Attachments
Introduction
In Trócaire’s new Strategic Plan 2016 – 2020, Humanitarian Response is one of three priority areas of work. Trócaire has a clear mandate to act on the humanitarian imperative and respond to those in greatest need in crises.
A humanitarian crisis occurs when a single or series of disasters overwhelms the ability of the most vulnerable in society to cope. It therefore results in a loss of civilian life and/or the inability of a critical mass of civilians to secure access to one or more of the basic requirements of life with dignity; namely security, water, food, shelter and healthcare. Given the trends in recent years, Trócaire expects to respond to more frequent, severe and complex emergencies in future. Goal 4 of our Strategic plan 2016 – 2020 is to ensure ‘Lives are saved, suffering reduced and human dignity maintained and protected in humanitarian crises resulting from natural disasters and conflict situations’.
In developing this policy and strategy, the findings of an internal review of Trócaire’s Humanitarian Programme from 2011- 2014 were considered as well as lessons learnt from a number of key evaluations. In addition, Trócaire drew on information and research from ALNAP, Overseas Development Institute, and consultation documents produced for the World Humanitarian Summit.
Current issues in Humanitarian Response
The scale of humanitarian crises and needs, continues to grow. Conflict-driven emergencies are increasingly complex and protracted and affect more people each year. These conflicts displace millions of civilians, depriving them of food, clean water, education, health services, sanitation and protection and placing women and girls, in particular, at risk. At the same time, the increasing frequency and severity of natural disasters is having a devastating impact. Extreme weather conditions and disasters erode resilience, affecting the ability of women and men to grow food, earn an income and withstand future hazards.
Devastating natural disasters struck Nepal and Vanuatu in 2015. Severe floods affected Myanmar.
The El Niño weather pattern is causing severe hardship in East and Southern Africa, particularly in Ethiopia, Malawi and Zimbabwe as well as debilitating drought in Guatemala and Honduras.
The numbers affected by climate related disasters (primarily floods and storms) continue to increase year on year. We can expect hundreds of millions of people to be impacted in future, by permanent displacement, compounded vulnerability, inequality and inter-generational poverty.
However, armed conflicts are the greatest driver of prolonged humanitarian need. Crises are becoming more protracted and displacement levels are unprecedented due to the lack of durable political solutions. Brutal, extended conflicts particularly in South Sudan, Somalia, Syria, Iraq and Yemen are affecting staggering numbers of people and putting extraordinary strain on the humanitarian system.
Nearly 60 million people, half of them children, have had to flee their homes due to conflict and violence. The increased numbers of people arriving in Europe to seek asylum in 2015 placed a spot light on this issue in Europe, but in reality, 86% of the world’s refugees are hosted by developing countries (including Pakistan, Lebanon, Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda, DRC and Rwanda).The average length of conflict-induced displacement is an astonishing 17 years.
While some conflicts attract high levels of media attention, many more tend to be forgotten and underfunded.
There is growing recognition that war, civil unrest, and natural disasters intensify the risks faced by women and girls. Documented evidence indicates that humanitarian emergencies can exacerbate the practice of early and forced marriage, sexual exploitation, trafficking and forced prostitution.Yet, despite increasing attention to violence against women and girls in crisis situations, it is still poorly prioritised in humanitarian responses. In 2016, the increasing numbers of refugees in need of assistance and seeking asylum has focussed the attention of the international community on greater coherence in programming, looking at the need to invest in resilience and DRR, accept the impact of climate change and the reality that humanitarian assistance cannot be used as a conflict management tool. The World Humanitarian Summit has pushed the international community to recognise the need for greater humanitarian funding to address the needs of people in crisis and the necessity of investing in countries that are not affected by conflict but will face severe pressures from climate change and urban migration. In addition, the need for greater preparedness at country level is now more acute than ever before.
Inequality is no longer just a development challenge but a fundamental driver of conflict. Access to land, water and other natural resources such as oil and gas continues to spark conflict which is compounded by weak governance structures and practices. In the aftermath of conflict, when government structures have been destroyed, it is an enormous challenge to re-establish rule of law and justice mechanisms.
International Humanitarian Law (IHL) is flouted almost every day in conflicts around the world.
Conflicts in Syria, Yemen, South Sudan, Sudan, Central African Republic, to name but a few, are characterised by attacks on schools, hospitals, places of worship and other civilian infrastructure, with little recourse for the sanction of those responsible beyond public condemnation. The challenge of implementing IHL requires global political will yet efforts to agree on a new mechanism for monitoring IHL violations have failed to date.Humanitarian workers face ongoing risks. In 2014, 329 aid workers were victims of major attacks and 121 were killed, the majority being national staff working to implement international aid in their own countries.
Such high levels of insecurity impact negatively on decisions regarding operational presence and ultimately on the level of assistance humanitarian organisations are able to provide.
‘Localisation’ of humanitarian aid emerged as a theme from consultations leading up to the World Humanitarian Summit in 2016. In particular, evidence that less than 0.2 per cent of reported humanitarian funding is being channelled directly to national and local NGOs highlights the need for a more locallyrooted humanitarian response that leverages the responsibilities and capacities of states, civil society and affected communities.