ACBAR ﺍﮐﺑﺮ Agency Coordinating Body for Afghan Relief
Embargoed until: 00.01 Kabul Time (+4.30 GMT), 02 December 2009
Humanitarian agencies call for aid based on Afghans' needs, not the military's
Aid agencies in Afghanistan call donors to meet the humanitarian needs of Afghans, outlined in a recently launched $870 million funding appeal. As the U.S. prepares to deploy additional troops, ACBAR coalition representing over 100 Afghan and international aid agencies, urged donors to address the need for principled humanitarian assistance independent of political and military goals, ranging from aid for refugees to mobile health services.
The 2010 Humanitarian Action Plan (HAP) maps out a one-year strategy for aid agencies to address lifesaving needs and fill the gaps that the government is unable to meet. Weak institutions, corruption and violence have limited the government's ability to provide for and protect its citizens, including 5.5 million refugees who have returned home and hundreds of thousands displaced by ongoing violence. A recent report by Oxfam International showed that Afghans viewed poverty as one of the main drivers of the conflict.
In 2009 nearly 200 million dollar in health, nutrition, mine action and emergency shelter projects were not funded by donors. The funding shortfalls have led to thousands of flood-affected people without proper shelter for the harsh winter and unable to replant damaged fields.
Despite this year's bumper harvest, millions of Afghans do not meet their basic food requirements and child malnutrition are at alarming levels. In November, a joint assessment conducted in a camp for displaced people in Kabul showed that more than one in five children screened were classified as acutely malnourished and had no access to treatment. “Urgent action and effective nutrition surveillance in both urban and rural areas is essential to prevent a crisis and also to ensure that we are better able to respond to the needs of the people at risk” said Shashwat Saraf, head of mission of Action Contre la Faim.
"Donors are not doing enough to meet the needs of Afghans," says Dr. Habibullah Sahak, country director of Ibn Sina, an Afghan health organization. "Health services have somewhat improved but over 200,000 children and 17,000 pregnant women continue to die each year, mostly because they lack basic healthcare, clean water and nutrition."
Aid representatives say that most aid money available for Afghanistan requires working through the government or supporting counterinsurgency operations. "Working with the government is the best approach to sustainable development - if you have stability. With the government coming under attack, it is becoming riskier to be associated with its programs in some areas." said Laurent Saillard Director of ACBAR.
Humanitarian groups argue that too much aid goes to where troops are located or is being used as part of the counterinsurgency strategy. "If we are forced to be involved in counterinsurgency activities and work with provincial reconstruction teams and military entities, our acceptance in the communities will be compromised. This is a risk we cannot take and as a result, we have turned down funding opportunities which require working with the military and involvement in counterinsurgency," said Lex Kassenberg, country director for CARE International.
The Pentagon has already doubled aid available to the U.S. military in Afghanistan to $1.2 billion through the Commanders' Emergency Response Program (CERP). USAID is also expected to channel the majority of its funds to support counterinsurgency operations in the south and east. Canada, which has troops in Kandahar, puts half of its funding into the war torn province.
There is an urgent need to balance the aid funds with the military budgets. A conservative assessment shows that aid money coming to the country is less than 10% of the military spending by the troops contributing nations.
“The military are part of the conflict so they are unable to provide aid without jeopardizing the safety and security of civilians," said Hashim Mayar. "Aid should only be provided by troops as a last resort to save lives, in accordance with civil-military guidelines endorsed by both NATO and the Pentagon."
About Me
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
Life For a Humanitarian Worker in Afghanistan
November 2009
Each day in Afghanistan hangs on tenuous strings of the security situation. The general level of insecurity means that taking precautions is a way of life- adding a sinister edge to things that we take for granted elsewhere. Making ones way to the office each day is no longer a simple task of waking up and treading the often walked paths blindfolded! In Afghanistan, it means deciding on a new route to office each day and not repeating it in the next few days! The only thing that prevents one from having a walk in London is the weather. In Afghanistan, a walk alone on the streets is impossible due to bomb threats, kidnapping threats and host of other threats! It is therefore no surprise that each day, my inbox greets me with an unending list of security updates.
The small peaks and lows in the otherwise shooting-out-of-the-page graph of Afghan security situation determines what my day will actually turn out to be! Well laid out plans often become the sacrificial goats in face of the latest security situation. Inshaallah, the often used phrase in Afghanistan acquires a new relevance in the current security situation. Indeed, any plan that one makes hinges on the will of the factors beyond our control!
Afghan elections have been in the world news, sometimes for the wrong reasons. The legitimacy of the elections has already suffered a critical blow at both national and international level due to the widespread fraud and violence that accompanied the elections. Given the fluid election scenario, it is no surprise that all conversations in Kabul start with an analysis of the post election scenario. However, there is no reliable prediction on what the security/insecurity implications will be with either of the two main candidates winning the election. For us as an INGO in Afghanistan, this means that the immediate future will continue to be ruled by uncertainties.
Kabul is the centre of INGO base with all INGOs operating along the length and breadth of Afghanistan maintaining atleast a presence in Kabul. The thriving centre of UN agencies, Bi-lateral agencies, INGO and NGOs in Kabul makes it an ideal place for managing coordination issues. A host of coordination forums exist, the key ones among those are strategically chosen by us to participate in. A considerable amount of time and energy is spent on coordination. Almost on a daily basis, one is coordinating with one or the other coordination forums, ranging from security focused ones to ones focused on programmes, humanitarian responses and of course, the UN cluster forums.
The challenge of working in multiple locations, often remote, within the increasingly shrinking safe space for humanitarian action in Afghanistan is that we have to constantly re-invent ourselves so as to meet the programmatic expectations. Monitoring and reporting becomes a bigger challenge when access to the locations is limited. Managing these aspects of our work ensures that a normal work day in Afghanistan spans across the European and Afghan time zones and beyond!
Each day in Afghanistan brings with it new challenges, new response to a new situation and new learning! There is never a dull moment! Normalcy of a ‘routine’ life is all but a hazy memory! Yet working in Afghanistan gives one the satisfaction of overcoming challenges each day to work for a community whose needs are unquestionably, one of the greatest in the world. It is this thought that gives the team here the energy and the bottomless supply of adrenalin needed on a daily basis!
Each day in Afghanistan hangs on tenuous strings of the security situation. The general level of insecurity means that taking precautions is a way of life- adding a sinister edge to things that we take for granted elsewhere. Making ones way to the office each day is no longer a simple task of waking up and treading the often walked paths blindfolded! In Afghanistan, it means deciding on a new route to office each day and not repeating it in the next few days! The only thing that prevents one from having a walk in London is the weather. In Afghanistan, a walk alone on the streets is impossible due to bomb threats, kidnapping threats and host of other threats! It is therefore no surprise that each day, my inbox greets me with an unending list of security updates.
The small peaks and lows in the otherwise shooting-out-of-the-page graph of Afghan security situation determines what my day will actually turn out to be! Well laid out plans often become the sacrificial goats in face of the latest security situation. Inshaallah, the often used phrase in Afghanistan acquires a new relevance in the current security situation. Indeed, any plan that one makes hinges on the will of the factors beyond our control!
Afghan elections have been in the world news, sometimes for the wrong reasons. The legitimacy of the elections has already suffered a critical blow at both national and international level due to the widespread fraud and violence that accompanied the elections. Given the fluid election scenario, it is no surprise that all conversations in Kabul start with an analysis of the post election scenario. However, there is no reliable prediction on what the security/insecurity implications will be with either of the two main candidates winning the election. For us as an INGO in Afghanistan, this means that the immediate future will continue to be ruled by uncertainties.
Kabul is the centre of INGO base with all INGOs operating along the length and breadth of Afghanistan maintaining atleast a presence in Kabul. The thriving centre of UN agencies, Bi-lateral agencies, INGO and NGOs in Kabul makes it an ideal place for managing coordination issues. A host of coordination forums exist, the key ones among those are strategically chosen by us to participate in. A considerable amount of time and energy is spent on coordination. Almost on a daily basis, one is coordinating with one or the other coordination forums, ranging from security focused ones to ones focused on programmes, humanitarian responses and of course, the UN cluster forums.
The challenge of working in multiple locations, often remote, within the increasingly shrinking safe space for humanitarian action in Afghanistan is that we have to constantly re-invent ourselves so as to meet the programmatic expectations. Monitoring and reporting becomes a bigger challenge when access to the locations is limited. Managing these aspects of our work ensures that a normal work day in Afghanistan spans across the European and Afghan time zones and beyond!
Each day in Afghanistan brings with it new challenges, new response to a new situation and new learning! There is never a dull moment! Normalcy of a ‘routine’ life is all but a hazy memory! Yet working in Afghanistan gives one the satisfaction of overcoming challenges each day to work for a community whose needs are unquestionably, one of the greatest in the world. It is this thought that gives the team here the energy and the bottomless supply of adrenalin needed on a daily basis!
Thursday, December 3, 2009
WELCOME ON BOARD DASH 8 SERIES 300-DAY 0 TO DARFUR
March 2009
Well this is not Dash 8 Series 300 but yes this is and will be my companion for the coming year…………..
Yes, this is the day 0….the day when I have to leave Khartoum and set my foot on my ‘karm bhumi’[1] El Fasher.
‘Welcome on board flight 741 whisky the united nations humanitarian air service. The Flight from Khartoum to Nyala would take 2 hrs 10 minutes’
The ones who have discerned that Nyala does not spell like El Fasher and are wondering whether it’s the new de-arabised name of El Fasher, well I wish u were right but, no, you score a zero. Nyala is indeed a different town where this flight was supposed to make a stop over. My ultimate destination remains El Fasher, the capital (or so I believe) of North Darfur.
The small 48 seater plane takes off from Khartoum, offering a wonderful aerial view of the city. My attention is captured by the two winding hands of Nile, the white and the blue merging together to form a huge river. It is just wonderful to think that meandering river that I was seeing from above is the cradle of all civilization. These are the civilizations which have made it worthwhile to pay in pounds and euros and dollars for all the museums where we see wrapped up mummies and men with wolf faces.
As promised by the pilot, the plane lands in Nyala after 2 hrs and 10 mins. The steward, reminds us that our journey is not over as yet (apart from the 2 people who got off at Nyala) and asks us to disembark the plane and wait in the waiting room for the time that it took to refuel the plane. We shuffled out of the plane like obedient sheep. It was ok about refuelling but I want to put in ink and paper my protest against the term ‘waiting room’ being used for the enclosure. It had a fighting chance (with a bit of bribery thrown in) to classify as a room, but a ‘waiting room’, that’s just abuse of the term and all that it stands for.
After about 15 mins in the ‘waiting room’, the gates opened and we were again herded back into the plane. The announcement boomed ‘the flight to El Geniena will take 50 mins’. Well, I forgot to tell you that this flight with 48 people was taking 2 stop overs!!!!!!!!!!!!! The journey to El Fasher was going to take a minimum of 4.30 mins when the same could have taken 1.5 hrs in a commercial aircraft (not allowed to us because of low maintenance standards)! Do you think it is reflective of the extra long paths that UN takes to do anything?????????
45 mins in the air and the booming voice tells us that we were descending into Al Geniena. I, still a tourist at heart, plastered my face onto the window to see the city and the strip. But try as I might, I could not see the air strip! I brushed aside doubts about my eyesight because of the all clear I got from the medical checkup army in London last week who had checked me with efficiency of 23rd century robots. It was then I realized that the plane was about to land on something similar to a neighbourhood cricket pitch, just a few yards longer. To make matters a bit more heart thumping, the ‘strip’ was located in the middle of some huts with cattle and children running away just as the plane was making a touch down! With a thud, the plane made a touchdown on the red gravel of the pitch. The sight of mortal remains of two planes were scattered 20 mts from the strip ….I thanked my stars for not meeting the same fate and wondered whether the accidents were caused by planes skidding while trying to miss running over a fleeing child or cow! Then the truth dawned on me like a lightening- this is the reason why the UN plane had made no security/safety announcements and had brushed the matter aside by asking us to read the booklet. I guess with sights like this greeting the passengers at airports and with not a sliver of water seen post Khartoum, UN fellows would not like to remind people of the dangers confronting the passengers with each flight and would definitely not to like remind us that the plane’s floatation devises would not be of much use while flying over a desert! And they were surely in no mood to mention that the desert is peppered with rebels and govt armies, both hostile!
10 mins and exchange of another two passengers later, the flight doors were closed and the booming voice told us that the flight would be proceeding to El Fasher and the time taken would be 50 mins. Phew!, atleast now I had a good chance of actually reaching my ‘karm bhumi’. There was a negligible chance now of the flight turning around towards Khartoum due to insecurity in El Fasher. At Khartoum, my friends had told me that mid way cancellation is not an uncommon thing to happen!!!
The plane took off…‘Here I come El Fasher’. Another 50 mins, another 50 mins without sighting water and another announcement later I landed at El Fasher. I had finally landed on my ‘karm bhumi’ – and it felt good even though I was totally exhausted after the day which started with journey to the airport at dawn and had lazily wound its way endless series of taking off and landings.
Outside the airport, I had my first real sight of El Fasher from the ground. What greeted me was the sight of a dusty field full of NGO and UN cars with big logos which were waiting outside to pick up people from the airport. One of those cars is the one which has come to pick me up ….i could not spot it but I knew eventually I would and that I would be rewarded, much like a puppy under training, with an introduction to a new co-worker.
I am nervous but I remember my name, that should get me till the end of the day 0!!! One step at a time, someone wise had uttered ….and I intended to stick to it like Velcro!
For the next few hrs I will be the newest ‘namuna’[2] on the block, the one whom everyone would be measuring up with the first look, ‘he looks like a baby’, ‘he is not white’, ‘will he be able to manage the programme’…..those will be the thoughts streaking across all whom I meet ….BUT for me , all I had to do efficiently today was to remember my name!!!!!!!!!!!!.
Finally, the day 0 is coming to an end…So what am I thinking….my head is full of mish mash of incoherent thoughts. Dublin, London, Paris……were those places where I was 7 days ago? Was I uploading endless albums on Paris a day before??????? ???????????? The snow of Dublin, my couch in Dublin, the magic of Paris, India……or this dusty expanse….what was my true reality? Is there any one true reality or is it that the real reality is a just series of interim realities!
The journey today had been bumpy, but atlast I was here. I am hoping that the ride ahead will be less bumpy and would not unravel to be a series of endless take offs and landings with thud of failure. No doubt this will be a difficult but an exiting journey.
PS: Little did I know that Day 1 onwards, my work days will stretch 12 hrs and that my radio call sign will become my new name!
[1] Karm Bhumi: the land of one’s actions, where one has to make one’s destiny,
[2] Namuna: the odd spectacle/new freak thing/a new exhibit. In strict terms it means a sample
Yes, this is the day 0….the day when I have to leave Khartoum and set my foot on my ‘karm bhumi’[1] El Fasher.
‘Welcome on board flight 741 whisky the united nations humanitarian air service. The Flight from Khartoum to Nyala would take 2 hrs 10 minutes’
The ones who have discerned that Nyala does not spell like El Fasher and are wondering whether it’s the new de-arabised name of El Fasher, well I wish u were right but, no, you score a zero. Nyala is indeed a different town where this flight was supposed to make a stop over. My ultimate destination remains El Fasher, the capital (or so I believe) of North Darfur.
The small 48 seater plane takes off from Khartoum, offering a wonderful aerial view of the city. My attention is captured by the two winding hands of Nile, the white and the blue merging together to form a huge river. It is just wonderful to think that meandering river that I was seeing from above is the cradle of all civilization. These are the civilizations which have made it worthwhile to pay in pounds and euros and dollars for all the museums where we see wrapped up mummies and men with wolf faces.
As promised by the pilot, the plane lands in Nyala after 2 hrs and 10 mins. The steward, reminds us that our journey is not over as yet (apart from the 2 people who got off at Nyala) and asks us to disembark the plane and wait in the waiting room for the time that it took to refuel the plane. We shuffled out of the plane like obedient sheep. It was ok about refuelling but I want to put in ink and paper my protest against the term ‘waiting room’ being used for the enclosure. It had a fighting chance (with a bit of bribery thrown in) to classify as a room, but a ‘waiting room’, that’s just abuse of the term and all that it stands for.
After about 15 mins in the ‘waiting room’, the gates opened and we were again herded back into the plane. The announcement boomed ‘the flight to El Geniena will take 50 mins’. Well, I forgot to tell you that this flight with 48 people was taking 2 stop overs!!!!!!!!!!!!! The journey to El Fasher was going to take a minimum of 4.30 mins when the same could have taken 1.5 hrs in a commercial aircraft (not allowed to us because of low maintenance standards)! Do you think it is reflective of the extra long paths that UN takes to do anything?????????
45 mins in the air and the booming voice tells us that we were descending into Al Geniena. I, still a tourist at heart, plastered my face onto the window to see the city and the strip. But try as I might, I could not see the air strip! I brushed aside doubts about my eyesight because of the all clear I got from the medical checkup army in London last week who had checked me with efficiency of 23rd century robots. It was then I realized that the plane was about to land on something similar to a neighbourhood cricket pitch, just a few yards longer. To make matters a bit more heart thumping, the ‘strip’ was located in the middle of some huts with cattle and children running away just as the plane was making a touch down! With a thud, the plane made a touchdown on the red gravel of the pitch. The sight of mortal remains of two planes were scattered 20 mts from the strip ….I thanked my stars for not meeting the same fate and wondered whether the accidents were caused by planes skidding while trying to miss running over a fleeing child or cow! Then the truth dawned on me like a lightening- this is the reason why the UN plane had made no security/safety announcements and had brushed the matter aside by asking us to read the booklet. I guess with sights like this greeting the passengers at airports and with not a sliver of water seen post Khartoum, UN fellows would not like to remind people of the dangers confronting the passengers with each flight and would definitely not to like remind us that the plane’s floatation devises would not be of much use while flying over a desert! And they were surely in no mood to mention that the desert is peppered with rebels and govt armies, both hostile!
10 mins and exchange of another two passengers later, the flight doors were closed and the booming voice told us that the flight would be proceeding to El Fasher and the time taken would be 50 mins. Phew!, atleast now I had a good chance of actually reaching my ‘karm bhumi’. There was a negligible chance now of the flight turning around towards Khartoum due to insecurity in El Fasher. At Khartoum, my friends had told me that mid way cancellation is not an uncommon thing to happen!!!
The plane took off…‘Here I come El Fasher’. Another 50 mins, another 50 mins without sighting water and another announcement later I landed at El Fasher. I had finally landed on my ‘karm bhumi’ – and it felt good even though I was totally exhausted after the day which started with journey to the airport at dawn and had lazily wound its way endless series of taking off and landings.
Outside the airport, I had my first real sight of El Fasher from the ground. What greeted me was the sight of a dusty field full of NGO and UN cars with big logos which were waiting outside to pick up people from the airport. One of those cars is the one which has come to pick me up ….i could not spot it but I knew eventually I would and that I would be rewarded, much like a puppy under training, with an introduction to a new co-worker.
I am nervous but I remember my name, that should get me till the end of the day 0!!! One step at a time, someone wise had uttered ….and I intended to stick to it like Velcro!
For the next few hrs I will be the newest ‘namuna’[2] on the block, the one whom everyone would be measuring up with the first look, ‘he looks like a baby’, ‘he is not white’, ‘will he be able to manage the programme’…..those will be the thoughts streaking across all whom I meet ….BUT for me , all I had to do efficiently today was to remember my name!!!!!!!!!!!!.
Finally, the day 0 is coming to an end…So what am I thinking….my head is full of mish mash of incoherent thoughts. Dublin, London, Paris……were those places where I was 7 days ago? Was I uploading endless albums on Paris a day before??????? ???????????? The snow of Dublin, my couch in Dublin, the magic of Paris, India……or this dusty expanse….what was my true reality? Is there any one true reality or is it that the real reality is a just series of interim realities!
The journey today had been bumpy, but atlast I was here. I am hoping that the ride ahead will be less bumpy and would not unravel to be a series of endless take offs and landings with thud of failure. No doubt this will be a difficult but an exiting journey.
PS: Little did I know that Day 1 onwards, my work days will stretch 12 hrs and that my radio call sign will become my new name!
[1] Karm Bhumi: the land of one’s actions, where one has to make one’s destiny,
[2] Namuna: the odd spectacle/new freak thing/a new exhibit. In strict terms it means a sample
Monday, February 9, 2009
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