The Way to Save More Lives
Joint article from the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Norway, Mr. Jonas Gahr Støre, the Minister of Development Cooperation of Sweden, Mrs. Carin Jämtin, and the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Estonia, Mr. Urmas Paet
The year 2005 made our planet smaller again. The catastrophes that struck, on an unprecedented scale, in various parts of the world – such as the Indian Ocean Tsunami, the Pakistan earthquake, as well as the drought in Africa, and other similar occurrences – shocked us all.
The impact of all these human crises was more far-reaching than ever before. One result was, that these horrific events caused an exceptionally large number of countries and millions of people, all over the world, to act together. Together with the traditional contributors the relief efforts were also supported by many new donors whose will and ability to respond to humanitarian crises is increasing. The impact that these events had on our societies could be seen in the extensive generosity of the general public’s spontaneous and voluntary donations for the support of the victims.
In December last year, all 191 Member States of the UN decided unanimously in the UN General Assembly to endorse the proposal of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) for a new UN Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) – a solid demonstration of our common resolve to help persons affected by disasters and calamities. The new CERF, which will be launched today on March 9, in New York, aims to speed up the international humanitarian reaction by providing immediate minimum funding to jump-start relief operations, whenever the need occurs. Additionally, CERF aims to make UN humanitarian action fair -- allocations will be based on assessed needs, and no country will be left without core humanitarian assistance due to lack of geographical importance or media attention.
In terms of overall humanitarian assistance, the world, including our three countries, has become more generous. However, we have to bear in mind, that many global humanitarian needs were still not met in the year 2005. According to OCHA, the agency responsible for humanitarian assistance coordination in the United Nations, only 63% of UN humanitarian appeals were financed at all. But only donating more money does not solve the problem. There is also an imperative need to improve two crucially important aspects of the UN’s capacity to provide lifesaving humanitarian assistance.
Firstly, the international community and the UN humanitarian organisations should improve their ability to react immediately, as a disaster begins to unfold, in order to save more lives. Emergencies generally occur unexpectedly, but this does not mean that local communities, individual countries, as well as the international community as a whole, should not be prepared. Unfortunately, there are still too many examples of the helping hand not being available, quickly enough, for those stranded in an emergency situation. Too much valuable time has been, and still is, spent on the decision-making processes and the transferring of funds. During the month following a typical UN flash appeal for the funding of an emergency relief operation, less than 30% of the financial requirements are met. For many suffering people, these, often bureaucratic, delays by the international assistance-providing system prove to be a death knell. Most lives are lost in the first days immediately following the natural disaster -- rescue teams have to start working within 48 hours, or their efforts will have only a minor effect. For this reason, it is crucially important to markedly increase the predictability of humanitarian funding, so that, the appropriate people and organizations can start working immediately after the disaster.
Secondly, international humanitarian aid is currently not equitably accessible for all people, regions, and countries affected by crises and disasters. The world-scale catastrophes, such as the South Asia Earthquake, absolutely deserve the full attention and commitment of the international media as well as the international community. However, at the same time, the UN, as well as the various donors and contributors, must also find suitable ways and adequate means to better help the victims of emergency situations, which might, in the world scale, be regarded as just being of local significance, but, as totally disastrous by the specific country and people involved. We all believe, that any victim in need deserves the dignity of assistance, but, in real life, it does not always work out that way. For example, in 2005, the small African coastal republic of Djibouti, with a population of only 500,000, faced a severe food crisis in half of the country, as a result of three consecutive dry rainy seasons. The UN appealed for food aid for almost 30,000 people, water for 18,000 people, and supplementary feeding for some 6,000 vulnerable children. With only one third of the requested funds available, many of these people had to try to survive without being able to satisfy their most basic needs. Unfortunately, Djibouti was not the only country, which did not get enough international attention and assistance to cope with its disastrous situation. And we are not talking about rebuilding or reconstruction needs. But about the lack of assets for saving lives, especially those of women and children. People also die due to long-lasting humanitarian crises caused by civil unrest, or due to environmental disasters, when the world has not been able to react adequately. The needs of refugees (according to the UN, up to 9.3 million people in 2004) and internally displaced people (up to 25 million people in the same year) also continue to be one of the major challenges to humanitarian response. Not to mention numerous forgotten crises in many countries all over the world...
Fortunately, the new funding instrument CERF is called to directly deal with the two aforementioned challenges, as well as to increase the humanitarian capacity of the UN system.
By supporting the new CERF initiative, we hope to save more lives, and to bring dignity into the lives of ever more people.
Facts:
CERF – Central Emergency Response Fund -- will be launched on March 9, 2006.
The new CERF has three objectives:
Promote early action and response so as to save lives;
Enhance response to time-crucial requirements based on demonstrable needs;
Strengthen the core elements of humanitarian response in under-funded crises.Donors: by early March 2006, 21 countries, including Norway ($30 million), Sweden ($41 million), and Estonia ($24,000)
The year 2005 made our planet smaller again. The catastrophes that struck, on an unprecedented scale, in various parts of the world – such as the Indian Ocean Tsunami, the Pakistan earthquake, as well as the drought in Africa, and other similar occurrences – shocked us all.
The impact of all these human crises was more far-reaching than ever before. One result was, that these horrific events caused an exceptionally large number of countries and millions of people, all over the world, to act together. Together with the traditional contributors the relief efforts were also supported by many new donors whose will and ability to respond to humanitarian crises is increasing. The impact that these events had on our societies could be seen in the extensive generosity of the general public’s spontaneous and voluntary donations for the support of the victims.
In December last year, all 191 Member States of the UN decided unanimously in the UN General Assembly to endorse the proposal of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) for a new UN Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) – a solid demonstration of our common resolve to help persons affected by disasters and calamities. The new CERF, which will be launched today on March 9, in New York, aims to speed up the international humanitarian reaction by providing immediate minimum funding to jump-start relief operations, whenever the need occurs. Additionally, CERF aims to make UN humanitarian action fair -- allocations will be based on assessed needs, and no country will be left without core humanitarian assistance due to lack of geographical importance or media attention.
In terms of overall humanitarian assistance, the world, including our three countries, has become more generous. However, we have to bear in mind, that many global humanitarian needs were still not met in the year 2005. According to OCHA, the agency responsible for humanitarian assistance coordination in the United Nations, only 63% of UN humanitarian appeals were financed at all. But only donating more money does not solve the problem. There is also an imperative need to improve two crucially important aspects of the UN’s capacity to provide lifesaving humanitarian assistance.
Firstly, the international community and the UN humanitarian organisations should improve their ability to react immediately, as a disaster begins to unfold, in order to save more lives. Emergencies generally occur unexpectedly, but this does not mean that local communities, individual countries, as well as the international community as a whole, should not be prepared. Unfortunately, there are still too many examples of the helping hand not being available, quickly enough, for those stranded in an emergency situation. Too much valuable time has been, and still is, spent on the decision-making processes and the transferring of funds. During the month following a typical UN flash appeal for the funding of an emergency relief operation, less than 30% of the financial requirements are met. For many suffering people, these, often bureaucratic, delays by the international assistance-providing system prove to be a death knell. Most lives are lost in the first days immediately following the natural disaster -- rescue teams have to start working within 48 hours, or their efforts will have only a minor effect. For this reason, it is crucially important to markedly increase the predictability of humanitarian funding, so that, the appropriate people and organizations can start working immediately after the disaster.
Secondly, international humanitarian aid is currently not equitably accessible for all people, regions, and countries affected by crises and disasters. The world-scale catastrophes, such as the South Asia Earthquake, absolutely deserve the full attention and commitment of the international media as well as the international community. However, at the same time, the UN, as well as the various donors and contributors, must also find suitable ways and adequate means to better help the victims of emergency situations, which might, in the world scale, be regarded as just being of local significance, but, as totally disastrous by the specific country and people involved. We all believe, that any victim in need deserves the dignity of assistance, but, in real life, it does not always work out that way. For example, in 2005, the small African coastal republic of Djibouti, with a population of only 500,000, faced a severe food crisis in half of the country, as a result of three consecutive dry rainy seasons. The UN appealed for food aid for almost 30,000 people, water for 18,000 people, and supplementary feeding for some 6,000 vulnerable children. With only one third of the requested funds available, many of these people had to try to survive without being able to satisfy their most basic needs. Unfortunately, Djibouti was not the only country, which did not get enough international attention and assistance to cope with its disastrous situation. And we are not talking about rebuilding or reconstruction needs. But about the lack of assets for saving lives, especially those of women and children. People also die due to long-lasting humanitarian crises caused by civil unrest, or due to environmental disasters, when the world has not been able to react adequately. The needs of refugees (according to the UN, up to 9.3 million people in 2004) and internally displaced people (up to 25 million people in the same year) also continue to be one of the major challenges to humanitarian response. Not to mention numerous forgotten crises in many countries all over the world...
Fortunately, the new funding instrument CERF is called to directly deal with the two aforementioned challenges, as well as to increase the humanitarian capacity of the UN system.
By supporting the new CERF initiative, we hope to save more lives, and to bring dignity into the lives of ever more people.
Facts:
CERF – Central Emergency Response Fund -- will be launched on March 9, 2006.
The new CERF has three objectives:
Promote early action and response so as to save lives;
Enhance response to time-crucial requirements based on demonstrable needs;
Strengthen the core elements of humanitarian response in under-funded crises.Donors: by early March 2006, 21 countries, including Norway ($30 million), Sweden ($41 million), and Estonia ($24,000)
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