000 through health programs
- 173,000 through nutrition projects
- 282,000 through water initiatives
- 50,000 through hygiene assistance
- 45,000 through education initiatives
- 20,000 through shelter aid
- 40,000 through women’s shelters
MESSAGE FROM THE HUMANITARIAN COALITION | HAITI | FLOODS IN PAKISTAN | UPDATES FROM THE COMMUNITY
Dear Friend,
Crisis builds community - it also shows us at our best and worst. Nowhere is the need to work together more obvious than in the desparate race to respond to a humanitarian disaster. This year, HUMANITARIAN COALITION members responded to two of the most catastrophic disasters in recent memory: Haiti’s earthquake and Pakistan’s floods. For both catastrophese rebuilding is well underway, but moves far too slowly for those who lost loved ones, their homes and their way of life. CARE Canada, Oxfam Canada, Oxfam-Québec and Save the Children Canada have been working in both Haiti and Pakistan for decades and were able to act quickly to help survivors of these disasters - millions of children, women and men who lost everything.
One year after Haiti’s earthquake it’s time to take stock of our progress. The HUMANITARIAN COALITION has reached well over a million people with clean water, sanitation facilities, food, shelter, and medical supplies. We’ve partnered with communities to promote local livelihoods and support the recovery and rebuilding of infrastructure and community assets. Still, Haitians need sustainable long-term support and partnerships to help them rebuild. HUMANITARIAN COALITION members continue to support Haitians as they rebuild their capital and their way of life.
In Pakistan, winter has now set in and the situation for flood survivors has worsened. HUMANITARIAN COALITION members are working in very difficult conditions across the country to assist flood survivors. As Pakistan communities struggle to rebuild their livelihoods, we continue to support both basic short-term needs and longer-term reconstruction efforts.
The HUMANITARIAN COALITION only launches appeals for the most serious crises. Pooled resources whittle administrative costs to their barest minimum to ensure maximum donations reach the field - where it’s needed most. Donors like you make it possible for us to help disaster survivors worldwide. Thank you.
Sincerely,
 |
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| Kevin McCourt President and CEO CARE Canada |
Robert Fox Executive Director Oxfam Canada |
Peter Véronneau Executive Director Oxfam Québec |
David Morley President and CEO Save The Children Canada |
The risk of disease after disaster
Written and compiled by CBC News.
Long after the immediate threat passes, a natural disaster can continue to take a deadly toll.
Outbreaks of infectious diseases following hurricanes, cyclones, floods, tsunamis and earthquakes are not uncommon in the developing world. They are rare in developed countries.
Most post-disaster disease is spawned by poor sanitation, a lack of safe drinking water and contaminated food.
The Canadian Forces’ Disaster Assistance Response Team has been dispatched to several natural disasters - in part - to help provide safe drinking water and reduce the risk of disease outbreak.
Here’s a rundown of some of the diseases that can afflict survivors of disasters:
Cholera
Cholera is an intestinal infection caused by the bacterium Vibrio cholerae. People contract it from drinking contaminated water or eating contaminated food. It may be the biggest disease threat to survivors of disasters because it progresses rapidly. It can kill an individual in less than a day.
The infection leads to severe diarrhea - leading to the loss of up to 10 litres of bodily fluids in a day. That causes rapid dehydration, shock and the risk of death.
However, most people who become infected don’t get sick. The vast majority of people who do show symptoms will develop mild or moderate cases of the disease. Those cases are often indistinguishable from other types of acute diarrhea.
Typhoid fever
Typhoid fever is caused by the bacterium Salmonella Typhi. You get it by eating food or drinking fluids handled by an infected person. You can also get it if sewage contaminated with Salmonella Typhi Doctors and nurses tend to stricken patients along the corridors of a government hospital near Manila, Philippines. More than 1,400 people displayed typhoid symptoms in March 2008 in Calamba, a city near the Philippine capital. Doctors and nurses tend to stricken patients along the corridors of a government hospital near Manila, Philippines. More than 1,400 people displayed typhoid symptoms in March 2008 in Calamba, a city near the Philippine capital. (Bullit Marquez/Associated Press)bacteria gets into the water you use for drinking or washing.
The illness is uncommon in the developed world - most North American cases involve people who have travelled to developing countries.
Typhoid fever affects about 21.5 million people a year.
Symptoms of the disease include sustained high fever of 39 C to 40 C, a feeling of weakness, stomach pains, headache, or loss of appetite. Some people suffer from diarrhea. Others develop constipation. In some cases, patients develop a rash of flat, rose-coloured spots.
Among the most serious complications are intestinal bleeding or perforations.
The disease is treatable with antibiotics and there is a vaccine that can protect people. But for those trying to cope with a natural disaster in less-developed parts of the world, a lack of access to treatment increases the risk that the complications may prove fatal.
Dysentery
This is yet another disease that can be spread through contaminated drinking water, although it can also be caused by a parasite living in one’s gut. The vast majority of cases are caused by bacteria.
Dysentery results in diarrhea in which there is blood and pus. In rare cases, it can kill individuals within 24 hours.
However, most cases clear up on their own, without treatment.
The main symptom is frequent, near-liquid diarrhea flecked with blood, mucus or pus. Other symptoms include:
* Sudden onset of high fever and chills.
* Abdominal pain.
* Cramps, bloating and flatulence.
* Urgent need to pass stool.
* A feeling that you still have to go.
* A loss of appetite.
* Headache and fatigue.
* Vomiting and dehydration.
If dehydration becomes severe, an infected person could be at risk of coma or death.
Dysentery is treated through rehydration and antibiotics.
Hepatitis A and E
These diseases spread under unsanitary conditions, through human feces. People catch the virus by taking in contaminated water or food.
No specific treatment or antibiotic drug exists for either hepatitis A or E. Those suffering are urged to rest, stay hydrated and try to eat nutritious foods.
Balantidiasis
This condition - another gut-wrenching infection - is also caused by coming into contact with contaminated water. It is more commonly spread in areas where people and pigs live in close proximity.
Many pigs carry the bacteria that cause balantidiasis and it can be passed from pigs to humans. It can also be spread when pig feces get into water humans use for washing or drinking.
There have been outbreaks of balantidiasis in areas struck by typhoons. Symptoms of the condition include chronic diarrhea, occasional dysentery, nausea, foul breath, colitis, abdominal pain, weight loss, deep intestinal ulcerations and possibly perforation of the intestine. Left untreated, it can kill. However, in most cases, people with the condition show no symptoms.
Leptospriosis
Contaminated drinking water can bring on yet another condition - leptospriosis. You’re at risk when water is contaminated by the urine of animals that carry the bacteria that causes leptospriosis - cattle, pigs, horses, dogs, rodents and wild animals.
Symptoms include high fever, severe headache, chills, muscle aches and vomiting. Those infected can also develop jaundice, red eyes, abdominal pain, diarrhea, or a rash.
If left untreated, the patient could develop kidney damage, meningitis, liver failure and respiratory distress. In rare cases, leptospriosis can kill.
It can be treated through antibiotics.
There was an outbreak of the disease in 1996 in Puerto Rico in the aftermath of a hurricane.
Animal bites, arthropod bites, stings
You may not be the only one competing for safe spaces in the wake of a natural disaster. Creepy, crawly Cattle find refuge on a narrow strip of dry land in the flooded Bolivian state of Beni in Feb. 2007. Months of severe flooding triggered a dengue fever outbreak across Bolivia’s lowland tropics, killing 35 people. Cattle find refuge on a narrow strip of dry land in the flooded Bolivian state of Beni in Feb. 2007. Months of severe flooding triggered a dengue fever outbreak across Bolivia’s lowland tropics, killing 35 people. (Juan Karita/Associated Press)creatures could be on the move as well if their breeding sites or natural habitats are ravaged.
If you’re in a tropical country, you may be at increased risk of bites from poisonous spiders and snakes. As well, mosquitoes may become more of a threat, if they’ve been forced to move on to other breeding grounds.
You could be at risk for:
- Malaria - an infectious disease spread by mosquitoes, mainly in tropical climates. Symptoms, which begin showing up 10 to 15 days after infection, include headache and fever, chills, muscle and joint pain, nausea and vomiting and convulsions. If not treated promptly, you could die.
- Dengue fever - another infectious disease spread by mosquitoes. Symptoms include sudden onset of fever, with severe headache, muscle and joint pains and rashes. Cases often clear up within six to seven days. However, in severe cases, death can result.
You’re not in the clear yet
For those who survived the disaster but lost their homes and had to seek shelter in an emergency centre, there are additional risks. Diseases such as infectious hepatitis, gastroenteritis, measles and tuberculosis could catch up with victims of a catastrophe stuck in a crowded shelter with insufficient sanitary facilities. This can be compounded in countries where immunization rates are low.
The myth about corpses
In major disasters, there may be a large number of unburied corpses. In a natural disaster, the vast majority of those people were killed by the trauma of the storm - not disease. While the decomposing bodies will give off a terrible smell, they will not spread epidemic infectious diseases. The decaying body of a previously healthy person is not a disease risk.
A study published in the May 2004 edition of the Pan American Journal of Public Health found that the risk of epidemics from the bodies of people killed in natural disasters is negligible. The researchers found that epidemics resulting in mass fatalities after natural disasters have only occurred from a few diseases - such as cholera, typhoid, tuberculosis, anthrax and smallpox. While those diseases can be highly contagious, they cannot survive for long in dead bodies. The study found that survivors are far more likely to spread disease than corpses.
The researchers noted that unfounded concerns about the infectiousness of corpses sometimes leads to the rapid, unplanned disposal of the dead - often before victims are identified, making it harder for survivors to mourn their loss.
Frequently Asked Questions for donors
• Will the Humanitarian Coalition issue me a receipt for my donation?
• How long will it take before I receive my receipt?
• Why haven’t I received my receipt yet?
•What is the Emergency Response Fund?
• Do I have to claim donations the same year that I make them?
• I am an artist and I donated a piece for a fundraising event. Will I get a receipt?
• I contributed to the Humanitarian Coalition by purchasing donated artwork or purchasing an item in a fundraising auction. Will I receive a receipt?
• I mailed in donations from multiple donors. Will they all receive individual receipts?
• Can I donate to the Humanitarian Coalition in any currency?
• Can I donate to the Humanitarian Coalition on behalf of someone else?
• Why is it better to donate online?
• How can I make sure I receive correspondence in my choice of the official languages?
• I am moving but I want to continue to receive correspondence from the Humanitarian Coalition. How do I change my address?
• Where can I find out more about claiming donations on my tax return?
Q: Will the Humanitarian Coalition issue me a receipt for any donation?
A: The Humanitarian Coalition will issue receipts for all donations greater or equivalent to $10.00.
Q: How long will it take before I receive my receipt?
A: Online donations are processed automatically and an electronic receipt should be delivered to your e-mail account within an hour following your donation. For mailed-in donations, it typically it takes about 15 business days to issue your receipt after we have received your cheque. Phone donations are subject to the same delay period as mailed in donations.
If for any reason you do not receive your receipt within the above timelines, please contact the Humanitarian Coalition at
Q: Why haven’t I received my receipt yet?
A: The most likely reason why you have not received a receipt is that an error has been made in your contact information. To update your contact information or request a new receipt, contact .
If you donated online, you should have received your receipt immediately at the e-mail which you provided while making your donation. It is possible that your junk-mail filter may have blocked this receipt and we encourage you to check you junk mail folder to be sure it has not been redirected there. If you cannot find your receipt, you may request a new one be issued by writing to us at
Q: What is the Emergency Response Fund?
The Emergency Response Fund increases the HUMANITARIAN COALITION’s members’ capacity to respond quickly and effectively to humanitarian disasters as they happen around the world. When you donate to this fund, your donation will be automatically channelled to the next disaster for which the HUMANITARIAN COALITION launches an active appeal for donations.
Q: Do I have to claim donations on my tax return the same year that I make them?
A: No. You can claim your donation on any one of your tax returns over five years after the donation was made. But you can only claim it once.
Q: I am an artist and I donated artwork for a fundraising event. Will I receive a receipt?
A: Yes. You will receive a receipt for the value of the artwork you donated. For this to be possible, we will require an independent valuation by an expert (for example, a gallery owner). If you have any questions about the process to follow, please contact us at
Q: I contributed to the Humanitarian Coalition by purchasing donated artwork or purchasing an item in a fundraising auction. Will I receive a receipt?
A: You may receive a receipt only for the amount of your donation that is above the value of the item you purchased. As per the regulations applied by the Canada Revenue Agency, when you receive something of value in exchange for your donation you may only be issued a charitable donation receipt for the value of the donation above the value of the good or service you received.
For more information, visit http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/chrts-gvng/dnrs/menu-eng.html
Q: I mailed in donations from multiple donors. Will they all receive individual receipts?
A: In order for each donor to receive a separate receipt, they will need to provide their names, addresses and donation details for each donation. Click here to print a donor form to send in with your donations.
Q: Can I donate to the Humanitarian Coalition in any currency?
A: No. Please only send donations in Canadian dollars.
Q: Can I donate to the Humanitarian Coalition on behalf of someone else?
A: Yes. But please make sure to include the right contact information for the person you want to receive the receipt. Click here to print a donor form to send with the donation.
Q: Why is it better to donate online?
A: When you send your donation online it is both cheaper and faster to process. You will receive your receipt sooner and we save the cost of printing and mailing it to you. By donating online, you are saving the Humanitarian Coalition as much as $2 per donation!
Q: How can I make sure I receive correspondence in the official language of my choice?
A: Your language of choice is automatically set by the language in which you make your donation. For example, if you make a donation from the English version of the Humanitarian Coalition website, you will receive correspondence in English. Though it does not happen often, errors can occur when we are experiencing high volumes of donations, particularly on the phone. If you receive correspondence in the wrong language, please send a request to change this to .
Q: I am moving but I want to continue to receive correspondence from the Humanitarian Coalition. How do I change my address?
A: Send an email to with your name and your old and new address information. We will confirm when we’ve updated your information in our records.
Q: Where can I find out more about claiming donations on my tax return?
A: For more detailed information, visit the CRA website at http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/chrts-gvng/dnrs/menu-eng.html.
Promoting Quality in Humanitarian Response
Just like in every other sector, quality and experience make all the difference when assisting survivors of disasters. The survivors of earthquakes, floods, hurricanes, or other disasters need and deserve the best assistance possible, provided to them as fast as possible. This is no easy task, but this work is driven by determination to help those in need and the experience to know it must be done well.
The members of the HUMANITARIAN COALITION (CARE Canada, Oxfam Canada, Oxfam-Québec, Plan Canada and Save the Children Canada) are some of the most experienced humanitarian agencies in the world, with over 200 years of combined experience. They have brought assistance to millions of people on every continent in the world and presently operate in over 120 countries. Very few organizations can rely on this level of experience working in so many cultures and communities, and responding to help disaster survivors in nearly every kind of situation imaginable.
Each member organization of the HUMANITARIAN COALITION strives to provide accountability, transparency, and collaboration to serve those in need most effectively and to improve their operations. To that end, they have provided leadership by developing and participating in internationally recognized Codes of Conduct and International Standards. These Codes of Conduct and International Standards are used as foundations for quality programming and strengthen performance while also providing accountability to donors, peers, and those they bring assistance to.
Codes and Standards
The following list includes some of the principal Codes of Conduct and International Standards that the members of the HUMANITARIAN COALITION are committed to uphold.
The Code of Conduct for the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement and Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) in Disaster Relief
This code of conduct outlines ten principle commitments that NGOs should adhere to in disaster response work, while maintaining high standards, independence, and effectiveness of impact.
Read more...
The Sphere Project: Humanitarian Charter and Minimum Standards in Disaster Response
The Sphere Project aims to improve the quality of assistance to people affected by disaster and improve the accountability of states and humanitarian agencies to their constituents, donors, and the affected populations. Sphere provides three things: a handbook , a broad process of collaboration , and an expression of commitment to quality and accountability . Read more...
Humanitarian Accountability Partnership (HAP) – Standards in Humanitarian Accountability and Quality Management
This partnership seeks to provide qualitative and quantitative standards by which humanitarian products and processes can be evaluated. The HAP Standard seeks to measure accountability and quality commitments made by aid agencies as specified in their accountability framework. It also measures the management systems used and the services provided by its members. Read more...
The People in Aid Code of Good Practice
The Code of Good Practice serves as a management framework to improve standards, accountability, and transparency in the middle of such challenges as disaster, conflict, and poverty. It provides seven guiding principles to help humanitarian aid and development agencies enhance the quality of their human resources management. Read more...
Canadian Council for International Cooperation (CCIC): Code of Ethics and Operational Standards
The Code of Ethics and Operational Standards outlines the ethical principles that CCIC and its members accept and promote. These include general, organizational, and developmental principles. The code provides a set of operational standards, which includes compliance procedures and guides practices. Read more...
| MESSAGE FROM THE HUMANITARIAN COALITION | HAITI EARTHQUAKE | ASIA-PACIFIC DISASTER |
| EAST AFRICA DROUGHT | UPDATES FROM THE COMMUNITY |
UPDATES FROM THE COMMUNITY
Haircuts for Haiti 
Mobilized to support the Haitian relief efforts, a determined group of Winnipeggers organized an event at the Winnipeg Convention Centre on Feb 7, 2010 called Haircuts for Haiti. Haircuts, styling massages, silent auctions and more raised $7,000. It was a fantastic event that raised much needed funds for the people of Haiti.
School Fundraiser for Haiti 
The Rivière-du-Loup High School and CEGEP donated $8,500 to the HUMANITARIAN COALITION. These funds were raised through the involvement of students, staff, the student café and the student co-op, who were encouraged to organize fundraising events and to contribute generously.
| MESSAGE FROM THE HUMANITARIAN COALITION | HAITI EARTHQUAKE | ASIA-PACIFIC DISASTER |
| EAST AFRICA DROUGHT | UPDATES FROM THE COMMUNITY |
EAST AFRICA DROUGHT
In the fall of 2009, almost exactly 25 years after the 1984 East Africa famine, seven countries in the region once again faced the threat of severe hunger. The annual rains failed in many parts of the region for the fifth year in a row, due at least in part to the effects of global climate change. The lack of rain brought crop failures, even to areas that are usually unaffected by drought. As Stephen Gwynne-Vaughan, Country Director for CARE in Kenya, observed, “The resiliency of these people has just been stretched beyond its limits. They can’t take any more shocks.”
Farmers and herders were particularly hard hit, losing much of the livestock herds that are their life and livelihood. In Somaliland, herders reported losing as much as 70 to 80 percent of their animals.
With more than 200 million people at risk, the HUMANITARIAN COALITION gave funds for drought-affected communities in Kenya that were suffering acute hunger, allowing them to buy lifesaving goods. In Somalia we provided shelter, water and sanitation relief as well as education campaigns to promote good hygiene and sanitation practices. In Ethiopia, we constructed and rehabilitated boreholes, ponds and traditional wells to capture and contain rain water, and brought in emergency water by truck. Sanitation and hygiene programs worked to reduce diseases such as cholera. Emergency seed supplies were also given to farming households that had lost their crops..
| MESSAGE FROM THE HUMANITARIAN COALITION | HAITI EARTHQUAKE | ASIA-PACIFIC DISASTER |
| EAST AFRICA DROUGHT | UPDATES FROM THE COMMUNITY |
ASIA-PACIFIC DISASTERS
Typhoons – Philippines, Vietnam and Laos
In late 2009, southeast Asia was battered by three powerful storms that caused major infrastructural damage and left hundreds of thousands of people displaced. On September 26, Tropical Storm Ketsana devastated the Philippines, bringing heavy rainfall that swamped the nation’s capital with more rain than it had seen in 40 years. The country was hit one week later by Typhoon Parma. Ketsana also left major damage in Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia, where hundreds of thousands were left displaced by the storm. These countries were hit a little over three weeks later by a third storm, Tropical Storm Mirinae.
Millions of people, with hundreds of thousands of people forced to take shelter in crowded evacuation centres. Stagnant debris-filled water caused many more to contract waterborne diseases. Nearly a thousand people were killed and hundreds more were injured.
Earthquakes – Indonesia
A massive 7.6 magnitude earthquake hit the Western part of the Indonesian island of Sumatra on September 30, affecting more than 200,000 people. Many of these were left without homes, schools and with their livelihoods shattered.
After the typhoons and earthquakes hit, the HUMANITARIAN COALITION came together to provide critical emergency relief to hundreds of thousands in urgent need. We focused our relief efforts in areas such as hygiene, healthcare, livelihood recovery, clean water, education and food aid.
Together we have provided thousands of people with packs of essential non-food items, such as plastic sheets, mosquito nets and water filters. We have helped families by providing them with food assistance, potable water and water storage containers.
Temporary shelters have been set up in an effort to assist those rendered homeless by the destructive storms. Expectant mothers received proper prenatal care and nutritional education. Tens of thousands of back-to-school kits containing supplies such as pencils, erasers and notebooks, were distributed.
| MESSAGE FROM THE HUMANITARIAN COALITION | HAITI EARTHQUAKE | ASIA-PACIFIC DISASTER |
| EAST AFRICA DROUGHT | UPDATES FROM THE COMMUNITY |
HAITI EARTHQUAKE
The January earthquake that shook Haiti happened as the sun was about to set that day. Thousands were trapped under rubble, while others cried in anguish at the destruction all around them. Incredibly, in the midst of their shock and suffering, amazing things were happening. Spontaneous support was being offered to neighbours and strangers alike. Rescue efforts began immediately, and staff from the four organizations that make up the HUMANITARIAN COALITION began their long and dedicated work of helping the Haitian people to heal.
In the first few months of the response, the HUMANITARIAN COALITION members worked with women to ensure they advised us about where their separate showers and toilets should be located in the large camps, now housing most of Port-au-Prince’s population. Specific health kits have been distributed to pregnant women as well as kits for newborns. Many children arrived in camps unaccompanied and have received special care. Clean water and sanitation facilities were set up and are now servicing the many cooking, cleaning and washing-up needs of the camps. In total, the members of the HUMANITARIAN COALITION have reached more than one million Haitians.
With the number of staff for the four member organizations now reaching more than 2000, plans are ramping up to increase our reach and to make sure we have enough people on staff to make our plans a reality as we help rebuild Haiti. Ongoing work will include setting up and outfitting schools that will not only help children to get back to being kids, but will also give parents more time to focus on work. More than half of the children in Haiti did not attend school before the earthquake; these new schools will be a critical way for all children to receive an education. We are working to support small-business owners to rebuild their businesses and to offer vocational training for others wanting to start a business.
As the long road of rebuilding a nation stretches in front of us, we are grateful to you, our donors, for the solidarity you showed the Haitian people in their hours of need. The members of the HUMANITARIAN COALITION are committed to working alongside Haitians to ensure that the rebuilt Haiti is one that offers opportunity and pride for all.
| MESSAGE FROM THE HUMANITARIAN COALITION | HAITI EARTHQUAKE | ASIA-PACIFIC DISASTER |
| EAST AFRICA DROUGHT | UPDATES FROM THE COMMUNITY |
Last year, the members of the HUMANITARIAN COALITION were hard at work responding to humanitarian crises around the world. Three separate typhoons swept through the Philippines, Vietnam and Laos in October 2009 and violent earthquakes rocked Indonesia in the same period. The worst drought to hit East Africa in 20 years continued through the fall and winter months. An earthquake then rocked Haiti on January 12, 2010, and the humanitarian response to this disaster has been of a scale unseen since the Asian tsunami of 2004.
Efforts to help the victims of these natural disasters have brought assistance to hundreds of thousands of people. People like 3 year old Joseph, who was buried in rubble when he was saved by his aunt and brought to a Save the Children Child Friendly Space. Both his parents died in the earthquake. It is stories like his that make our work important and remind us of why we must come together to help those faced with disaster. As Immalula, Jospeh’s aunt told us,“It is not easy but now we know each other. We have become like a big family.”
Since 2004, the HUMANITARIAN COALITION has come a long way as Canada’s first united response for international humanitarian disasters. The four members of the HUMANITARIAN COALITION (CARE Canada, Oxfam Canada, Oxfam-Québec and Save the Children Canada) have laid strong foundations for a new approach that will get more help to those who need it faster than ever before, reduce costs and improve communications with the Canadian public in times of humanitarian crises.
In the aftermath of the recent earthquake, Haitians need sustainable support and partnerships to help rebuild their livelihoods. The members of the HUMANITARIAN COALITION have been working with the people of Haiti for more than four decades and are dedicated to supporting them in the years to come.
It is thanks to your valuable support that the HUMANITARIAN COALITION has been able to bring help to survivors of disasters around the world. With this newsletter we wish to keep you informed of our progress as we work to improve Canada’s ability to help the world’s most vulnerable people in times of need. We hope for your continued interest and assistance in the months and years ahead.
With our sincere appreciation for your support,
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| Kevin McCourt President and CEO CARE Canada |
Robert Fox Executive Director Oxfam Canada |
Peter Véronneau Executive Director Oxfam Québec |
David Morley President and CEO Save The Children Canada |
The members of the HUMANITARIAN COALITION plan on working side-by-side with Haitians as the rebuilding begins. Long-term support will focus on housing reconstruction, reestablishment of water systems and school and health centre reconstruction. CARE Canada, Oxfam Canada, Oxfam-Québec and Save the Children Canada were in Haiti long before the earthquake, and will be there in the days, months and years ahead. A few examples of the kind of work your donations will make possible include:
- supporting the people who have lost their homes and those who have been displaced throughout the country, as well as supporting schools and health clinics with basic supplies so they can resume activities.
- ensuring that special attention is given to protect women and girls from gender-based violence, which sadly often increases with the social disruption cause by disasters of this magnitude
- to help rebuild livelihoods, we will create economic opportunities for the most vulnerable through targeted cash- and food-for-work programs.
- focusing on supporting communities outside of the immediate earthquake zone. Many Haitians from within the earthquake zone have fled to these communities, which will put a long-term strain on resources in those areas.
- planning for long-term rebuilding; this will involve helping to rehabilitate water and sanitation systems in poorer urban neighbourhoods.
- study appropriate ways of helping people to increase their food production in sustainable ways
- help local communities have a voice in how the UN, local government and international community go about rebuilding Haiti
The HUMANITARIAN COALITION is a network of Canadian NGOs dedicated to a united response in cases of humanitarian crises. The members of the Coalition unite because they recognise the need for strong, decisive action. At present, the Coalition has FIVE members: CARE Canada, Oxfam Canada, Oxfam-Québec, Plan Canada and Save the Children Canada. These members share the same goal to help the most vulnerable and together they are even better equipped to do so. The Humanitarian Coalition is a fundraising and coordination body that directly supports the humanitarian activities of its members. It does not operate humanitarian programs of its own.
By joining their efforts, the members of the HUMANITARIAN COALITION strive to increase transparency and accountability to both the Canadian public and to those they assist around the world. Together, they will reduce administrative costs and ensure help gets to where it is needed faster than it was possible before.
A. Commitment to Privacy
At the Humanitarian Coalition, we respect your right to privacy and we understand that donors, prospective donors, users of the Humanitarian Coalition Web site and others who have contact with our organization offline need to be in control of their personal information. "Personal information" is any information that can be used to distinguish, identify or contact an individual. The personal information that the Humanitarian Coalition collects when engaged in fundraising and processing donations includes, but is not limited to: name, address, telephone number, e-mail address and credit card information. The Humanitarian Coalition Privacy Statement describes the Humanitarian Coalition’s practices and policies for collecting, using and disclosing personal information in the course of raising and administering funds to support Humanitarian Coalition projects. It may be updated from time to time to reflect developments in our practices, new technology or in the law. Updated versions will be made available in the same way as the privacy statement, including by posting on the Web site. Please check the Web site to see the current version of the privacy statement. Questions regarding this statement should be directed to the Humanitarian Coalition by e-mailing .
B. Accountability
The Humanitarian Coalition is responsible for all personal information under its custody or control. Maxime Michel, the Humanitarian Coalition’s Office Manager, has been appointed as privacy officer for the Humanitarian Coalition. The privacy officer may delegate day-to-day responsibility for administration of the Humanitarian Coalition’s privacy policies to other employees but the privacy officer remains accountable for the Humanitarian Coalition’s handling of personal information.
C. Personal Information
You do not have to provide any personal information on our Web site unless you choose to do so.
We ask for personal information on our "Donate Online" page. We ask for the same information when you make a donation by mail or over the telephone. We use this information to process your donation and to write to you acknowledging receipt of your donation for tax purposes. In addition, your name and other information will be placed on our mailing list. Mailing lists are used for the following purposes:
- Mailings (by post or electronic) and/or phone calls to make a request for your support;
- Mailings (by post or electronic) and/or phone calls to invite supporters to special events;
- Mailings (by post or electronic) and/or phone calls to advise you of interesting ways to support the Humanitarian Coalition;
- Electronic mailings to alert you to updated information and interesting features on our Web site. You have the option to remove yourself from the electronic mailing list by following the instructions at the bottom of any e-mail from the Humanitarian Coalition.
Selected applications on our Web site allow visitors to subscribe to our e-bulletin by providing the Humanitarian Coalition with their name and address. If you provide the Humanitarian Coalition with your mailing address or telephone number, the Humanitarian Coalition, in addition to sending you the e-bulletin, may also use this information to alert you to updated information and services.
If you do not want your personal information to go on our mailing list, you ask us to remove it at any time by contacting the Humanitarian Coalition at or by mail at:
THE HUMANITARIAN COALITION
PO Box 7023
Ottawa, ON, K1L 5A0
D. Disclosure to Third Parties
We may make e-mail addresses, postal addresses and telephone numbers available to other reputable non-profit and commercial organizations to allow them to contact you with respect to donations or goods and services that we think may be of interest to you. If you do not want us to share this information, check the box labelled “I prefer that my name not be traded” on the online donation form. Alternatively, e-mail us at listing your name, postal or e-mail address and telephone number, and let us know that you do not want us to share your personal information. When we employ other organizations to carry out functions on our behalf, they are required to use personal information only for the purpose of the functions they are providing and only in compliance with privacy laws.
E. Information from Other Sources
The Humanitarian Coalition occasionally uses mailing lists received from other organizations. When we do so, we ask the organization to provide only names of individuals who have consented to the sharing of their information. If we are contacting you based on one of these lists, we will give you an opportunity to tell us whether you wish to receive further communications from the Humanitarian Coalition and we will respect your wishes.
F. Information Collected from the Web Site
1) Credit Card Security
The Humanitarian Coalition is grateful for the donations we receive that help us to continue our valuable work. It is important to us that the information you give to us when making an online donation remains secure. Your credit card information is therefore secured by a reputable security company. The information is used only for that particular transaction and is not stored.
Note: To ensure your payment information is secure we use the Paypaq(tm) Payment Solutions Gateway. The Paypaq(tm) Payment Solutions Gateway processes your credit card information securely in real time using the latest available encryption technology. This means your payment information cannot be read as it travels over the Internet to your credit issuing institution. Paypaq(tm) Payment Solutions is accredited by all financial institutions in North America. Look for the unbroken key or lock symbol on the bottom of the payment information page to ensure you are submitting your payment information on a secure form.
2) Domain Name
The Humanitarian Coalition’s Web server automatically recognizes, but does not collect or use, your domain name (IP address). The Humanitarian Coalition anonymously tracks your visit in order to compile statistical information about the use of our Web site. We do not collect individual information about you or your use of this site.
3) E-mail Addresses
Our Web site does not automatically recognize your e-mail address. We collect the e-mail addresses of those who communicate with us by e-mail and we ask for your e-mail address on our "Donate Online" page. If you communicate with us by e-mail, or give us your e-mail address, we will send you occasional e-mail updates. If you do not want to receive e-mail updates, you can follow the instructions at the bottom of any e-mail update you may receive. You may also email us at .
4) E-mails to the Humanitarian Coalition
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NOTE: the following entries are presented in the language in which they were written
To see Pictures from East Africa - click here
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Monday, January 4, 2010
Food Aid awaiting distribution - Shinile, Ethiopia [photo credit: Nicolas Moyer]
If people are hungry, give them food. That’s what first comes to mind, and sometimes it’s what needs to be done. In extreme situations, emergency nutrition needs to be provided – particularly to malnourished children – along with much needed water. But this is a temporary measure, or at least it should be. Unfortunately, drought is becoming dangerously common in Ethiopia. And that raises questions about how to deal with such chronic needs.
Building the resilience of communities before disasters hit can keep them from being pushed off the edge into life-threatening malnutrition and slipping even deeper into poverty. This approach is more respectful of the people affected and in the long run it is even much cheaper for donors. It’s time we rethink food aid.
Twenty-five years after the famous 1984 famine, people are still going hungry in East Africa. The international response to food crises is still dominated by importing food aid – mainly from the US. This helps save lives, in emergencies, but we could all be doing much more to support communities to prepare for droughts in advance, so they can withstand them on their own, without expensive food aid from the West.
Without a doubt, people need help now. According to UN estimates, 23 million people need water, food, health and sanitation services across East Africa. When people need help, we can save lives with immediate support. The members of the Humanitarian Coalition are doing just that, with programs that are providing for the basic needs of people in the worst drought-affected areas. They are helping millions of people in Ethiopia alone.
But the people receiving this help don’t want to be in this desperate situation, not today and not ever again. So we need to think ahead and work with these folks towards longer-term solutions. And make no mistake, there are solutions.
In Shinile, a district in the Somali region of Ethiopia, Oxfam is helping communities harvest rainfall and access groundwater to last them through the dry seasons. In these areas, where food and income are scarce, Oxfam is using a cash or food in exchange for work on such projects. It is an approach widely used by other agencies too. CARE and Save the Children also provide cash or food in exchange for work on local projects that are identified by communities and will help them improve their self-resilience in bad times. These types of projects may focus on irrigation, wells, water harvesting, schools, latrines and the like.
This approach shouldn’t seem radical. Everyone agrees it is better to help people before they get hungry than after they have already lost everything. But this recognition needs to be matched by changes in the way that government donors like the US, UK and Canada deliver aid. The traditional funding split between short and long term responses should be replaced by urgent responses that support long term resilience and development. It’s just common sense.
* Nicolas Moyer is Coordinator for the Humanitarian Coalition
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Thursday, December 24, 2009
Class is held in the morning in Shinile [photo credit: Nicolas Moyer]
In a little village in Shinile Woreda, in the Somali region of Eastern Ethiopia, the children attend school from 8 a.m. to 10 a.m., five days a week. Generally, they choose to set up under a tree. About 1,000 people live in the surrounding area; most within a 30 minute walk to the hand-dug well.
There are very few trees here, but the few they have are well appreciated. It’s the coolest place around when there’s a breeze and I admit that it makes for a beautiful classroom. But class doesn’t last long: the heat gets hard to bear and by mid-afternoon it’s too hard to expect any work to be done – including studying.
But when we came across Mohammed, he was working hard, slinging a shovel in the hot sun as he made improvements to his ragged little health clinic.
On the walls, Mohammed had tacked up some charts and graphs plotting out the region’s statistics. He’d plotted out the region’s demographics and catalogued his work, marking down births and deaths and the illnesses he routinely saw. He was desperate to build a latrine to help reduce the instances of water-borne disease and was counting on help from Oxfam to make it happen.
Mohammed grew up in Shinile and is now a health extension worker there. He had to go to nearby Dire Dawa to get the training he needed and was away for almost two years. But now that he is back in his village, he provides essential health services to people there. He has helped with everything from births to small cuts to nutrition education. Going to school made all the difference to him, and to the village he came back to.
School is one of thing that has really changed for people in Shinile. Having even a few hours of class a day is a great change on what was available 10 years ago. As for the rest of Ethiopia, even the Somali region has teachers and regular primary education for all children. In this way, children are connected to the rest of the country and can hope to pursue careers that were not possible for their parents.
Part of making that link to other careers is finding out about how to change local living conditions for the better.
* Nicolas Moyer is Coordinator for the Humanitarian Coalition
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Monday, December 21, 2009
“I’m not going anywhere. I prefer to die in my house”
Abdillahi Ahmed Ali, a drought-affected pastoralist in Somaliland
The town of Balli Hiile lies about an hours drive south east of Burcao in eastern Somaliland. A carpet of monotonous semi-desert landscape surrounds the village; nothing but acacia trees, termite mounds and small prickly shrubs scatter the land. The shrubs are deceptively green. When we asked our driver for the name of the only thing that looked edible, he answered with a shrug.
“My animals can’t eat it, so I don’t know its name.”
For 10 years, the inhabitants of Balli Hiile have been noticing a change in the weather.
“Eighty per cent of the village has left because the rains haven’t come,” our guide, Fardus who works with Oxfam in Somaliland, tells us. Many of them will have walked 100 km with their animals to the Ethiopian hinterlands in search of rain and something for their livestock to eat. “Those who have left will pass information down the roads from village to village, sending news if they’ve found rain and pasture” she said.
Somaliland forms the north western part of Somalia. Declaring its independence from the south in 1991, the region has been striving for international recognition of its independence ever since. Despite a fledgling democracy, its own currency and remaining relatively stable, its claim has never been recognized.
Like the rest of Somalia, Somaliland’s people are in the midst of the worst drought they have seen in a decade. Water points are drying up, animals are dying and with them, the way of life for thousands of people is dying too.
Only those not able to move and help are left behind. One of those is Abdilahi Ahmed Ali.
Abdilahi is 80 years old and has lived in Balli Hiile since 1958. “When I look at the landscape now, I think of hungriness,” he said, looking out at the parched land surrounding him. “When I was a boy, the village was full of green, we had the best quality fodder.”
The community told us that of the previous 10 years, the last four have been the worst. This year, the rains have failed completely, allowing nothing to grow and decimating the livelihoods of a village that relies solely on its livestock for survival.
“Each family will lose livestock” said Abdilahi. “Last year we lost about 40 per cent of our animals, this year we’re hoping it will be no more than 20 per cent.”
Oxfam’s partner HAVOYOCO has been working with the community in Balli Hiile to conserve soil and water by rehabilitating water points and rebuilding crumbling berkads, large holes dug into the ground in which water can be stored.
“We nearly died a while ago,” says one local stallholder in the village. “We had food, but no water to cook it with.”
When the community was at crisis point earlier this year, HAVOYOCO trucked in water to keep people alive.
Despite the devastation of his village and its way of life over the past 10 years, Abdullahi still has hope. “We are expecting rain, all we need is rain and health,” he said.
If the rains continue to fail and more animals die, many of Balli Hiile’s inhabitants will be forced to give up their way of life and flee to the towns to beg for money and food. But Abdulahi was adamant that he will not leave his home and the place he loves.
“The only thing I can do is lie down here, I’m not going anywhere. I prefer to die in my house.”
* Louis Belanger is a press officer with Oxfam International
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Wednesday, December 16, 2009
A trading truck stops in a small desert town in Shinile [photo credit: Nicolas Moyer]
Shinile’s villages often have the feel of a ghost town. Round huts layered with mud and patched with discarded grain bags feel dusty and empty. There are few animals and even fewer young men. Most have disappeared in search of water, leaving their towns to the old men and women and the young mothers and their children.
On the second day of a two-day trip into the northeastern corner of Ethiopia we crossed into a mountainous region, the landscape turning rocky where it had once been bleak and flat. Children played on soccer pitches outlined with rocks. The dirt track carved into the hills wound its way to Djibouti, so the villages en route were better off than their neighbours. Catering to the truck drivers and other travels can bring a much needed income.
Most families here survive thanks to their livestock. The animals provide much needed milk and meat, which can be consumed by the family or sold to raise funds for life’s few extras. The more arid regions of East Africa have never been easy places to live. Plants and water are scarce, but a quick snapshot does not provide an accurate picture of life for people here.
It wasn’t always so dry, people tell us. The rains normally come and go in fairly predictable patterns. In some places, the rains have always come so reliably that people can plant their crops confident that the rains will come, even when there isn’t a cloud in the sky.
The last five years have been different. Rains across the region have come late, ended early, come at the wrong time or not come at all. It has played havoc with planting seasons and ruined countless essential crops. This is what climate change looks like in East Africa.
It’s having a direct and often deadly impact. This year’s drought is not a one-off event, but the accumulation of many years of poor rains. With year after year of poor rains, the devastation builds, leaving people here more vulnerable than ever. These villages feel empty because they are: men have taken their animals in search of water, leaving the women to fend for themselves, feed their children and protect their homes and whatever water remains.
In the most desperate of times, men watch their animals die as they search for water. Selling their livestock doesn’t solve their problems. Money disappears quickly and families are left with no animals for meat or milk. There’s nothing to help them start over. In a bad year, families can find themselves selling off everything they have. Recurring droughts, even if they are not severe, can systematically push a family from a surplus farm production to the brink of despair.
In Shinile, in the hottest part of the day, the men who remain sit under the shade of a desert tree with their cheeks puffed out as they crunch on wads khat. Khat comes from the leaves of a flowering shrub found throughout East Africa and is classified as a narcotic in the U.S., but here it is seen as a stimulant no stronger than caffeine.
The juicy leaves animate the chewer, prompting energetic conversation. Khat also fights the feeling of hunger – an important element in a place suffering from five years without rain.
* Nicolas Moyer is Coordinator for the Humanitarian Coalition
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Monday, December 14, 2009
Mother of eight Momina Hashu surveyed her field of maize with despair. ”We hardly have anything to eat – just leftovers”, she said, pointing to a couple of stunted cobs of maize that she’s managed to salvage from the wilting, yellowed plants on her land.
“We’ve sold all our cattle. This is the worst year we’ve faced in recent years. As long as my children aren’t eating properly, I’m very worried for them.”
It’s the third year of failed rains in this dry region of Ethiopia and people are suffering. Many have already sold off livestock and other assets to get by. Thousands are receiving support under a government food safety net program, but many more don’t receive any help and are now struggling to feed their families.
I met Momina in her field of withered maize on the way to visit an Oxfam project in Arsi Negelle district, Oromia region, about 250 kilometres south of the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa. It is one of the most fertile parts of the country. But most farmers rely on rain-fed agriculture and Ethiopia, like much of East Africa, is currently facing drought and serious food shortages. The government says inadequate rains mean 6.2 million people need aid this year and has appealed to the international community to help.
Oxfam is working in several villages in Arsi Negelle district with a local partner, the Rift Valley Women’s Development Association (RCWDA). Projects target smallholder farmers, providing them with skills and training, helping them access fertilisers and seeds so they can diversify their crops and earn higher prices for their produce.
Villagers have been paid for their labour in cash-for-work programs to rehabilitate and clean old irrigation channels that had fallen into disrepair and disuse and building access roads so that goods can get to the markets more quickly.Farmers have been organised into local co-operatives, allowing them to pool resources and have a stronger bargaining power for their goods; and women’s self-help groups have been set up, giving members access to small loans and training.
In Keraru village, Hussein Mohammed, a farmer and 45-year-old father of 12, says that his life has dramatically changed since the project began two years ago.
He’s harvesting a healthy crop of tomatoes from plot of land less than a hectare in size, which is well-irrigated from a nearby river. “I now have 14,000 birr [about $2,000] in the bank and I’ve bought four oxen”, he said proudly. “Also, I’m sending all my children to school now.
“We’re surviving the drought because of this production”, he said, explaining that another plot of non-irrigated land, where he’d planted maize, had failed completely.
Encouraging farmers like Hussein to grow alternative high-value crops like tomatoes, onions and potatoes, which can be harvested several times a year, rather than the traditional staples of wheat, maize and teff [an Ethiopian cereal], which can only be harvested once a year, has meant a big increase in their income.
Life has also improved for many women, such as 30-year-old mother of seven, Arabe Geleto, who has joined a women’s self-help group. The women in the group are not only earning more money now, their self-confidence has grown. Arabe has opened a small shop with a loan, she grows vegetables on a small plot of irrigated land and regularly travels to Arsi Negelle town, where she processes grain grown in the village to be sold in a shop set up by co-operative members. “Before, I sat at home and took what we harvested to the local market. Now I’m travelling around, taking food from the village to town and back. Things have improved four-fold, I’d say. My confidence has grown, we’ve gained better information and education because now I’m involved in many things,” she said.
Oxfam-funded projects are clearly making a difference. They’re giving communities greater resilienceand a sense of pride. But millions need help. Emergency food aid may be an immediate solution to tide people over in the short term. But with climate scientists predicting that drought will soon become the norm in Ethiopia, much more needs to be done to help communities better protect themselves so that future shocks, like drought, don’t develop into disasters.
** Caroline Gluck is a communications specialist with Oxfam Great Britain.
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Wednesday, Decembre 9, 2009
Cows in Shinile [photo credit: Nicolas Moyer]
The women, wrapped head to toe and seated far behind the men, listened quietly as their husbands, brothers and fathers spoke with visitors from Oxfam. We were in Ethiopia, but the men were ethnically Somali, living in the northeastern corner of country.
They are mostly herders, otherwise known as pastoralists, who constantly move their goats, cattle or camels. The land they live off is hostile and it seemed the landscape had woven its way into their way of life: their welcome was genuine, but the complaints were numerous and the demands aggressive.
Their sisters, wives and mothers, however, had genuine worries. They were spending 12 hours walking in search of water.
That morning I’d boarded a flight from Addis, the capital, and flown northeast for an hour. At Dire Dawa we’d driven into the shimmering horizon, the heat waves making the sandy soil dance and shake. It was dusty, but there were flashes of green – a false sense of fertility since the foliage belongs to desert trees that produce no fruit and offer no nutrition. Their thorns, as long as fingers, can puncture tires.
We crossed dried riverbeds gouged into the landscape by the strength of flash floods. Rain, when it comes, falls suddenly, dramatically and violently, no match for land made weak by the lack of moisture. In a matter of minutes, churning mud turns to dangerous waterways, pulling in people, cars and trees. Once the clouds clear – as quickly as they came – the relentless sun bakes the mud rock hard.
It had been too long since the rains had fallen.
In Shinile it is so dry that even in good years there are no more than 15 days of rain. People here have learned to adapt, with little to eat or drink, to the very hard work it takes to survive here. But hardship doesn’t faze the people who live here. They are a proud people, and this is their home.
That afternoon we visited seven villages, each a collection of globe-like huts fashioned from mud, cardboard and flattened bits of tin. As our vehicle pulled into the village, women, men and children would materialize, surrounding Philippa, the Oxfam Project Manager for the area, who was stopping in to monitor water projects.
Tea was poured and we were invited to sit with the men before venturing back into the sun to see what had happened since Philippa’s last visit. There are dozens of villages like this to visit; money is limited, time is tight and sometimes more than a month passes before Philippa can come to check on the progress of the building of latrines, the construction of water storage tanks, water points and troughs.
While the men might have their litany of demands, what they don’t want is to leave their lands. They’ll almost always say they would rather stay right where they are. This is home, and has been for generations immemorial. If their ancestors could live here so can they, and they wouldn’t have it any other way.
Most years, the people of Shinile can get by alright, with enough food for everyone and water enough to keep people and livestock healthy. It’s a matter of degrees. The Ethiopian government has helped train some health extension workers in Shinile and with some basic hygiene and sanitation efforts, the rates of disease have decreased. It is a step in the right direction.
But some years are worse than others. When the rains are too far between, it rocks the delicate balance that allows families here to survive. It is a fine line between a reliable livelihood and vulnerability to poverty and hunger. Recent changes in the local climate have only made this balance more fragile.
In the last five years, rains have been fewer and farther between. They are less predictable too. When I lived in Ethiopia from 2005-2007, locals were able to predict, virtually to the week, when the rains would fall. That isn’t true anymore. Not being able to plan only makes the people of Shinile even more vulnerable.
Especially the women, walking 12 hours in search of water.
* Nicolas Moyer is Coordinator for the Humanitarian Coalition
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Monday, December 7, 2009
Muhammed interrupted me by pounding the ground, laughing out loud and exchanging a few words with Seleban Yussuf , the village’s elder sitting next to him.
“Unbelievable. Can you believe this guy came all the way from America to see Somaliland?,” he said in Somali. “All the way just to talk to us. Sorry Mr. Louis, carry on.”
.jpg "Seleban")
Seleban Yussuf
Indeed, Muhammed Yassin Abdel Llahi was right. There aren’t too many people that make the journey to Somaliland these days. The place is sort of the forgotten corner of what used to be a united Somalia. It has a President, a lower house, an upper house, its own money, and more importantly has been relatively stable for over 15 years. If you imagine Somalia as the number seven, Somaliland is at the top left corner, bordering tiny Djibouti and Ethiopia. It’s one of the most underdeveloped regions I have ever seen.
Father of seven, Muhammed is the head of over 450 households, based in Ununley, in the heart of Somaliland. He tells me of “changing weather”, of his seven children being away and of the drought that has hit the region and its people. All of the households are pastoralists, caring for animals and living a nomadic life.
The communities we met in Ununley told us that they’ve seen the climate changing in the last decade but “more drastically in the last four years”. In Eastern Africa this means a lack of rain which affects every aspect of life for pastoralist communities. Little rain means no green pastures from which animals can feed themselves. The lack of water and irregular rains have become a critical problem for tens of thousands of herdsmen in the region
As a result, many animals become weak, sick and simply start dying one by one. The Ununley community lost 40% of its livestock last year as animals in search of green areas crumbled under the heat, including the stronger ones like camels and cows.
“This is new for us. We have never seen so many animals dying so quickly. There is even a new phenomenon when a cow or even a camel just collapses and dies right there. They would usually fight for a day or two. I think it’s an illness they have,” Muhammed tells me.
Faced with recurring poor rainy seasons, loss of livestock, loss of lives even, community leaders are wondering what to do next. They are even considering leaving the arid rural areas for the towns in search of a different life. But they are not there yet.
“The thought of splitting our community to go to cities is hard to imagine. What will we do? Beg? For now, we can only pray for rain. With a few days of rain, everything can be good again,” the 45 year old leader told me, nervously biting his nails.
Oxfam’s partner in the region, Candlelight, recently responded to community requests to coordinate water projects. With the communities, it builds water dams, truck water into villages and improve water basins, called Burkads. In some instances, this has literally saved lives.
“Without water, people and livestock will die, but Oxfam has saved this from happening,” explained Safia Hussein Ibrahim, a local villager. “Now we have cash, we can buy food for the children and fodder for the animals. We only ask those who have something to train those who are strong, educate people, give them healthcare. We are expecting God to change our situation in a good way.”
With a few weeks left of what should be the rainy season, the people of Ununley are still hopeful. Despite having lost so much and seen their way of life threatened in the last decade, one thing that has not gone away is their resilience. A few rain showers before the end of the year.
That’s all they pray for. Inshallah.
* Louis Belanger works in communications with Oxfam International
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Monday, November 23, 2009
Rain fell in Ethiopia – a hopeful sign in a time of terrible need. Though no one is sure how long these rains will last, everyone is hoping and praying that it will rain just enough to soak the soil and not so much that it overwhelms the parched land. If the rains continue to be sparse – as they have for the past five years – it will be disastrous.
Deke Abdi Ahmed, a village elder in Harshin, Ethiopia, is anxious to explain why he doesn’t expect the rains to make a big difference anyway.
“This is our third year of drought and the sheep and goats have rooted out all the grass… there is no seed,” he said. “So even if the rain comes we don’t expect a lot of grass. Any seed there is has been buried deep because of all the dust but mainly the animals have pulled out most of the roots. Before when it’s been bad we’ve relied on floods bringing seeds down from more fertile areas, but this year the drought has prevailed everywhere.”
This lack of pasture is Deke’s fear now. He adds that the goats have had such a struggle they’re also losing their teeth.
This makes Oxfam’s work with groups training Community Animal Health Workers, (pronounced, conveniently, as COWS) all the more important.
Abdi Awoinar, for example, is a very busy man. He’s handling a herd of sheep and goats. During a drought, diseases and other problems can cause a lot of problems and confusion. He takes his time to diagnose animal illnesses – though internal and external parasites seem to be the major problems as well as treating animal STDs, which are apparently very common.
I feel a degree of sympathy for a goat as he squeals during some sensitive treatment before being sprayed with something blue and then freed. A sheep is treated to a quick pedicure before the herd is released. Weakened by lack of pasture and drought, it is particularly important that the general health of the livestock is maintained as much as possible.
But it’s not all bad news. I meet a group of very positive and strong women… all talking at once, so it’s pretty tricky trying to keep track of who’s saying what. They’re members of livestock marketing cooperatives and they’re quick to highlight they’re in a much better position than their sisters in other areas that Oxfam is not working in.
All have other businesses that are benefiting from this program and speak with a lot of pride when they talk about contributing to the building of a secondary school, which also means increased educational opportunities for their daughters.
*Jane Beesley is a communications specialist for Oxfam
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Monday, November 9, 2009
The light is eerie. Dust hangs in the atmosphere hiding the sun, leaving a strange orange glow. This is one of the driest areas in the Somali region of Ethiopia. It’s also one of the main routes to Djibouti. We’re following endless trucks that throw up clouds of dust making it virtually impossible to pass. What can it be like living next to this road?
There’s a women standing at the top of a hole in the ground; bright yellow jerry cans and donkeys surround her. There are nine other women down the hole, she tells us, forming a human chain to bring water up from the bottom of a cave. They don’t need ropes because “God has provided a ladder” – a series of “ steps” in the rocky walls. It can take nearly all day, every day, to collect water and they’ve been relying on this water source for eight months this year.
Our driver goes down the hole. Back on terra firma he tells us it was like being in a grave. They don’t tell him until he’s up that there’s a snake down there with them. When they’ve finished another team of 10 women take their place.
I can’t imagine what it must be like to have to do this. I wonder if they can imagine that back home I can easily get plenty of clean water, any time, any day… always just a few steps away. Is it unimaginable? Like going to the doctors, going to school and all those other things we take for granted.
Behind them is a concrete wall. Oxfam and its partners have recently constructed a rock dam. If the rainy season is good then the dam should fill, making life a little easier for some of the year for these women.
The day is spent visiting various sites where Oxfam is working, or planning to work. The difference in people’s lives is obvious. At some places there is lack of water and pasture. Others have water but it’s open to the elements and often rubbish and animal droppings fall in, or, like the cave, it’s difficult to reach.
Where there is a borehole, and protected water points, life is comparatively healthier and easier. Sometimes, in this work, it’s easy to get a little cynical and disheartened. Are we really making a difference? But today it’s been pretty obvious that constructing boreholes, protecting wells, working with communities on water management (and the many other activities) definitely makes a difference.
Leaving a village where Oxfam has installed, amongst other things, a solar energy unit to pump water, I suddenly see a cheetah running alongside my side of the vehicle. He runs for a short while before turning in front of our vehicle and bounding off into the bush. He’s in peak condition - a rare, chance sighting of a thing of beauty. Everyone in the car is excited and somehow uplifted.
In the far distance we can see a black rain cloud… hopefully not another rare, chance sighting… and hopefully coming this way.
*Jane Beesley is a communications specialist for Oxfam
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Monday, November 2, 2009
As we drove through eastern Ethiopia, my eyes were drawn to the dramatic valleys and stony mountains. One of my colleagues had just arrived and her camera was snapping away happily from the backseat.
But in the foreground of her photos, right alongside the road, there was an image that would worry any farmer. The crops are tall, but many of the plants are drying up before they have produced the maize that is the staple food here.
This is the sign of very difficult months ahead for millions of Ethiopians.
We were travelling between the towns of Jijiga and Dire Dawa, but similar scenes are to be seen all over the country at the moment. For many Ethiopian farmers and herders, this is far from the first time they have faced drought.
I remember a woman I met when visiting an Oxfam project way up in the north, in Tigray. Heymanot is a farmer who has had to look after her family and fields on her own since her husband died.
“The past three years the rain has come late and stopped early. People’s problems accumulate, they pile up year after year,” she said.
When this happens, the stock response of the international community is to ship in emergency food aid. This saves the lives of people facing hunger now, but it does almost nothing to reduce the need for food aid next year.
It smacks of being taken by surprise, but there is nothing surprising about drought in Ethiopia. It happens regularly, and with the climate changing, it is likely to happen even more in future. Abnormal events such as droughts are gradually becoming the norm here.
That is why we need a new approach to disasters, an approach laid out in Oxfam’s new report - “Band Aids and Beyond.”. Ethiopians do not want to have to wait for food after a drought hits; they want help preparing for it in advance, to make sure that a dry season does not mean a disaster.
Take Heymanot’s village, Adiha. A few years ago, her community only had enough food to last for nine months a year. Oxfam intervened with our partner, a local organization called REST. In exchange for food, the community worked to build a dam that now provides irrigation to the whole village.
Before, they did not have enough to feed themselves. Now, the villagers have enough - and enough extra to sell and pay for their children’s education and health care.
The farmers who work hard to grow crops, only to see them wilt under the scorching sun, do not want handouts. They want a hand up.
Let us make their vision our own and put an end to the cycle of disastrous droughts.
* Nick Martlew is an Oxfam policy expert based in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
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Monday, October 26, 2009
This is an excerpt from “Band Aids & Beyond,” an Oxfam report looking at breaking the cycle of hunger in Ethiopia. The report’s author, Nicholas Martlew, argues that while a lot has been improved since the devastating 1984-1985 Ethiopian famine, well-meaning donors entrench dependence on food aid by putting money into emergency—rather than development—responses and by sourcing food aid in their own countries, rather than supporting local markets and economies. The report begins with a message from Birhan Woldu, a survivor of the 1984–1985 famine and Director of Ethiopian Youth Educational Support (EYES), implementing partner of African Children’s Educational Trust.
Birhan Woldu
In 2005 I came to realize that I had become the face of the Ethiopian famine, although as a young child in 1984–1985 I knew or understood little about this disaster. I was featured in a Canadian TV documentary as the “face of hope for Africa,” someone who had survived the famine. TV interviewer Brian Stewart became a friend of my family. Twenty years later, in 2005, I was on stage with Madonna and Bob Geldof for the Live8 concert in London. I have now graduated with a diploma in agriculture and a degree in nursing.
All of this has been possible because, 25 years ago, my life was saved by Irish nursing sisters who gave me an injection, and food aid from organizations like Band Aid. So it may seem strange for me to say now that to get food aid from overseas is not the best way.
As well as being demeaning to our dignity, my education has taught me that constantly shipping food from places like the United States is costly, uneconomic and can encourage dependency.
We are a big country and often when there is famine in one part of the country there is plenty in another. We need better infrastructure and communications to move food around to where it is needed. Above all we need education. We Ethiopians are an intelligent, tough, and hard-working people with a culture going back thousands of years, and all of us want education. For example, my father is a farmer but he is not educated. With my diploma I have been able to show him better ways to farm more efficiently and get better yields.
But until these longer-term programs take effect we cannot simply rely on imported food aid. We know our vulnerabilities. We are a proud people. Let us grow our own food and help manage our own systems so we are not hit so hard when the next drought or flood comes. We need to approach disasters in a different way, that is more dignified and more sustainable than imported food aid. We can do this by building on communities’ own approaches.
I finish with a quote from Bob Geldof from when I was on his 2005 Live8 show in Hyde Park, London: “Band Aid was supposed to be just that – a ‘band-aid.’ And it is a disgrace 20 years later we should be here today, with half the youngsters in Africa still going to bed hungry.”
What happened in 1984–1985 was bad, and while we should not dwell on the past, we should learn from our mistakes to ensure a better future and a country free from famine, starvation and poverty.
To read the full report, please visit www.oxfam.ca/
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Monday, October 19, 2009
“At this time of year, all this land should be grazing fields and pasture, and full of thousands of animals,” says Dida Najelino as he waves his hand toward the carpet of rocky,barren desert, stretching as far as the horizon. “But now look at it. There hasn’t been a drop of rain here, and there’s nothing for livestock to eat.”
Drought-ravaged landscape [Photo credit: Alun McDonald]
The land is dry and hard, as we drive along a road lined by bare acacia trees, the leaves long fallen. Even camels - the hardiest of animals - are rarely seen. We drive past a water pan, a vast emergency reservoir for when times get desperate. It is completely dry.
I’m visiting Turkana with Dida and David Napereng, two local Oxfam staff, to see some of the areas affected by East Africa’s worst food crisis in a decade. Turkana, one of Kenya’s largest and driest districts, has suffered increasingly frequent droughts, and people here are feeling the impact of a third successive year of poor rains.
Turkana is a cruel place – brutally hot and dry, dotted in better times with plants that sprout razor-sharp petals. Lake Turkana the largest desert lake in the world at more than 50km wide, but David tells me that its water levels are receding.
“Ten years ago this was the edge of the lake,” he says, as we drive over dry sand a few hundred metres from the current shoreline. “Every year the lake gets a bit smaller.” Local communities say the droughts and changing climate mean tributary rivers are now bringing less water to the lake.
Fishermen on the shore of Lake Turkana [Photo credit: Alun McDonald]
At the shore we find Paul Erot, a local fisherman unloading his morning’s catch. The lake’s tilapia and Nile perch are considered delicacies and exported across Kenya, bringing valuable income to Turkana’s lakeside villages. But Paul tells us the drought is having a devastating impact on small-scale fishermen like him: “There are now much fewer fish than before. When it rains, freshwater streams enter the lake and you can catch lots of fish close to the shore. But when the rains fail, the streams dry up and the lake gets very salty, especially near the edges. The fish prefer the freshwater, so they all stay far away in the centre of the lake. To catch them requires big boats, but with no fish to sell these ones are all we can afford.”
He gestures towards some flimsy looking, small wooden boats. With the fierce winds at the lake’s centre, there is little chance these would survive further out in the lake’s choppy waters. “My family depends on me catching enough fish to eat and sell. If this drought continues I don’t know what we will do,” Paul said.
* Alun McDonald is the head of communications in Oxfam’s Nairobi office
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Tuesday, October 13, 2009
Halima has seven children. She lives in Fincharo Village in northeast Kenya. Her three-year-old son Albashir was admitted to Save the Children’s Outpatient Therapeutic Programme for severely malnourished children. When he was admitted, he was close to death. Halima is a member of a pastoralist community, but the ongoing drought in this part of the country has killed several of her livestock and severely decreased the milk output of the rest – making it difficult for her to feed her children.
She shared her story with us.
“My name is Halima and I have seven children. I live in Fincharo village in northeast Kenya. We’re facing many difficulties. There’s a lack of food in our family because the drought has lasted for so long it is affecting our livestock. Before, I had six cows and eight goats. But now there’s no more vegetation for them to graze on, and two cows and two goats died. Of the surviving four cows, only one is producing milk, and it’s very little. We used to depend on our cows and goats for milk and meat, but we can’t any longer.
“When we get water, we have to use half of it just to water our livestock to keep them alive, the rest is used for cooking and there’s a little left over for the children to drink. We have a lot of problems with water. There’s a borehole in our village, but it produces very little water. Every four days, we have to queue for water rations that only last us two days. So we end up going several days each week without any water.
“We also have very little food to eat. We have no food in the morning, and the rest of the day we eat grains that we get through relief. My son Albashir, who’s three, became very sick because he didn’t have enough food to eat. He became very skinny and nearly died.”
Halima was interviewed in the small Ministry of Health outpost where we run our weekly outpatient program. Her son Albashir, three, was eating a packet of special peanut paste as part of his treatment. He seemed healthy with a strong appetite. But we were told by Lois, the Save the Children nurse in charge of the program, that Albashir’s condition was extreme when she first saw him. “He was just skin and bones,” she says. “His condition was so bad that we even noticed him from afar the very first time we came to work in this village. He was severely malnourished.”
* Elysia Nisan, Save the Children Canada
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Monday, October 12, 2009
For many women living in the drought-ravaged regions of the Horn & East Africa, the daily challenge is getting enough food for their children
The younger children go to school where they are given meals, the older children go to relatives, friends, neighbours and others to fetch water, find firewood or cook. There is no payment for the work, there is no food to take home, but they can share the family meal.
Agnes Nasur [Photo credit: Jane Beesley]
When there is little food at home, “I cope by reducing the size of meals, and skip some meals,” said Agnes Nasur. “I use little, little, so it might last until the time when there’s the next food distribution…but it compromises the children’s health.”
On this Canadian holiday, one so intricately linked with feasts to celebrate good fortune, many East African families have been forced to teach their children to cope with hunger.
In Milima Tatu, Apua Lokarulo says: “For those about five years old, who can understand, we just tell them, ‘There’s nothing today to eat.’ And they understand.” And the younger children? “The younger ones just cry” replies Ikimat Ekiru.
In the evening, I reflect on the day with my colleague, Gabriel Ekuwam. It’s his thoughts on people’s fear and loss of hope that brings it home. As an outsider I can make many assumptions but Gabriel is a Turkanan from northern Kenya and it’s his insight that makes it clear what the difference is between this drought and the four that preceded it. People are really scared this time, scared of what dwindling donations will mean.
“I appreciate the food distribution but I’m now afraid. If the aid is cut…I’m afraid of what will happen to us. I fear for our lives. Even now the little I get I’m sharing with others…so the amount we are living on is very little…but now it is all we have.”
* Jane Beesley is a communications specialist for Oxfam
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Tuesday, October 6, 2009
The food crisis in Kenya is real, severe and deteriorating. Approximately 10 million people do not have enough to eat. In Mandera, where Save the Children operates a program for treating malnourished children, one in every three children is acutely malnourished. This situation is only set to get worse.
And it’s happening already. Water sources, especially pans, have completely dried up in all the five districts of Kenya. The majority of livestock have migrated to Somalia and Ethiopia in search of water and pasture. Sheep and milking herds, which were left behind have succumbed to the drought and carcasses are strewn over most parts of Mandera, Wajir and Garissa. Severe water scarcity has been reported in five districts and distances to water sources range from 30 to more than 100km.
Up to 30% of Kenyan children under the age of five are physically and mentally stunted and are unlikely to reach their full potential owing to vitamin and mineral deficiencies. These grim statistics are contained in new a report by Unicef, which places Kenya among countries experiencing high child mortality, with malnutrition contributing up to 50% of deaths of children under five.
With the situation worsening, our obligation to act continues to grow. Work cannot slow down for the sake of those who live by nature’s course.
*Elysia Nisan is Communications Coordinator at Save the Children Canada
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Monday, October 5, 2009
The old woman, her face collapsed with wrinkles, invited me into the courtyard of her family compound, where a white cow sat listless under a tree. We were outside Dadaab, a refugee camp in northeastern Kenya where more than 280,000 Somalis have sought refuge from their country’s violence.
The woman, a Kenyan living near the camp, was cooking over an open flame, a big metal pot that would feed her family of 10, plus some passing migrants moving in search of water, plus her collection of cattle.
She’d once had 70 cows, but was down to three skinny cows and five calves. She was feeding them from her family’s stores in an effort to keep them alive until the long rains came. That was in 2006. If the animals lived, they’d be used as breeding stock to rebuild the herd. Since then, Kenya’s long rains have refused to fall. For five long years, the rains have refused to come. Drought has destroyed the livelihoods of pastoralists like the old woman, who had virtually no reaction to her own photo, but was positively tickled by the image of her skinny cow.
I was being led around by a man named Mohammed, who worked with a CARE Canada project near Dadaab. Imagine, he said. What will your people in the West think when they hear that Africans are sharing their pots with their animals.
I imagined they would begin to understand that, for many people, cattle are not merely a source of meat. For this woman, they were a source of milk, of money, of status and prestige. I imagined people in the West would see themselves in this woman’s actions. In times of hunger they too would share with a cherished pet or beloved animal.
I imagine that in times of hunger, they too would share with the hungry.
* Karen Palmer is with Oxfam Canada
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Wednesday, September 30, 2009
They pray for rain. Looking at the dire situation people in the region are facing, it’s easy to understand why. Of the 6.2 million people still in need of food aid, approximately 50% are children. June to September has traditionally been known to bring Kirempt rains, representing the area’s wet season. This year the rains have been late to come and harvest indicators paint a bleak picture of what this may mean to farmers and people who are already struggling to survive.
The late arrival of rain means that production prospects for the current meher harvest are seriously threatened. The meher harvest takes place between April and September and represents 50% of crop production annually in Ethiopia. A loss of crops during this cycle would mean a loss of income and food. Not only will there be less food, but food prices will continue to rise making what is available unaffordable. A lack of food production and fear of the ongoing drought has already caused cereal prices to rise since June of this year. At the same time, livestock prices have declines because animals are in poor condition due to a lack of water.
Where things go from here remain as uncertain as ever, especially with the World Food Programme’s closure of 12 of its feeding centres in the region. Efforts continue despite this, simply because they must.
*David Morley, President and CEO of Save the Children Canada
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Monday, September 28, 2009
Gala came over the horizon like a vision in fushia.
She wore a startling pink dress and headscarf and was trailed by six camels, the lead one framed with a halo of yellow jerrycans tied around its middle. Gala had risen at 4 a.m. and set out in search of water. Nine hours later, as the mercury reached 40 C, she arrived at the watering station outside Dadaab, in the furthest northeastern reaches of Kenya.
At least a hundred groaning camels with their ribs and hip bones pressing against their skin were already waiting at the watering trough for a drink. Their “bells,” hollowed out seed pods with sticks as clangers, gave a wooden knocking sound as they dipped their long necks to drink. Normally they can take on 100 litres in one go, enough to last 30 days. Weakened by the drought, however, they could only drink enough to last them five days.
Since her people don’t ride their camels, Gala had walked the 40 km alongside her animals. She intended to collect enough water for 80 people, then walk the 40 km back to her village.
In seven days time, she would set out on the 80-km roundtrip journey again.
“Where is water? Where will we find it otherwise?” she asked as she struggled to control the lead camel.
Six countries in the Horn and East Africa are in crisis, facing severe food shortages and crippling drought. For five years, the rains have stubbornly refused to fall in parts of Ethiopia, Somalia, Eritrea, Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania, leaving an estimated 20 million people in desperate need.
I met Gala while visiting that watering hole near Dadaab three years ago. Back then it was being called the worst drought since the 1970s. Since then, the walk to find water has grown even longer. Herds have been decimated and without a healthy rainy season, pastoralists like Gala have been unable to replenish their livestock.
It’s a deepening downward spiral that must be stopped.
* Karen Palmer, Oxfam Canada
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Thursday, September 24, 2009
Drought/hunger in East Africa
In the past, there have been many large appeals to reach many hungry people. The focus of these appeals was always on the number of people in need rather than how many more people weren’t going hungry because traditional coping mechanisms were meeting their needs. The numbers of people going hungry during bad times was high, but these numbers could have been much worse.
Now, we seem to be seeing acceleration in the failure of traditional coping mechanisms. There are a number of factors contributing to this.However, climate change is often one of the most important. Due to climate change, the frequency and intensity of drought and other hazards in East Africa are much greater than in the past, and we seem to be seeing a dramatic increase in the failure of traditional coping mechanisms: they are simply coming under too much, sustained stress. As these mechanisms fail, we are likely to see an exponential rise in the number of people requiring external assistance.
People in some of the world’s most vulnerable communities are telling us that traditional self-help strategies are breaking down – people can’t help their neighbours anymore. From a human angle, this is says a lot. Many of these communities are very, very close, and neighbors rely on each other. As soon as you see neighbours unable to help each other, you start to feel the breadth of the hunger. The lack of resources to share is striking a lot of people right now.
You’re going to see this scenario playing itself out more and more frequently, over more and more territory. We used to have bad droughts every 15 years, but now we’re getting it every two-three years. In some areas, they have a drought every year. One official stated that now, in no year do we get a really good year. And people used to count on that really good year to build back their assets that they lost during the bad years. But now, every year is a bad year.
The consequences of climate change are unambiguous. In East Africa, we are seeing widespread reductions in food production by smallholder farmers and pastoralists. This has been predicted, and the predictions are for reductions to reach 50% below 1990 levels by 2020. We may reach this number before or after 2020, but the trajectory is clear.
It’s particularly disturbing that, 25 years after the Ethiopia famine of 1984, people are once again in need. We have to ask, “Why are we dealing with the same problem?” For years, CARE has been making the case that the international community has to invest more in disaster risk reduction. Instead, money is only provided when we encounter another crisis – and, even then, it often arrives only after local livelihoods have been destroyed.
This way of operating has always been wrong. We have never had enough money to responsibly meet emergency needs. However, the gap between what’s needed and what’s provided is getting wider and wider as climate change results in more frequent and intense crises (droughts, etc.). Climate change demands a change in the business as usual of emergency “response” rather than prevention. We have to use resources more wisely than this.
It’s like trying to fill a leaky bucket with water: in the past, there were just a few holes in the bucket, so we could add water and – at least in the short term – think we were making progress filling it. But with climate change, it’s as if there’s a proliferation of holes. It’s less and less possible to fill that bucket! Now, more than ever, we have to get serious about plugging the holes.
There’s a lot of talk about the coming El Niño, but you can’t generalize what impact it will have. El Niño could make things worse in some places, and better in others. It will be difficult to assess until after the fact.
* Charles Ehrhart is Climate Change Coordinator for CARE
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Wednesday, September 23, 2009
Des enfants en péril au Kenya
IRIN(Integrated Regional Information Networks) est un projet du bureau pour la coordination des Affaires humanitaires des Nations unies. Ils publient aujourd’hui un article sur la situation de sécheresse au Kenya.
M. Lemanyan, un éleveur, témoigne de la situation et raconte son quotidien depuis que l’eau manque. L’article met également en avant le travail fait sur le terrain par les équipes d’Aide à l’enfance et d’Oxfam, pour venir en aide aux enfants, procurer de la nourriture et sensibiliser la communauté internationale aux effets réels, concrets et déjà en cours des changements climatiques.
L’article est disponible au http://www.irinnews.org/fr/ReportFrench.aspx?ReportId=86276.
Une autre lecture intéressante ajoute une voix et un témoignage en direct et au cœur de la crise: Mark Bowdens, coordonateur humanitaire des Nations unies en Somalie, donne une entrevue à Reuters Alertnet.
« Il faut se préparer à définir la situation comme étant une catastrophe naturelle d’envergure en Somalie, après une cinquième saison consécutive sans pluie, » déclare monsieur Bowdens. Ce coordonateur des Nations unies nous explique comment son travail, qui était basé sur l’assistance humanitaire face aux conséquences d’un conflit qui sévit dans la région, se redéfinit désormais pour prévoir l’impact d’une sécheresse sans précédant.
Monsieur Bowdens déclare que 3,6 millions de Somaliens – plus qu’un tiers de la population – dépendent déjà de l’aide alimentaire et que la sécheresse qui s’aggrave risque d’entraîner une forte augmentation de ce nombre. « Nous allons constater un impact majeur sur les moyens de subsistance des communautés pastorales en Somalie et le niveau de l’aide internationale pour y faire face nous inquiète, d’autant plus que les pays voisins sont dans une situation similaire. »
Dans son témoignage, il souligne aussi la vulnérabilité d’une population déjà très affaiblie par des déplacements forcés – conséquences des conflits – qui est frappée de plein fouet par les conséquences de la sécheresse.
Pour lire l’intégralité de l’entretien : http://www.alertnet.org/db/an_art/58388/2009/08/22-142104-1.htm (en anglais).
* Contribution de Michel Verret, directeur développement et relations publiques, Oxfam-Québec
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Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Kenneth* was interviewed in a small village of dome-like structures (built of sticks, thatch, and scraps of cardboard) that people in this region traditionally build as homes. When Kenneth walked up to us he looked extremely tired. His eyes showed signs of anemia, his face was slack, and he had bags under his eyes. When we asked him why he wasn’t in school he explained to us that he had come down with malaria and was too sick to attend classes. He explained to us that he couldn’t go to the doctor to get medicine because his family had no money to pay for it.
Kenneth’s Story
My name is Kenneth and I’m 12 years old. I live in a small village outside El Wak, Kenya. The place we live has a scorching sun. We have some goats that were given to us by a relative, but here hasn’t been rain for a long time, so ther
THis is a test
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