Human Security: Year in Review 2007
Afghanistan
Skirmishes between warring factions in Afghanistan’s southern and eastern provinces crept into other regions of the country in 2007 with suicide bombings and targeting killings. ActionAid‘s program work is continuing under strict security protocols and procedures.
In the southern Afghanistan city of Kandahar, ActionAid is working with street children and child laborers, providing them with education, access to food and safe work, and helping them to protect and exercise the rights guaranteed to them by the Afghan constitution. Two resource centers established as part of the project are teaching children life skills and vocational training in tailoring, embroidery, and kite making. One hundred children, including 37 girls, enrolled in these education and training support programs in 2007.
ActionAid is working to demobilize and reintegrate war-affected children in 22 villages across four districts of Kabul and Balkh provinces. In 2007, this project 180 children to read and provided them with vocational training on skills of their choice.
In response to the multiple threats posed to the country by on-going conflict and potential natural disasters, ActionAid is creating a Disaster Preparedness and Risk Reduction plan for the country. As part of this national project, a dedicated project team is working closely with communities in 33 villages at high risk for floods, earthquakes and landslides to strengthen their resilience and help them build the tools that will best prepare them for the advent and aftermath of natural disaster. This project will be completed in late 2008.
Bangladesh
India
Our Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) program continues to work to improve the ability of communities to prepare and protect themselves from natural and man-made disasters. During a mudslide in Chittagong in July, ActionAid volunteers began search and rescue operations immediately after the disaster.
ActionAid’s work on Bangladesh’s southern coast helped minimize the impact of Cyclone Sidr. Drills and training on cyclone preparedness taught residents in Galachipa how to safeguard food and valuables during a cyclone warning. School students used loudspeakers to announce the impending danger to their communities and urge people to take shelter in government and community buildings, urging people out of the danger zones before the cyclone made landfall.
In the immediate aftermath of the cyclone, ActionAid, working with our community-based partners, provided more than 30,000 survivors with essential relief items, including dry food, oral rehydration saline, water purifying tablets and clothing. Our long-term approach will help people to rebuild their homes, refurbish schools, and re-establish livelihoods. A comprehensive program of psycho-social support will help survivors of the cyclone cope with the loss of their relatives, homes and livelihoods.
Floods devastated parts of Assam, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra and Orissa in July and August, displacing over 12 million people and causing over $880 million worth of damage. In the immediate aftermath, ActionAid worked closely with local partners to provide food, health and hygiene, clean water and sanitation and temporary shelter to survivors. In the months following the floods, ActionAid focused on building flood-resistant houses and preparing people for future floods. In addition, ActionAid is helping people re-establish their livelihoods through public works program sponsored by the regional government.
Myanmar
Heavy rains and storms battered the country in late June, leaving thousands homeless and destroying vast swathes of cropland. ActionAid worked closely with a number of local partners to respond to the immediate needs of those affected, distributing food packages, clean water and hygiene kits to help prevent the spread of diarrhea and disease. In addition, ActionAid is closely monitoring the security situation in Myanmar following clashes between the military government and pro-democracy supporters.
Nepal
A year of political turmoil and ineffective governance exacerbated Nepal’s widespread poverty and is increasing the potential for armed conflict. ActionAid is working with people caught up in ongoing conflicts across the country to help secure their human rights, supporting several 24-hour lifeline service centers to provide a forum for people to register complaints on human rights abuses by email, telephone, fax and personal contact. A rapid response team including a human rights activist, a lawyer, a conflict specialist, a psychologist and a journalist then investigates the alleged breaches of human rights law and provides counseling and support to the victim.
Floods and landslides again ravaged Nepal during the monsoon season, affecting over 100,000 families in 47 out of Nepal’s 75 districts. Working with partners, ActionAid provided immediate support, with particular focus on vulnerable groups, including children and pregnant women.
Pakistan
Massive seasonal rains lashed Pakistan in June, causing widespread flooding and displacing thousands of people. Large areas of cropland were damaged and infrastructure destroyed. Through a network of local partners, ActionAid supplied ready-to-eat food and water and provided health services and shelter. Food packages and hygiene kits were distributed among 1,128 households in the three worst-hit areas. Mobile health services were also provided in five areas to minimize the spread of diseases.
In the face of increasing and widespread violence, ActionAid works to promote human security. In collaboration with three other national human rights organizations, ActionAid held consultations on the state of peace and human security in North West Frontier Province / Fata in April and Balochistan in June. The talks brought stakeholders together to discuss possible solutions to the ongoing conflict and to advocate for a peaceful resolution through political dialogue. In December 2008, ActionAid Pakistan will hold a National Dialogue on Peace and Human Rights to bring civil society leaders together to build and promote a peace-building agenda. In light of recent political developments, ActionAid is closely monitoring the current security situation in Pakistan. The impact of the state of emergency on the safety of the population, including ActionAid staff, is of primary concern.
In response to ethnic and religious tensions, ActionAid held a three day Peace Festival of Arts celebrating ethnic and religious diversity in August. Over 10,000 people attended. ActionAid and our local partners also carried out a five day interfaith peace rally.
Recovery work continues in the wake of the devastating earthquake that hit Pakistan in October, 2005. ActionAid continues to provide assistance to survivors, including temporary shelter, health amenities, education and livelihoods. Community organizations, including both men and women, are rebuilding homes and communities and, increasingly, advocating for their basic rights with the government and local leaders. Although much progress has been made, frustration remains high with the Pakistani government’s poor response to the earthquake.
Vietnam
A powerful storm hit Vietnam in August, causing widespread damage in 15 provinces. ActionAid worked with the government’s Flood and Storm Control Committee to assess the needs of survivors and deliver aid through local partners. Typhoon Lekima hit 17 provinces in the north and centre of the country in October, bringing with it torrential rain and floods that killed 88 people and damaged over 100,000 houses. In 2008, ActionAid will implement a Disaster Risk Reduction program to help improve the resiliency and preparedness of high-risk communities.
Africa: Regional Overview
Floods affected over 1.5 million people and caused widespread devastation in 18 countries across the African continent in 2007. ActionAid responded in Ghana, Uganda, Nigeria and Liberia, distributing relief packages including food, clothing, cooking utensils and tarpaulins, and initiated a disease prevention program.
Following the floods, ActionAid worked with communities in disaster prone areas to build their capacity and strengthen their resilience to future disasters through Disaster Risk Reduction programs and disaster mitigation trainings. ActionAid responded to several humanitarian disasters brought on by conflict across Africa in 2007. Continued fighting between rebels and the government army in the Democratic Republic of Congo is causing thousands of civilians to flee their homes. In Somalia, conflict between Somalian and Puntland soldiers forced thousand of people into poorly resourced refugee camps.
ActionAid and our partners documented the experiences of local communities and civil society in Burundi and Sierra Leone during in the first year of the UN Peacebuilding Commission. Our report ‘Consolidating the Peace?’ found that the impact had been largely positive and well-received, although important challenges remain.
Lesotho
Lesotho’s worst drought in 30 years resulted in crop failure and severe hunger in every district of the country. A ten-month long drought damaged crop yields and dried up springs and ponds, causing livestock to languish and die in the heat. A quarter of Lesotho’s 1.8 million citizens required immediate humanitarian assistance.
ActionAid Lesotho responded to the food crisis by distributing food to more than 5,000 families and providing micro-irrigation to farmers. Our efforts focused on the most vulnerable, particularly families supporting orphans and vulnerable children, and people living with HIV & AIDS. In addition, ActionAid is working with communities to identify drought resistant crops and to increase their resiliency to future droughts.
Nigeria
The oil-rich Niger delta provides more than 70 percent of Nigeria’s gross domestic product yet remains one of the poorest and least developed parts of the country. ActionAid’s Policy Dialogue on the Niger Delta examined the causes of this poverty and of the conflict arising from the degraded environments, destroyed livelihoods, and competition over access to benefits from the petroleum industry. The outcome of these discussions, the Niger Delta People’s Dialogue, is providing guidance to the Nigerian government as development continues in the Delta.
When flooding struck cities and villages throughout Nigeria in 2007, ActionAid was on-hand with immediate help and is continuing to help survivors protect their interests during the recovery efforts. Madame Abu Mohammed, 68, tells us, “I had a building inside Yola town where flood would not have destroyed, but the government demolished it without any notice or compensation. The only place I could afford to live was in swampy areas and when the flood came, I carried my 2 granddaughters and ran to a neighbor’s house till next day, when I came back to my house and found that my grains, beddings and fence were destroyed.” ActionAid is working with Madame Mohammed and others to meet their immediate needs for food, shelter, livelihoods, and healthcare while continuing to promote and protect their basic rights.
Sierra Leone
Only ten years out of civil war, political tensions remain high in Sierra Leone. These tensions create an instability that continues to foster high unemployment and widespread corruption, which is fuelling popular discontent.
ActionAid supported several networks aimed at preventing violent conflict during 2007’s presidential and parliamentary elections. A nationwide, youth-driven campaign for ‘Ballots Not Bullets’ was launched, to advocate for a peaceful election, resulting in a peaceful if still tense election cycle.
When severe winds damaged 22 houses in Kambia district in August, ActionAid responded by supplying families with non-food items including household items, kitchen utensils, roofing materials, and plastic sheets. ActionAid continues to press the government for long-term rehabilitation support for the community. In addition, ActionAid is leading Disaster Risk Reduction efforts in eight schools throughout Sierra Leone’s most vulnerable regions in 2008.
Somaliland
Ongoing clashes between over control of the disputed Sool and Sanaag regions continue to force people to flee their homes, with an estimated 17,500 people displaced. ActionAid is providing food to 500 households in this region and continues to rehabilitate the wells and pumps to supply safe drinking water to these communities. In addition, ActionAid rehabilitated 27 dams, dykes and water pumps after the April flooding in Allay-Baday. Competition over scarce resources and the spread of disease make this work especially urgent.
Democratic Republic of Congo
Escalations in fighting between rebels and the government army displaced over 50,000 people in the eastern region of the Democratic Republic of Congo. Many fleeing conflict are forced to take refuge in sprawling camps where sexual violence against women and recruitment of child soldiers is rife. Laini Hamisi, a 28-year-old mother of four who had just arrived at the camp, explains “They are not sparing us, they rape us, burn our homes, take our food and then we have to walk for miles with children on our back to get shelter.”
With conditions in the camps deteriorating, people are facing acute food and water shortages, and increased risk of disease. ActionAid is working closely with our partners to provide water containers for the 6,000 households (totaling 15,526 people) in the camp and providing care and counseling for women who have suffered often extreme trauma and violence as a result of the conflict.
