A view of the Zaatari refugee camp in Jordan, where many Syrian refugees are staying. A new report by the Médecins Sans Frontières highlights areas where emergency response need improvement. Photo by:Mohamed Azakir / World Bank / CC BY-NC-ND
International aid organizations are not responding to humanitarian emergencies as well as they should because they put more emphasis on reporting results and fundraising than actual development work, according to French medical group Médecins Sans Frontières.
MSF — with a long history of criticizing the U.N. for its role in such situations — said in a new report published on Monday that humanitarian work on the ground “has been undervalued and under-prioritized” in favor of avoiding risks and securing funding for current and future programs in countries like the Democratic Republic of the Congo, South Sudan and Syria.
That’s why the humanitarian response to the crises in these conflict-ridden nations lacks the technical capacity that well-funded top international NGOs in theory should be able to deploy, the survey adds. The report also accused organizations of leaning heavily toward “easier projects” when faced with logistical or access difficulties.
And — as expected — the French medical group singled out the United Nations.
"The current U.N. system inhibits good decision-making, in particular in displacement crises where a number of UN agencies have a responsibility to respond," Joanne Liu, MSF's outspoken international president, noted in the report, while co-author Sandrine Tiller defined the way the world body works in these countries as “just a chain of subcontracts" that passes on the responsibility from U.N. agencies to an implementing iNGO, then a local NGO, “and at the end, there's no one in the field.”
It’s not uncommon for such grave humanitarian emergencies as those in the DRC, South Sudan or Syria to brew sentiments of frustration between and among aid organizations — and MSF in particular has always been quite vocal about how they view the current status quo in emergency work.
Just in the past year, the organization first claimed that U.N. agencies were not delivering on their pledges to prepare adequately for the rainy season in South Sudan, and then accused them of an “appalling performance” in their response to the crisis in the Central African Republic.
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As associate editor for breaking news, Carlos Santamaria supervises Devex's Manila-based news team and the creation of our daily newsletter. Carlos joined Devex after a decade working for international wire services Reuters, AP, Xinhua, EFE and Philippine social news network Rappler in Madrid, Beijing, Manila, New York and Bangkok. During that time, he also covered natural disasters on the ground in Myanmar and Japan.
The information listed
below are excepts from the African Union 1st African
Ministers of Health meeting jointly convened by the AUC and WHO April 14-17,
2014 in Luanda, Angola to discuss the
establishment of an African Centre for Disease Control and Prevention. Proposed location and roadmap\timeline for
implementation are provided in the following proposal annexes.
AU Assembly Decision on ACDCP
Assembly/AUDec.499 (XXII)
Decision on the Establishment of an African Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (ACDCP)
Doc. Assembly/AU/16/(XXII)Add.4
The Assembly,
1. RECALLS the Abuja Declaration of 16 July 2013;
2. TAKES NOTES of the proposal of Ethiopa to host the Centre in Addis Ababa;
3. STRESSES the urgency of establishing the Centre;
4. REQUESTS the Commission to work out the modalities, in collaboration of
with the Governments of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia and
other interested Member States including the legal, structural and financial
implications relating to the centre and to submit a report in January 2015
to the Assembly.
ROADMAP
The ACDCP could be operational by the end of the first quarter of 2015 if everything goes according to plan. To that end, a roadmap is proposed below:
ROADMAP TO ESTABLISHMENT OF THE ACDCP
TASK DESCRIPTION TIME-LINE Stakeholders meeting Inaugural meeting to discuss the operationalization of ACDCP. June 2014 Stakeholders meeting Meeting of relevant experts to discuss the legal requirements and implications. June 2014 Situation analysis Recruitment of a consultant to map the existing regional facilities (centres of excellence, capacity building organizations, etc.) providing support to African countries. This could include a feasibility study in terms of current national and subnational networks available, and cost-benefit analysis of the Centre. ----------------- Recruitment of a consultant to undertake a desk review of disease patterns and map hot-spots with a quantification of the work to be done to address the disease burden. ----------------- This could also include mapping of capacities, taking into account the work already done by other stakeholders such as WHO/AFRO in supporting countries for capacity assessment July-August 2014
Stakeholders meeting: planning Based on the outcome of the situation analysis, a site for the headquarters will be identified, a human resource plan developed, priority activities identified, and centres identified. September 2014 Financial valuation Following elaboration of the structure and activities, a financial evaluation may be carried out to assess the costs of running the ACDCP. October 2014 Expanded stakeholders meeting The meeting is aimed at mobilizing resources. Participants will include representatives of countries, AUC, UN agencies, development partners and other potential financial contributors. November 2014 Stakeholders technical meeting The meeting will develop the ACDCP’s standard operating guidelines, staff ToRs and guidelines for supporting African countries. The meeting will also develop procurement plans, human resource recruitment plans, etc. November 2014 Operationalization Staff will be recruited, equipment procured, office space secured and demand created. March 2015 Business development Exploring new area of work, creating demand and mobilizing resources. On -going
Carlos Santamaria
