Haiti: a new chapter unfolds

Today marks a new chapter in Haiti’s political history as Michael Martelly becomes the country’s 56th President. Waiting in the wings will be hundreds of international organisations and bilateral government donors, supported by millions of dollars of investments, looking to the new government to drive forward their human development strategies based on the fundamental tenets of economic opportunity and poverty reduction. These strategies, pledged in the wake of the devastating 2010 earthquake, will be critical to the physical and economic rebuilding of Haiti.

But as a new vision for Haiti is created, how can we ensure it is an inclusive vision which recognises the needs of the most vulnerable, 680,000 of whom are still living under canvas in camps in and around Port au Prince? What impact will a new government have on the work of the humanitarian community and how will it approach the difficulties which have held back the recovery process? The weight of expectation on the new government will be heavy, but now is not just a time to ask what the politicians of Haiti can do. We must all step up and push for a more effective way of working with local communities to support them in their recovery.

Make space available

This will mean facing the challenges with a sense of collective responsibility. The inevitable truth is that tens of thousands are likely to remain in camps and some larger camps are likely to become permanent settlements, shantytowns or even slums. The Red Cross remains committed to providing some basic support but what is the long term strategy for the camp population?

Some people are in camps because they have no other option, some hope for better healthcare, some that they may get priority for shelter. But the simple fact is that camps will exist as long as people do not have a more viable solution. The Red Cross has provided over 8000 families with safe and improved shelter solutions, in addition to the massive emergency shelter programme which reached over 900,000 people, but we have been massively restrained by a lack of suitable, available, land. Creating incentives for land owners to make space available on the outskirts of towns in and around Port au Prince should be a government priority.

Priced out of the market

Estimates suggest 80 per cent of Port-au-Prince residents were renters or squatters before the earthquake and so large scale efforts to repair houses will be the cornerstones of transitional and permanent reconstruction efforts in the coming years. Yet too often we are hearing of houses being repaired only for rent prices to be hiked up by the owners meaning tenants are priced out of the market. Policies focused on protecting renters must be introduced, along with rent subsidies. Evictions are of huge concern and action must be taken, at government level. The interests of the overwhelming majority of Haitians who are tenants, not owners, must be safeguarded.

Community development is also needed so people have access to water, can take their children to school and have access to job opportunities. This requires community level engagement and the Red Cross, through its 10,000 strong network of Haitian Red Cross volunteers, is looking at all the services needed for a community to thrive. Urban masterplans must be rooted in local knowledge and we recommend the government empowers local mayors and authorities – recognising they are best placed to drive forward community level initiatives.

Abandoning the Parachutes

The humanitarian community must also improve, and commit to increasing collaborative working with government departments. Too many aid interventions have ‘parachuted in’ support and left, or have been unable to handover to the authorities. Having provided over 250,000 people with safe water each day the Red Cross is currently finalising an agreement with DINEPA, the Haitian Government water agency, to hand over Red Cross water trucks and support with capacity building and training of staff. This type of transition must happen more quickly and more often.

Much has been achieved by the humanitarian community in response to the earthquake, but expectations that Haiti’s problems will be resolved by humanitarian assistance alone are unrealistic. The current political transition must act as a catalyst for a reinvigoration of aid efforts, supported by a closer way of working between the Government, multilateral and bilateral aid agencies, NGOs, the Red Cross and – most importantly - local communities. Well funded and coherent development strategies, backed by a stable, transparent government, have the potential to create a positive and lasting impact for the lives of many. But improving the lives of the majority must not include overlooking the needs of the vulnerable minority. Measures must be put in place now to protect and empower these communities, so they have a chance to play their parts in the development of Haiti’s future.

/PC

Stepping Up a Gear in Haiti

One long year after the earthquake that has crippled Haiti humanitarian needs are still urgent and the road to recovery is strewn with rubble. Even the most seasoned aid workers I know have never witnessed a disaster as daunting as the Haiti earthquake. 


The Red Cross boss on the ground, Marcel Fortier, said in an interview with the BBC that in more than thirty years working in disaster zones all over the world he had never witnessed anything of similar complexity or magnitude - and this from a man who played a key role during five years operation for Tsunami relief and recovery. 


The most immediate challenges start with the sheer scale of urgent needs where basically the entire country is in need of some form of assistance and the central authority has been seriously weakened. The earthquake brought the Haitian government to its knees in an instant, and it has understandably struggled after 20 per cent of its workforce was wiped out and almost all its buildings reduced to rubble.

Early on, we in the Red Cross Red Crescent identified sanitation as the number one threat to life in Haiti and set about tackling this as our overriding priority. In the absence of fully functioning national agencies, we continue to lead a metropolitan-wide response that is vast in magnitude and provides access to sanitation services and clean water to more than half a million people every single day.

And yet, the spectre of cholera still hangs over the people of Haiti. The outbreak was born largely as a result of the country’s almost entirely collapsed infrastructure. By all accounts, it is clear that our collective efforts are not enough - an opinion voiced forcefully by our colleagues from MSF. By the standards of other major disasters and crises, it is a flashing indicator about the limitations of the humanitarian system.

Not for the first time, we call attention to the fact that this is a situation which is neither acceptable nor sustainable. Aid agencies are stretched beyond capacity and are not designed to be a substitute for municipalities or national governments.

The Haitian authorities must receive the funding that has been pledged to them and all the support required to rebuild their capacity to provide, as a priority, the basic sanitation services that the Haitian population so desperately needs and deserves. 


As if predatory cholera was not enough, more than a million people in Haiti, especially the residents of Port-au-Prince, have had to endure an extremely difficult year living in makeshift shelters in dangerous camps. The challenges of finding real shelter solutions have been numerous and are mostly linked to the fact that shelter is not just about structures. Shelter encompasses important legal, economic and social aspects that must be fully taken into consideration in close collaboration with the local community.

The rather tricky and often grey area of land tenure has been particularly testing in Haiti where an informal system of property rights is mostly based on verbal contract. Even when tenure issues are resolved, the availability of adequate parcels of land is rare. Sourcing sites to rebuild that are acceptable to the community – especially finding sites with access to economic opportunities, schools and healthcare – is also a major challenge, which means many people opt to stay in or around the rubble-strewn streets of the capital city.

Rubble removal itself is a colossal and all-too-visible physical obstacle – one which humanitarians are ill-equipped to deal with effectively. Essentially, we’re trying to rebuild on a mess – to repair a tyre on a moving vehicle.

Everyone needs to step up a gear. The next Haitian government must appoint a single minister responsible for rehousing and designate a single agency to lead the process. It should decide what to do about the legal uncertainty over land tenure. And, if land is needed for temporary homes and available in or near neighbourhoods being reconstructed, it must be willing to step in and buy it at a fair market price, perhaps with assistance from donors. 

Wealthy landowners must play a more collaborative role to resolve the stalemate and not wait for windfalls as their compatriots suffer. 

The humanitarian community itself must do more to collectively influence the pace and effectiveness of the response. We have not done enough to tackle and resolve the most significant obstacles such as land and shelter.

Together, we must commit to ‘build back better’ and enforce standards in reconstruction.

Despite all the significant challenges, we cannot lose sight of the huge amount that has been achieved. The generous billions donated by ordinary people and communities the world over have been, and continue to be, critical in providing life-saving care and support, restoring livelihoods and delivering numerous other humanitarian services to the people of Haiti.

We understand only too well what needs to be done – the need to overcome seriously complicating factors such as political turmoil, cholera, floods and hurricanes. The recovery process will take years, perhaps even a generation, but it is our best chance to turn Haiti’s fortunes around.

One year on, we mourn in solidarity with the people of Haiti. It is only by working closely with the Haitian people and genuinely engaging them as real partners in their own recovery that we can be sure to pave the road to a better future.


/PC

Rebuilding Haiti - obstacles and options

As many as one million people are still without a proper roof over their heads almost one year after a deadly quake struck Haiti. Journalists and VIPs will be arriving en masse over the next weeks to make their assessments and publish their opinions. They will see hundreds of thousands still under tarpaulins and makeshift shelters and wonder why all the money that has been raised - literally billions - has not been able to achieve more. It is a valid question, easy to ask but complex to answer.


Challenges to finding real shelter solutions have been many and are mostly linked to:

• the fact that shelter is not just about structures, it encompasses important legal, economic and social aspects that must also be taken into consideration
• the urgent priority and demands to continue delivering life-sustaining emergency services, including shelter, before proper reconstruction can start
• land tenure and informal system of property rights (it is said that some 80% of Haiti's property is based on verbal contracts)
• even when tenure issues are resolved the availability of adequate parcels of land is rare
• sourcing sites to rebuild that are considered appropriate by the community especially in terms of access to local economy, schools and healthcare (the vast majority understandably do not want to move and prefer to stay in or around their destroyed homes - and forcible displacement to 'new' shelters is clearly not an option for humanitarian organizations)
• the metropolitan sized task of rapidly removing rubble created from the destruction of an estimated 200'000 homes and buildings has been simply beyond the means of national and international agencies
• the dilemma faced by aid agencies who despite being flexible are understandably reluctant to rebuild vulnerability i.e. returning people to known vulnerable areas (flood plains, seismic zones etc.) in structures that are are not resistant to hurricanes / earthquakes etc.

The video below, just released, attempts to provide some additional background to the shelter challenges and options.

Haiti, is yet another context which demonstrates, if need be, the limitations of aid. The generous billions donated by ordinary people and communities around the world have been, and will continue to be critical in providing life-saving care and support, restoring livelihoods and delivering numerous other humanitarian services to the people of Haiti. The shelter component however is a challenge of such enormous magnitude that it necessitates long-term and well-financed developmental solutions driven by serious political will, both nationally and internationally. 

The destruction wrought upon Haiti, and especially its capital Port-au-Prince, has left unprecedented challenges for the humanitarian, development and political communities. An entire capital city and all the basic services and infrastructure that its citizens expect and deserve, needs to be completely rebuilt from scratch - and to a standard that will resist future threats. This cannot happen overnight.

One year on, we cannot lose sight of the huge amount that has been achieved but we also know only too well all that remains to be done. In addition to the shelter challenges listed above, the seriously complicating factors of political turmoil, cholera outbreaks, floods and hurricanes have all conspired to stall Haiti's much-needed progress, but nevertheless progressed it has. The serious business of humanitarian aid will continue, and continue for the long haul. Patience and perseverance will be needed as ever. Indeed, the people of Haiti know this more than any of us - already from the first weeks the phrase I most recall was: C'est l'heure de la patience!

/PC

A day to commemorate (and celebrate) aid workers

Today. August 19th, is the second year of what is being called World Humanitarian Day. Who needs another international day you may well ask - there are so many at this stage that we can barely fit them into a full calendar year.

Like others, I was probably a bit cynical, or at least non-committal when WHD was introduced last year (you know it's got legs in the humanitarian world when we give it its very own acronym!). However, this year I have literally bought the tee-shirt and will probably take part in a quiet procession later on this evening in Geneva to remember colleagues who are no longer with us. Why the change of heart - maybe a gradual realization that we have more than enough cynicism in our 'business' and a to set aside one dignified day a year to remember slain colleagues is pretty decent actually when it boils down to it.



For me, unfortunately, this list of murdered colleagues, and colleagues who have died in the line of duty (to borrow a military metaphor) is too long. So today I will be especially thinking of Rita and the Jacaranda that grows in her honor in the DRC. I will be thinking back to my first mission with the ICRC when six colleagues were slain as they slept in Chechnya on 17th December 1996. And, some dear former colleagues will spring to mind from the long list of aid workers whose lives have been cut short as they tried to effect positive change in their homelands in places such as Iraq, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Afghanistan, Somalia and too many other locations. And, most recently, in Afghanistan, when ten aid workers were mercilessly executed - our Wayfarer-in-Chief, Bob McKerrow, has written a moving and personal account of this recent tragedy in his blog.

As long as WHD remembers those of all nationalities, expatriate or not, it will be worth commemorating. I posted the video here which has been put together for the day. It is especially gratifying to see a video that doesn't glorify 'disaster porn', that doesn't bastardize 'branding porn' and that focuses firmly on the principle of principles that binds us all together - Humanity.

/PC

Happy birthday dear tragedy

We in the aid business are getting very good at marking the anniversaries of massive tragedies. Heck, we even win awards for it. Tsunamis, cyclones, earthquakes - you can rely on the aid agencies to bring out any number of glossy publications and e-products to mark the first month, second month, third month, six months, nine months, one year, two years… five.. ten.. even 25 (yes, the Chernobyl disaster happened 24 years ago, look out for the reports next year).

Our commemorations generally have an “x months (or years) after the storm/quake/eruption/outbreak/flood life is slowly getting back to normal for villagers in etc and so on”. When it isn’t. Or when “normal” means abject poverty. (photo credit to 12 year old Zhao Lei who entered the photo as part of a Red Cross competition to document life 2 years after the Sichuan quake in China, You can read her story about the photo here and view more entries from this youth photo project here).

Why do we do it? What impact does it have? Of course we have to show the sunny side, otherwise it means we have failed, that years after a disaster people are still living without shelter, clean water, food security, education, infrastructure - much like they were before the disaster, in fact.

We also do it in solidarity but even there I’ve something of a bad taste in my mouth. With the technology we have we ought to be able to let the affected communities plan the commemoration themselves, and tell it like it is, for them. If they want to, of course.

But how critical are we of what we did, of how we spent the money? The media is, finally, nipping at our heels like Jack Russels (maybe we need Rottweilers?), sometimes completely missing the point of course, but at the same time waking us up, copping us on.

And how critical are we of each other? Of the communities themselves and the governments who have the first duty to react and care?

Look at the disasters we responded to in the 80s, or the 90s. How much has changed for the pastoralists of Ethiopia, the children of Somalia? How have we failed to improve living conditions in sub-Saharan Africa? In rural Asia? In the remoter parts of the ex-USSR (where life expectancy is falling - actually it’s falling all over, even in the cities due to poor health, alcohol and drug abuse, violence).

What could be done better?

A release on the wonderful Alernet Expresso tells me: “Aid workers have expressed concern that recovery work in cyclone-affected Myanmar may be hampered by the disbandment of a coordinating group set up to oversee aid efforts.”

There’s the problem for you. All we can really do is express concern, because outrage, shock, disgust, despair, vitriol, sorrow, scorn, spleen and so on and so forth would have us out of the country as quick as you can say “the road to Mandalay”.

I’ve had issues (and pints) with John O’Shea from GOAL at times but I watched him with relish on an Al Jazeera report when he was venting about access to Haiti. 

He was advocating one single leader (actually Obama, a non-starter and he knows it) to go in and take charge. While he was in full flight the anchor wailed “bu..but..what about political sensitivities?” O’Shea barely suppressed a mischievous grin and gave a bitchslap of an answer. “I’m sorry, I’m only a rank  and file  journalist and aid worker. I don’t understand words like political sensitivities when two million people need help.”

Granted, being unaware of sensitivities is a recipe for disaster, but you can be sure O’Shea is well aware of them, despite his protests.

So what to do? Fight the good fight, keep up the work, but ask questions all the time. Use the aid to get the access to ask the questions. Use the access to get the aid in, ask the questions. Keep asking the questions, like Bob Geldof did. “Why hasn’t that man got any food” he repeatedly asked an official in Ethiopia, back in the day. And while it’s a cute trick, it’s still a good strategy.

Don’t put up with bad standards, don’t accept “we can’t do any more”, don’t accept it when our team is working a turnkey operation. Get out there and change things. That’s why we’re doing this job.

Isn’t it? 


/JL

Waking up to the life-saving power of information

Timely, relevant information can spell the difference between life and death when disasters strike. Survivors need to know where health clinics have been set up or where food is being distributed. They need to know how to trace missing relatives, find shelter and get clean water. But in many emergencies, such information is limited for those who need it most. There is also a significant but narrowing gap in getting vital information, made possible through more accurate early warning forecasting systems, to communities at risk before disasters strike.

When an emergency situation breaks out people are often caught unawares. Typically, affected populations don’t know how to get help. They feel lost and abandoned and aren’t accurately informed of risks and health hazards. Rumours, myths and false information go unchecked, adding to the uncertainty and insecurity. People aren’t empowered to make good decisions and as such have no influence over the aid response. They are often omitted from the life-making decisions that directly affect them.

Important changes are however taking place in how communities affected by disasters are engaging with humanitarian organizations. Aid workers have long realized that people caught up in a crisis are not helpless victims but a potential first line of response and a potent source of local knowledge. The challenge has often been to effectively tap into this potential resource. At the same time, humanitarian organizations are partnering more and more with communities prone to weather-related disasters to put in place effective early warning sytems to minimize impact if calamity strikes. This is happening right now in countries such as Haiti, Mozambique and Vietnam.

Today, through a combination of traditional social mobilization, new media and better forecasting technologies, disaster-prone communities and aid agencies can better share and streamline information in an effort to ensure those who need it most get it first. Increasingly, populations affected by disasters are now empowered as those best-placed to help humanitarian organizations untangle the complexity of an emergency and to identify the most urgent needs in their communities.

In the tsunami affected area of Banda Aceh in Indonesia for instance the Irish Red Cross runs regular radio programmes based on thousands of phone calls, text messages and emails received from the local communitiy. This relatively low-tech service has not only proven to ensure a more relevant and effective response to the humanitarian needs as defined by the community itself but also holds the aid community and local authorities to account. It is a true two-way communication which promotes transparent, accurate information and places all participants on an equal footing. In time, humanitarian organizations will need to be every bit as accountable to those they are supporting and assisting as they are to those who provide funding for aid operations.

The days of viewing people caught up in conflict or disasters as mere “victims” are ending. Communities unfortunate enough to have to endure a humanitarian crisis should not be viewed as passive recipients of aid but people who need to be empowered as the first line of response. They need to take a central role in determining their own recovery; their engagement, through genuine grassroots communication, is the way to achieve this. It seems that aid agencies are finally waking up to the life-saving power of Information and treating it as a service and assistance every bit as valuable as wheat flour or tarpaulins.

/PC

Gaza: Billions pledged but will the washing machines get through?

Good news for Gaza after billions pledged at the international donors conference today in Egypt. Lets hope so. As Mahmoud Abbas was quick to pronounce (maybe he reads Head Down Eyes Open): cash is "insufficient" without a political solution. Abbas went on to say that "the reconstruction and development efforts will remain insufficient, powerless and threatened in the absence of a political settlement". And this is the crux of the matter.

Most aid is conditional. In this case, conditional on real political action but that we discussed previously. It will likely be conditioned by many donors that Hamas does not benefit. And, of course, it will be conditional on Israel's cooperation to open up the border and allow an increased flow of aid and economic activity.

The first condition, if going by many positive statements from world leaders in Sharm el Sheik today may actually occur. The second condition, for argument's sake, can be readily circumvented by channelling aid through the Palestinian Authority, the UN and other aid organizations such as the Palestine Red Crescent. The third condition is trickier however.

During my recent years in the region, where I worked closely with both Palestinian and Israeli authorities to facilitate the movement of people and goods across Gaza's perimeter, the argument of "dual purpose" was regularly used by Israel to block aid and effectively seal`off Gaza from everything apart from the most vital commodities. One anecdotal example: I spent about 6 months trying to get two washing machines into Gaza for a hospital laundry (do you realize how difficult it is to run a hospital without a laundry?). The washing machines were declared "dual purpose" by the IDF, that is, could be easily converted into parts for missiles or other home-made projectiles. Other items which qualified for this ambiguous label were gravel, concrete, water pumps and on and on.

It is extremely difficult to argue against this type of logic (despite the fact that as the neutral Red Cross we guaranteed to provide a 'safe escort' for the washing machines and to monitor thier installation into the laundry). Eventually after months of efforts we succeeded - as we often do, persistence being one of the Red Cross' greatest assets. This frustration is a real issue today because large-scale projects - such as a USAID funded water and sewage project for Beit Lahiya in the north of the Strip - were completely cancelled in the past because of the impossibility to ship in raw materials and spare parts. Before this current escalation of the crisis Gaza's production was dependent on 95% raw material imports (I guess its nigh on 100% today). Will we find the political will to facilitate the ambitious reconstruction plans demanded by a $5 billion aid package?

Ban Ki Moon, UN chief, is already making this issue his key message. The UN suffered massive destruction in Gaza during the January conflict and are aware of all the potential pitfalls on the road ahead. Ban has said that the situation for getting goods through the so-called crossings into Gaza today is "intolerable" (even pasta is on the banned list it seems). "Aid workers do not have access. Essential commodities cannot get in. Our first and indispensable goal, therefore, is open crossings," he told delegates at the conference today.

We have seen in similar conferences that the easy part is to pledge money. Delivering on pledges and getting the aid to those who need it most is the real challenge ahead. We will return to this subject and follow the path from pledge to reality. If we look at the case of Afghanistan for example more than $25 billion was pledged and less than $15 billion actually 'handed over' - though according to Oxfam's research as much as 40% of this made its way back to the donor country. Like the child in the photograph accompanying this post, we will be keeping an eye on the future.

/PC

Gaza needs Political will and not just Aid

Politicians often like to relegate and label complex emergencies and conflicts to 'humanitarian crisis' the insinuation being that it requires a humanitarian fix. This is rarely if ever the case. Humanitarian aid can only ever address short term needs or contribute to longer term development and needs political will in the air if it is to have a chance of succeeding. Gaza is a case in point. This is a political crisis plain and simple that requires political action first and foremost. Humanitarian aid is a factor that needs to be added to the political solution it is not and never can be considered as the embodiment of the solution. If we hear commentators referring to Gaza as a humanitarian crisis 'only' then we can safely deduce that political responsibilities are being shirked. These sentiments are echoed quiet unambiguously in a from-the-hip commentary in today's Guaridan UK, penned by Nick Young, the CEO of the British Red Cross who has just returned from Gaza. Indeed, the International Committee of the Red Cross emphasized the same point in its public statement on Thursday. Both commentaries wrestle with the politics of aid while recognizing the necessity to remain focused on neutral and impartial action. Young puts it best when he says: Our mandate requires us to provide aid on the basis of need, and need alone, without recourse to ideology, politics or difference. But from political actors an honest and courageous peace process is required: to stop the destruction of thousands of civilian lives and to enable people to rebuild their communities and live with dignity. We will continue to fulfill our mandate. I urge the politicians and world leaders to fulfill theirs.

/PC

Believe in Africa

The focus of the blog to date has been mainly about the massive humanitarian challenges facing people in the Horn of Africa and Zimbabwe.

In a rare 'good news' story from Africa in the Guardian (the story itself not online unfortunately) I was thrilled to read about the incredible work of Mo Ibrahim, a self-made telecoms billionaire from Sudan. His story moved me to blog this and to re-commit to share more good news about Africa.

For every harrowing experience one may encounter there will be truly inspiring stories not far beneath the surface. Stories of communities uniting together to change their situations and forge out a positive future for their children. I have witnessed, for instance, Croatian families, at huge personal risk, providing safe harbor for Serb neighbors. Or meeting a man on the third day of a bicycle journey into the deep bush of Southern Sudan. He was delivering a letter from a girl separated from her mother because of conflict. The lone cyclist did not know the woman to whom he was about to deliver such a great gift. But he felt compelled to carry out this humanitarian gesture. Maybe he knew the personal heartache of separation and needed to help mend his own hurt. Maybe it was the true spirit of humanity that you so often find in the African light.

I wonder what was the last story you read about Africa? What was it about? I would wager a guess that it wasn’t a positive story. I’m guessing that it was probably another depressing story painting a continent without hope: a continent rife with corruption, disease, famine and conflict.

We recently ran a survey of how the media and key international decision makers perceive Africa. According to the findings about three quarters of the 2,607 monitored news articles were negative. The few positive stories typically focused on business rather than successes in development or health.

Now, we should be clear that this is not a criticism of the media. Journalists are often the ones uncovering hidden issues and suffering that needs our attention. They are often the ones who take risks to find out what is happening far away from cities. The media is an invaluable ally for all humanitarian organizations.

As humanitarians we need to shoulder a large part of the responsibility. We know that positive news rarely make the headlines, they don’t make prime time, and they don’t always move people to donate.

But there is good news. There are real and meaningful developments being achieved every day in Africa. Amidst the images of conflict, famine and drought, health risks, corruption and political instability, there are countless untold stories of progress and achievements.

Let’s start with the big ones: since 2000 there has been a staggering 91 per cent reduction in measles deaths, an extraordinary effort achieved largely thanks to the determination and commitment of community-based Red Cross volunteers. Its essential to acknowledge that people are actively working to change their lives for the better.

If we dig our way down to the cities, townships and settlements that scatter the African continent we will hear the story of the volunteers in Zimbabwe, who, in the midst of a cholera and food crisis are selflessly working around the clock. Let’s hear the story of Hortense in Cameroon who works to protect young women exposed to the dangers of sexually transmitted diseases.

This grassroots action is at the heart of the Red Cross. It is the source of its strength and its incredible reach. Problems are not solved in London, New York or Geneva: they are solved in the cities, communities and townships across Africa. And the Red Cross Red Crescent is at the heart of these communities.

We must not shy away from the profound challenges that Africa continent faces. But we must not get lost. We need to celebrate the micro-successes that are happening everyday. These successes, though they seem small, will be the seeds of meaningful development on this continent. We must Believe in Africa.



/PC

Bring out your Dead

Digging a Pauper's grave in Bulawayo (left)

You know a country has reached the bottom when its dead must suffer the indignity of mass burial because funeral costs are out of reach.

Zimbabwe's economic meltdown has prevented families from claiming bodies as funeral costs have become unaffordable.

Unemployment is calculated at 94 percent and more than half the population survives on donor food assistance.

The mortuary crisis has become so acute that on Valentine's Day - 14 February - the Bulawayo Residents Association (BURA), together with churches, businesses, funeral parlours and the Zimbabwe Prisons Service (ZPS), conducted a pauper's burial for 65 people whose bodies had languished in the city's morgues for over six months.

A simple wooden casket is priced at between US$350 and US$400, a sum beyond the reach of nearly all Zimbabweans. Read the full story.

This illustrative story joins a littany of others, just as harrowing. It would have been unimaginable only a few years ago to envisage such a precarious situation for Zimbabwe. Once the breadbasket of the continent it is now fully reliant on food aid, struggling to combat cholera and apparently experiencing an economic self-destruct.

The cholera crisis is a manifestation of a more fundamental humanitarian challenge underscored by food insecurity and the complete collapse of the health system. The President of MSF, Dr. Christoph Fournier, has just visited Zimbabwe and had this to say:

"The cholera outbreak, even if it is still not under control, is just the visible manifestation of this whole crisis," Dr Fournier added.

"Governments and international agencies must recognise the severity of this crisis and ensure that the provision of humanitarian aid remains distinct from political processes.

"Their policies towards Zimbabwe must not come at the expense of the humanitarian imperative to ensure that malnourished children, victims of violence and people with HIV/Aids or other illnesses have unhindered access to the assistance they need to survive." The full report of his visit plus a podcast is available on the BBC website.

/PC

Head Down Eyes Open

Welcome to Head Down Eyes Open, a blog from an Irish guy with 20 odd years in journalism and humanitarianism.

The name of the blog is inspired by a quip from a rugged street fighter in the depressed neighborhoods of London in the early eighties. His name was 'non-stop MacNally'. He came from my own hometown of Ballinasloe in County Galway. "Head Down Eyes Open" was his advice to me on how to survive the rougher side of life in London. And on how to avoid arrest on account of being Irish.

This advice has stood by me over the years as I traipsed discreetly, pen and camera in hand, through the conflict zones of Chechnya, Abkhazia, Nagorno Karabakh, Bosnia and Kosovo, Afghanistan and Pakistan, Eritrea and Ethiopia, Sudan and Somalia, Israel and Palestine and of course, the troubled Northern Ireland.

This is my first foray into blogging and I want to involve some fellow journeymen such as Dennis McClean and Joe Lowry. They will introduce themselves in good time. I would like this blog to tackle contemporary humanitarian issues with all the honesty and experience that this collection of bloggers can muster. There should also be enough room left over to discuss music, song, sport, politics, travel, culture, more politics and maybe the odd cocktail recipe.

It will have an international perspective from a platform of Irishness. It will strive to keep the Aspidistra Flying!

/PC