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King Salman Humanitarian Center

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In May 2015, Saudi Arabia launched a new, unified government humanitarian aid organization called the King Salman Humanitarian Center (KSC) — named after the nation’s new monarch.

Saudi Arabia is eighth largest aid donor in the world and spent over 736 million dollars in humanitarian aid in 2014. The new center has the potential to transform how Saudi Arabia donates, organizes and distributes millions of dollars in emergency aid.

This administration transformation was not widely reported, though the scale of this change is immense. A source in the UN reported to IRIN that he believes the King Salman Humanitarian Center will be Saudi Arabia’s version of USAID and that it will establish multiple departments such as monitoring, evaluation and research.

Rafaat Sabbagh, a KSC spokesman, elaborated on the new organization’s goals. “We are very ambitious… We are only one month and a half old. But at the same time we are very keen to learn to learn from the experience of DFID [in the UK] and USAID. Our work is not only for one country. Whenever there are people in need, especially with natural disasters, we will be there.”

Before the creation of KSC, Saudi Arabia’s humanitarian aid was notorious for being “highly unpredictable, hard to navigate, and – some argued – incoherent,” writes IRIN. There were often miscommunication errors between different branches, causing confusion and unnecessary overlap.

The Center plans to take a more direct, hands-on approach to its funding techniques, spending on local organizations rather than large international organizations.

The country is known for its large donations or powerful financial potential. For example, in 2008, it gave 500 million to the World Food Program in one large payment. In 2014, it also gave 500 million to help the Iraq crisis.

Donations like this are expected to be approved and processed by the KSC now, and some worry that Saudi Arabia’s involvement with UN aid programs will decrease.

These worries are not unfounded. Saudi Arabia has become increasingly frustrated with the United Nations in the past few years. “In late 2013, it rejected a seat on the UN Security Council, condemning ‘double standards’ in Syria and wasteful use of resources,” says the IRIN.

KSC spokesperson, Sabbagh, said to IRIN that the KSC will “avoid the bureaucracy that some organizations are suffering from” and will be “more flexible” than other organizations. Some believe this is a subtle critique of the United Nations.

At the same time, Sabbagh maintains that he wants to continue to work with the UN. “We are very keen to build a partnership [with the UN]. At the same time we have our own networks. Our work through the UN partnership can be complimentary,” he tells IRIN.

If the King Salman Humanitarian Center is successful, Saudi Arabia’s donations will become much more impactful, strategic and effective. The Center’s first project is to disburse 250 million dollars in Yemen, where Saudi Arabia is involved actively in the civil war.

– Aaron Andree

Sources: Aawsat, Irin News
Photo: Today Online

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The State of Healthcare in Yemen Today

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The conflict in Yemen, which has been raging for the past three months, has led to a humanitarian catastrophe that has caused 2,800 deaths, displaced over a million people, and caused 21 million Yemenis to be in dire need of immediate assistance, according to UNICEF. The human rights organization has also projected that in the next 12 months, 2.5 million children will suffer from chronic diarrhea, 1.3 million from pneumonia, and 280,000 from severe malnutrition.

These projections are based off the massive destruction of the country produced by the recent crisis, which has caused immeasurable damage to Yemen’s infrastructure and has prompted the United Nations to declare that the country now stands on “the edge of civil war.”

Yemen, a country of 25 million which contains numerous religious and ethnic factions, has long been a breeding ground for violent extremism, producing some of the worst known-terrorists in recent history, such as Osama Bin-Laden. The recent conflict in Yemen represents one manifestation of the ethnic and religious tension which characterizes Yemenese society, which exploded into full-blown fighting when the Houthi’s (an Iran-backed Shi’a rebel group from the North) forced Sunni President Abdrabbuh Mansour Hadi out of the capital Sanaa in February. Mr. Hadi is now seeking refuge in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, while his country bears the near-daily brunt of attacks on the part of Houthi rebel groups and an Arab-backed coalition, led by Saudi Arabia and including Egypt, Morocco, Jordan, Sudan, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Qatar and Bahrain.

Yemen’s healthcare system, which was in poor condition prior to the recent fighting, has been especially hard-hit as a result of the crisis, which has resulted in dwindling medical supplies and the destruction of numerous hospitals throughout the country. A blockade by the Arab coalition, and restrictions that were placed on the commercial import of fuel, food, and medical supplies by the international community have helped to exacerbate the country’s healthcare problems, making it impossible for the approximate 90% of Yemenis who depend upon these supplies to gain access.

Aid workers also say that the crisis has contributed to a rising number of preventable deaths, with an increasing number of children dying from relatively minor illnesses, such as strep throat. According to the World Health Organization, an inability to access even basic medical care, like obstetrical support during childbirth, and the closing of national programs to fight diseases such as tuberculosis, has caused a surge in the number of people who require urgent medical care, which stood at 8.6 million in March. In addition to lack of supplies, the frequent droppings of bombs and raiding of hospitals carried out by Houthi groups have led to the closure of over 158 health facilities. According to officials, this has contributed to the deaths of 470,000 children under the age of five, as well as the outbreak of diseases such as polio and measles throughout the country.

As conflict continues to spiral out of control in Yemen, humanitarian organizations have begun to adjust their response to the country’s humanitarian and health crisis, which many officials believe to be getting worse. According to Dr. Ahmed Shadoul, WHO’s Representative to Yemen, “Yemen’s health system is on the verge of breakdown, and it is only thanks to the heroic efforts of the country’s health workers, the resilience of its brave people and the tireless efforts of national and international humanitarian organizations that any semblance of health care is being provided.”

In order to attempt to hold this fragile structure of Yemen’s healthcare service together, the WHO released a revised Yemen Humanitarian Response Plan on Friday, June 17. The Revised Plan calls for $152 million to enable the WHO and its partners to meet the health needs of 15 million Yemeni citizens, whose health and livelihoods continue to be devastated as their country devolves into violence.

– Ana Powell

Sources: The Guardian, UNICEF, Washington Post, World Health Organization
Photo: UN Multimedia

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How to Make Humanitarian Aid More Effective

foreign_aid_successes
The “specter of the well-fed dead” is an image associated with wasted global aid; the dead bodies have full stomachs but no hope for a better future, exposing the limited, transitory nature of humanitarian aid. This supposed impotency of aid notwithstanding, arguments abound, citing the detrimental effects foreign aid can often have.

Detractors argue foreign aid merely serves as an alibi for real action, which must be wrought at the political level, not simply by pouring money into a broken system in order to defer real change. Fighting parties can compete over aid, prolonging conflicts, and a whole host of other ills can spawn from well-intentioned donations.

These are valid criticisms, but they emphasize the need to optimize—not discontinue—foreign aid. Factor Four improvements, an efficiency tool with great success in environmental initiatives, advocate cutting resource use in half while doubling productivity.

This drastic goal is achievable through changes in the management of aid—chief of which being how aid is labeled, along with reforms in administration.

Two categories of aid, humanitarian and economic development, determine how donor money is allocated. More precisely, $5.5 billion goes toward humanitarian aid, with $28.6 billion allotted for economic development assistance. This disproportion reflects the false assumption that humanitarian crises are short-term and passing, with lives temporarily at stake, and economic growth is a more substantial, long-term project.

Many conflicts, such as those in Afghanistan and Somalia, last for decades, rendering these aid labels a moot distinction with real consequences.

On a broader scale, when determining aid eligibility, countries are classified as either low-income or middle-income, with the latter ineligible for World Bank support. This distinction is unhelpful, as middle-income nations are generally the go-to destination for refugees fleeing conflict, leaving these stable nations in temporary need of aid money.

Middle-income nations, such as Jordan and Lebanon, are currently inundated with Syrian refugees; however, their middle-income status bars them from receiving the full amount of aid.

A better parameter for determining aid eligibility is fragility, which would consider not only a lack of stable government, solid economy or basic services, but also violence and poverty, key factors that would include both middle- and low-income countries.

Only 38% of aid currently spent is in fragile countries, a paltry sum that, with a mere change in labeling, could easily be improved, better serving those in greatest need.

Another area of improvement lies in the cost of transferring money from donors to their intended recipients. Forty-six cents on every dollar donated are lost in delivery.

Fortunately, costs can be reduced without sacrificing quality. Aid travels on a convoluted journey to reach recipients: taxpayers funds go to aid ministries before diverting to either NGOs or U.N. agencies and, finally, making their way to local groups or the U.N.’s own initiatives. This tangled web affects humanitarian aid flows, as 40% of U.N. targets aren’t reached.

Greater transparency about costs will help streamline these redundant bureaucratic layers. Similar problems in vaccine delivery, where immunization rates in developing countries have plateaued at 80%, causing 1.5 million premature deaths each year, can be solved by greater investments to improve coverage and extending the use of medical services.

Ultimately, studies on cost effectiveness—not just tallies of the amount of dollars spent—will need to be leveraged in order to determine opportunities for aid maximization. These studies are, however, notoriously difficult to conduct in turbulent nations.

Humanitarian agencies will also need to consider the implicit ethical messages their actions convey in the regions they serve. For example, if aid workers use company cars and equipment for personal expedition trips, this sends the message to locals that those who control the most resources can do as they please.

Or, if aid agencies employ armed guards to protect their resources, the message is that arms are a legitimate means of determining who receives aid, which is one of the messages of warfare.

More sensitivity to how aid agencies’ actions abroad shape perceptions in local communities will help stem the tide of conflict. Research shows it’s easier to modify behavior than it is to change deeply entrenched attitudes.

Governments are ultimately responsible for the well-being of their citizens, so they must view their sovereignty as responsibility, not as autonomy to resist conditional aid. Foreign aid must be seen as a complement—not a substitute—for domestic measures to improve an economy, but with these relatively straightforward paradigm shifts in labels and measures, almost double can be accomplished with half as many resources.

– Bilal Abdu Ibrahim

Sources: Foreign Affairs, Beyond Intractability, Caritas

Photo: Wikimedia

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UN introduces ‘Humanitarian Data Exchange’ Platform

UN introduces 'Humanitarian Data Exchange' Platform
United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, or OCHA, has developed an open digital platform for data sharing, called the Humanitarian Data Exchange, or HDX. In collaboration with Frog Design, the new system combines state of the art data collection with data dispersal to provide current data access to crisis zones.

In rapid response to any humanitarian crisis, whether it is violence or a natural disaster, it is imperative to have instant availability to any relevant data sets. Frog Design created the technology with the intention of universal usage. Optimal viewing capabilities and premium user interface technology are also key components for rapid mass data absorption. Everyone from ordinary public citizens to data scientists to relief workers in the field are able to gather and analyze the HDX’s information.

The HDX provides easy access to a profile breakdown of almost every country in the world. Important information such as population density, total land area and GDP is provided. There are three key components that enable this data platform, data standardization, analytics and repository.

Revolutionizing data access provides an invaluable resource for relief and aid efforts to handle any disaster or crisis. Relief workers are able to make informed decisions instantly thanks to the new platform. The new technology also helps NGOs and governments to adapt to any evolving requirements or necessities that may occur.

The HDX was first utilized during the apex of the West African Ebola epidemic. The World Health Organization was able to share crucial information. Data sets, such as the total number of West African cases, cumulative deaths, treatment centers and countries experiencing outbreaks were quickly made available. The World Food Programme was able to share its data of food market prices in West African countries as well. This data helped the people properly predict their rations and assess their finances to cope during the crisis.

“It is of paramount importance that food security and food assistance information is regularly collected and widely disseminated..this partnership with OCHA on HDX is an important aspect of WFP’s broader initiative on Open Data and transparency,” says Arif Husain the Chief Economist of the WFP and the Head of Food Security Analysis Service.

Husain goes on to say, “We believe that our partnership with OCHA HDX is a major milestone in improving peoples’ access to credible and timely information for the design and implementation of national food security programs, policies and projects.”

Such a monumental breakthrough in technological usability and exchange has already proven effective through the health crisis in West Africa. It appears HDX is set to revolutionize data sharing and humanitarian relief efforts worldwide.

– The Borgen Project

Sources: World Food Programme, Frog Design

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In Transit: The World’s Fleeing Refugee Crisis

refugee_crisis
On July 1, 2015, the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees, Antonio Guteress, addressed a congregation of international humanitarian organizations in Geneva about the escalating challenges his agency faced in what is widely being called the greatest refugee crisis the world has ever known.

“For an age of unprecedented mass displacement, we need an unprecedented humanitarian response and a renewed global commitment to tolerance and protection for people fleeing conflict and persecution,” the High Commissioner urged.

In his speech Guteress told listeners, “The moment of truth had arrived.” He was speaking in regards to the tremendous strain the world’s current refugee crisis has placed on the resources of Europe and other host countries. Across the globe, fleeing refugees are migrating at unprecedented rates.

The world’s current refugee crisis cannot be explained in simple terms. It is a complex issue with many factors involved. Political instability, devastating wars and lack of adequate economic opportunities are all reasons why people are leaving their countries in search of greener pastures.

In last month’s United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Global Trends Report: World at War, the estimated number of people displaced due to war, conflict and persecution was a staggering 59.5 million at the end of 2014. On average, 42,500 people are newly displaced per day.

A few countries are well known to all, such as Iraq, Afghanistan and Syria, but they do not represent the entire spectrum of refugees. The refugees come from Myanmar, Sudan, Ukraine, Pakistan, North Korea, Mexico and many other South American countries. Most are currently fleeing to Europe, but others are going to the United States, Indonesia and Australia.

It truly is a global refugee crisis.

In a newly published Human Rights Watch report, “The Mediterranean Migration Crisis,” senior analysis reported that in 2014, over 219,000 refugees attempted to navigate the Mediterranean Sea into Europe, which is considered the world’s deadliest crossing. This was up from 60,000 the previous year. So why are people enduring such dangerous undertakings for a better life?

The report interviewed over 150 refugees and asylum seekers from Somalia, Syria, Eritrea and Afghanistan. The migrants echoed similar reasons for leaving their countries—lack of security and basic necessities such as food, water and medicine. Not surprisingly, these are some of the poorest countries in the world with some of the direst need for humanitarian aid.

There is a direct correlation between humanitarian aid and fleeing refugees. The nations with the largest need for humanitarian aid are also responsible for some of the largest number of fleeing refugees.

Humanitarian aid is used to run programs that provide potential refugees with more than just food and water. Humanitarian efforts provide tools for farmers to grow crops that they can sell in market places, providing income to their families and strengthening their local markets.

The aid also provides educational facilities, training people with the skills that they need to be successful. People who are finding economic stability in their own nations are less likely to flee.

However, passing aid to the ailing countries is not the only way the world can help solve the refugee crisis. Host nations and coalitions such as the European Union (EU) need aid to support refugee and asylum seeking processing facilities. The burden of dealing with so many refugees must be equally distributed among developed nations. The blind eye approach many developed countries are practicing is not helping the situation.

Even though the United States is not the destination for the majority of refugees, it is tremendously affected by the issues of extreme poverty that are driving these migrations. An example is the situation in Greece, a country already preoccupied with economic collapse and in desperate need of a bailout. The U.N. reported more than 48,000 refugees entered the country in 2014. The economic pressure of all these issues reduces the buying power of Greece, in turn reducing U.S. exports to the country.

This year, the U.N. has declared that it needs no less than $18.1 billion to meet the needs of over 80 million people. Currently it has only received 26% of that amount.

The United States cannot continue to ignore the global refugee crisis and must work with the EU to provide more aid. The Borgen Project has demonstrated extensively how providing foreign aid in such situations reduces global threats to the United States and bolsters the U.S. economy.

If the United States does not help provide more aid and the refugees continue to flee, years of development and aid will all go to waste. Rebuilding developing nations will be a lot more expensive for future generations, considering there will be no one there left to help rebuild.

— Adnan Khalid

Sources: Human Rights Watch, International Organization for Migration, U.N. 1, U.N. 2, UNHCR
Photo: NGO News Africa

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Who Are the Biggest Philanthropists in the World?

worlds_biggest_philanthropistsWe all know how great giving back feels. Donating, whether it’s time, money or other assets, puts a spring in our step and breeze through our hair. But who are the most philanthropic people in the world? Let’s take a look:

1. Warren Buffet: One of the world’s richest people says he views his money as “claim checks” on society that he can turn into consumption to improve the gross domestic product. In 2006, Buffet pledged stocks worth about $30 billion to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the largest charitable contribution of all time. He often auctions himself off for dinner on eBay, raising close to $1 million dollars per meal. He plans to donate his fortune once he dies because he believes great wealth should not pass from one generation to the next but instead should move out into the world to make a more lasting, widespread impact.

2. Bill and Melinda Gates: The founder of Microsoft and grandfather of the tech start-up world, Bill Gates is the co-founder of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the wealthiest charity in the world with assets estimated at $34.6 billion. Gates has cited David Rockefeller as a major influence on his philanthropic work and has extensively studied the Rockefeller Family’s charitable pursuits. Gates and his wife Melinda have donated over $28 billion to charity and plan on donating 95% of their fortune when they die.

3. Sir Ka-shing Li: Hong Kong business magnate Ka-Shing Li is the richest man in Asia, with his companies comprising 15% of the market cap on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. However, Li is best known for leading a no-frills lifestyle and donating about $1.3 billion of his wealth to charity. Most of his donations go to universities around the world, such as Hong Kong Polytechnic University, the University of California, Berkley, Stanford University and the University of Alberta. He also founded Shantou University near his hometown of Chaozhou. Li’s charitable work has earned him the Grand Bauhinia Medal, the highest honor in Hong Kong, the Order of the British Empire and the Legion of Honor.

4. Chuck Feeney: Baseball executive and businessman, Feeney founded The Atlantic Philanthropies, one of the largest foundations in the world. Atlantic has donated more than $6.2 billion since 1982 to social projects in Australia, Bermuda, Northern Ireland, South Africa, the United States and Vietnam. The foundation is the largest funder of aging and immigration reform in the United States and has given numerous gifts to Feeney’s alma mater, Cornell University. Feeney’s philosophy is “Giving While Living.”

5. George Soros: Hungarian-born business magnate and investor, Soros gave away $8 billion between 1979 and 2011, mainly to peaceful political movements and educational institutions. In the 1970s, Soros funded black students in South Africa to attend university under apartheid and worked to promote democracy in post-Soviet states. His foundation, Open Society Foundations, helped assist the transition to capitalism in his native Hungary and gave large funds to Central European University in Budapest. Soros also donated $100 million toward increased Internet access in rural Russian universities and $50 million toward the Millennium Promise. Soros’s political activism has long spurred his charitable work.

These philanthropists have dedicated their lives and fortunes to humanitarian causes throughout the world and can serve as an inspiration to all of us to give back and fuel the causes and institutions in which we most steadfastly believe.

– Jenny Wheeler

Sources: GeorgeSoros.com, Forbes
Photo: BBC News

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Humanitarian Aid and How to Help

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With all that happens in today’s philanthropic world, definitions can get muddled. Humanitarian aid is material and logistic assistance to promote human welfare, often after natural or man-made disasters. The World Health Organization defines it as “aid that seeks to save lives and alleviate suffering of a crisis affected population.”

In essence, humanitarian aid is humans helping other humans.

There are countless examples of humanitarian aid, from large organizations to small-scale philanthropy events that benefit a larger cause. One of the goals of the United Nations is to provide humanitarian aid.

An example of a large humanitarian aid organization is Doctors Without Borders. Every year, Doctors Without Borders provides emergency medical care to millions in crisis after a disaster. It has operated in over 70 countries around the world over crisis such as armed conflict, epidemics, malnutrition and natural disasters. According to their website, every day over 30,000 people are helping others through Doctors Without Borders.

On a smaller scale, humanitarian aid can be found locally. A local fundraiser for a cause, such as a charity walk to raise money, can support a humanitarian aid organization. For example, nearly 1,000 GoFundMe campaigns were made to raise money after the earthquake in Nepal, raising a total of over $5 million.

There are plenty of ways to get involved in humanitarian aid! Keep it simple and think locally. How can your community help others in need? Here are 5 easy ideas for you to try:

1. Organize a dinner with your friends and ask each person to donate a little to the charity of your choice.

2. Attend a charity walk or ride. You’ll get some exercise while raising money and awareness for a greater cause.

3. Clean out your closet and donate your old clothes.

4. Join an organization like Habitat for Humanity and help build a home for those who have lost their own.

5. Help out at a local food pantry. Make a difference right in your own neighborhood.

Before getting involved with the humanitarian aid of your choice, make sure to do your homework. Understand the issue–the problem at hand, the potential solutions, the dilemmas–before launching yourself into the organization. That way you will understand the complexity of the problem and be able to get a lot out of your experience.

– Hannah Resnick

Sources: GoFundMe, World Health Organization
Photo: Flickr

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Malnutrition in Lesotho

Malnutrition-in-Lesotho
Like many countries in Africa, Lesotho faces a multifaceted humanitarian crisis in which issues are intertwined and often exacerbated by each other’s presence. The Lesotho government estimates that around 725,000 people, or about a third of the population, are in need of some form of humanitarian aid. Lesotho has the third highest prevalence of HIV/AIDS with almost a full quarter of adults ages 15-49 infected with the virus.

Furthermore, the United Nations estimates that almost 9,000 children under the age of 5 are severely malnourished in Lesotho. In 2009, a study conducted by the World Food Program (WFP) estimated that 39 percent of children under 5 years old exhibited signs of stunted growth resulting from malnutrition. UN research shows that school attendance for young boys and girls has been decreasing in recent years as well. This is likely due to families reliance on children to assist with increasing agricultural responsibilities.

Unpredictable weather conditions such as floods and droughts have burdened the production and availability of food in addition to other necessary resources. These factors have also contributed to increases in soil erosion and infertile lands. Minimal access to secure, high yielding seeds has also been an obstacle. These fluctuations of climate, coupled with the constant demand for staples such as maize, oil and sugar have caused prices to increase. All of these factors have contributed to malnutrition in Lesotho.

In an effort to combat the drastic price increases, UNICEF, WFP and the Lesotho government are working to implement relief measures. Efforts to adapt to irregular climate conditions are also in place. The Food & Agriculture Organization of the UN has created the Emergency & Resilience Program along with the Lesotho government to implement long term procedures such as subsistence farming and agro-conservation tactics. So far, the program has aided almost 20,000 farmers in Lesotho.

In 2007, UNICEF helped create the Lesotho Child Grants Program that affords impoverished families 40 U.S. dollars each quarter to purchase basic necessities. The program helps over 10,000 families and is being expanded to provide assistance to over 15,000. In addition, the dollar amount allocated to each family will be increased by 94 U.S. dollars.

Puseletso Tsiu is a recipient of the child grant who has greatly benefited from the program’s assistance. Tsiu’s two daughters died of AIDS and she has assumed responsibility for their childrens’ care. As a result of the extra support, she has been able to buy pairs of shoes for her orphaned grandchildren to wear to school. A commonplace purchase in the first world, such as the purchase of shoes, is viewed as a crucial investment in countries like Lesotho.

The National School Feeding Policy, sponsored by the WFP, provides two meals per day for students who can meet attendance requirements. For many families, the program provides an added educational and economic incentive to send young children to school. Families like Tsiu’s rely heavily upon the meals provided in schools so they can save money by not feeding them at home. In total, this program provides meals for over 400,000 students in Lesotho.

In the case of Lesotho, it has been demonstrated that international unity between organizations and governments can make a positive difference. “Kopano ke matla” is an old saying in Lesotho that roughly translates to “unity is power.” When faced with such adverse conditions, the meaning and power of this phrase must not be underestimated.

– The Borgen Project

Sources: UNICEF, WFP, UNECOSOC, FAO
Photo: World Food Programme

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The Responsibility to Protect, Evidence from Syria

r2pThe Responsibility to Protect doctrine, also known as R2P, was created by the International Commission on Intervention and State Sovereignty in response to the genocide in Rwanda. R2P argues that the international community has the responsibility to protect civilians in states that are unwilling or unable to do so, therefore re-defining the pillars of state sovereignty. Two basic pillars of the Responsibility to Protect include state sovereignty to responsibility for the protection of its people lies within the state itself, as well as the international responsibility to protect populations suffering serious harm from internal war, insurgency, repression or state failure through humanitarian intervention.

The Responsibility to Protect includes the responsibility to prevent, react and rebuild. To prevent includes addressing both the root causes and direct causes of internal conflict and other man-made crises putting populations at risk. The responsibility to react describes the duty of either the state or international community to utilize coercive measures like sanctions and international prosecution, and military intervention as a last resort in response to situations with dire humanitarian consequences. The responsibility to rebuild includes providing full assistance with recovery, reconstruction and reconciliation, usually after a military intervention.

There are six criteria for military intervention: just cause, right intention, last resort, proportional means, reasonable prospects and right authority. Military intervention is difficult to justify, not only because of the criteria for intervention, but due to state sovereignty and United Nations Security Council vetoes. The conflict in Syria demonstrates the difficulty of implementing R2P and humanitarian intervention.

In addition to issues of sovereignty between the governments, the lack of cohesive intervention from the beginning has contributed to the conflict significantly, for early attempts at intervention were neither swift nor effective.  Due to the humanitarian situation, a UNSC Resolution or unilateral intervention justification would have proven legitimate in regard to the International Convention on Human Rights and the Responsibility to Protect, for the Assad regime was not being held accountable for the mass atrocities being committed within his territory. In addition to a lack of UNSC approval, the Chinese and Russian veto of the transfer of the case to the ICC has proven a hindrance to the international capacity to alleviate the conflict and further promotes the proxy war debate.

The lack of international capacity to alleviate the conflict in Syria has illuminated several tensions for the Responsibility to Protect and the future of humanitarian intervention. The conflict further demonstrates how R2P continues to be dependent on national interests, rather than the presence of “atrocities that shock the conscience.” The international community ought to acknowledge their mistake for not intervening in Syria in pursuit of assuring this non-intervention is a deviation from the norm to protect rather than implementation of a new precedent in order to restore the legitimacy of the Responsibility to Protect and humanitarian intervention.

– Neti Gupta

Sources: Stand, Responsibility to Protect,  Global Center2p
Photo: Global Solutions

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World Concern Makes an Impact

world concern
World Concern is a nonprofit organization devoted to transforming the lives of deeply impoverished people. Founded by pharmacist Jim McCoy and Doctor Wilbert Saunders in 1955, the organization was intended to provide resources to hospitals and clinics overseas.

In 1976, the functions of World Concern shifted dramatically when they realized that sending medicines and medical supplies was not enough to aid countries affected by a variety of crisis. They began sending passionate volunteers and expert to work on the ground with people living in the targeted community.

In addition to long-term support, they offer emergency relief support to countries that have experienced earth quakes and tsunamis among other situations. Their most recent contribution to relief was after the devastating earthquake.

World Concern is revolutionary because they work in some of the world’s most diseased and dangerous places. Some of these locations include Darfur, Myanmar, Somalia, Ethiopia and Rwanda. In some of the countries World Concern works, literacy rates are as low as 25 percent. A committed staff of approximately 900 people work on behalf of World Concern’s mission to aid poor communities.

In addition, 90 percent of the donations World Concern receives go to their programs abroad. They are transparent with their fiscal information to ensure that money is being maximized where it is most effective. Fundraising takes up only 5.2 percent of all expenses and promotions. 4.7 percent goes to management and general administrative duties.

World Concern is devoted to providing clean water to communities. Clean water is pertinent to maintaining the health of the people living in the community. They bring in wells and latrines to facilitate better hygiene and access to clean water.

Another service they provide is bettering children’s access to education. Many children in these poor communities have to walk for miles and the classes are usually held is sub standard conditions either outside or in very informal settings.

In poor communities of developing countries the way that most people earn a living is through farming. These forms of subsistence living are vulnerable to food insecurity; reliance on environmental conditions and floods and drought greatly affect the income stability.

World Concern is devoted to the long-term solutions to working out solutions in some of the world’s poorest communities. They foster a sense of hope through providing access to education and clean water.

– Maxine Gordon

Sources: CRISTA Ministries, World Concern
Photo: World Concern