Select Committee on International Development Minutes of Evidence


Memorandum from UK Committee for UNICEF

1. Introduction

Coverage of the emergency in southern Sudan in the media and parliament has largely concentrated on the "big picture" of the needs of the whole population and the resources and access available. The work of the UK Committee for UNICEF is to raise awareness of the threats to and to raise funds for children in this emergency, who have special needs beyond those of the rest of the population. The special food, such as UNIMIX, oral rehydration salts and vaccines and medicines which are prescribed for children are delivered not by air drops, but direct to specialist staff in partner organisations on the ground. The work of protection and supplies for children is coordinated with that of adults through Operation Lifeline Sudan. However, as the UK Committee for UNICEF, we can only comment on our personal observations of the work done for children in southern Sudan and on our role in education, advocacy and fundraising in the UK. Similarly, although conflict is the major cause of the present crisis in southern Sudan, we are not experts on the political situation.

UNICEF structure and funding

UNICEF, the United Nations Children's Fund, was founded in 1946 and is the only UN agency devoted exclusively to children. It began as an emergency fund—the E of UNICEF—and while its mandate was extended in 1953 to cover the long-term needs of children throughout the developing world, UNICEF has never turned its back on children in critical circumstances and danger. It works in 161 countries and territories with governments, non-governmental organisations, civil society and the private sector to advance children's rights to survival, protection, development and participation. Its largest area of expenditure is child health; other major areas of work are water supply and sanitation, nutrition, education, children in need of special protection. early childhood care and promotion of the Convention on the Rights of the Child. It receives no money direct from the United Nations, but appeals directly to governments and the private sector for voluntary contributions.

Total income in 1997 was £557 million—66 per cent from governments and 34 per cent from private support, primarily through its 37 National Committees in industrialised countries. The UK Government is the sixth largest government donor to UNICEF overall—for 1997 the contribution was £21.54 million.

The 36 member Executive Board of UNICEF is made up of government representatives. It establishes policies, reviews programmes and approves budgets. The UK Government is currently an active and constructive member of the Board.

The UK Committee for UNICEF (The UK Committee)

The UK Committee is a registered charity with its own Board of Trustees.

It is an independent organisation which exists to support the work of UNICEF and operates under a recognition agreement with the United Nations Children's Fund. The UK Committee liaises with UNICEF headquarters in New York, the office for Europe in Geneva and with field representatives throughout the world.

The UK Committee is one of the 37 National Committees for UNICEF, whose role is to

—  promote the rights of children as set out in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child;

—  support development education in schools;

—  raise support for UNICEF's long-term development and emergency programmes among the public;

—  share information about UNICEF's work with the British Government and parliamentarians, with non-governmental organisations, with the media and the public.

Our President is Lady Howe, Chairman of the Broadcasting Standards Commission; the Chairman is Sir John Waite, a former Court of Appeal Judge; the Vice-Chairman is Peter Unwin CMG, a former Ambassador and Deputy Secretary General of the Commonwealth; the Treasurer is Andrew Hind, Financial and Commercial Director at the BBC World Service, formerly Deputy Director of Action Aid and of Barnardos. The Executive Director, Robert D. Smith CMG, is one of the most experienced development agency directors in the UK. The Committee's income from government, corporate donors and private donors for 1997-98 was £11.4 million.

2. The UK committee campaign on children in conflict

The UK Committee has become increasingly concerned about the needs of children in conflict situations and protracted emergencies. For example, we have seen UNICEF's expenditures on emergencies rise from 8 per cent a decade ago to 24 per cent now. On 26 March the Committee launched a campaign with its publication of Children in Conflict—a child rights emergency with parliamentary and fundraising objectives. The launch attracted major media interest, nationally and internationally. and the parliamentary launch drew widespread interest from both Houses and across the parties. The parliamentary objectives focus on an agenda for action covering legislation, humanitarian policy and diplomatic activity needed to protect children in conflict. The fundraising objectives relate to specific funds needed for programmes to protect children in situations of conflict. As part of this work we have organised a series of visits—to Sudan, Burundi, Mozambique and Sri Lanka.

3. UNICEF's work in emergencies

UNICEF has a continuous field presence in 161 countries and territories. Therefore it is invariably in a country before during and after an emergency. In each country it works on a programme, agreed with the government concerned and involving a wide variety of local partners, which focuses on basic health, water, nutrition, education, child protection and advocacy. As stated above, UNICEF raises over 30 per cent of its income from private sources; of this income, some 75 per cent is for development programmes.

Children's special needs

The central role of UNICEF in an emergency is to act as an advocate for children, for child protection and care. In terms of service delivery, children have special needs; for instance where there is a food shortage. During our visits to southern Sudan we have seen that food for the whole population is dropped by WFP from Hercules aeroplanes. The supplies for children and women and to support the range of programme activities carried out by the consortium members, have to be delivered and distributed differently. Our understanding of the practicalities of dealing with the special needs of children is as follows:

—  UNICEF commissions both freight and small passenger aircraft which land and deliver for example special food for malnourished children and medicines and vaccines to nutritionists and health workers. At present because of the increased needs and the urgency of meeting those needs before the rainy season sets in, UNICEF is flying four Buffalo airplanes continuously rather than one Buffalo 100 hours per month.

—  Food shortages hit children early and the severely malnourished need to be fed special food prescribed by nutritionists, after they have been weighed and their weight-for-height charted. OLS policy guidelines recommend that children below 80 per cent weight-for-height be admitted to supplementary feeding programmes, and children below 70 per cent weight-for height be admitted to therapeutic feeding programmes.

—  Food alone will not save a sick child and in order to avoid dehydration, children suffering from diarrhoeal diseases need to be administered oral rehydration salts. Malnourished children are more prone to diseases and therefore medicines and vaccines against killer diseases such as measles need to be supplied.

—  Water borne diseases are a particular problem in southern Sudan where less than 20 per cent of the population have safe water. So providing water and sanitation is essential. UN Water, under UNlCEF's leadership, has coordinated the water supply to feeding centres and centres where large numbers of displaced people have gathered.

—  The poor crop, the drought and the displacement of civilians by war has meant that families are without food. UNlCEF has been delivering seeds and tools to enable families to plant for the harvest due in September-October. By 15 June, UNICEF had transported over 1,000 Mts of seeds and tools to south Sudan, including over 700 Mts to Bahr el Ghazal. This represents over 1,000 flying hours in a Buffalo. The UK Committee saw deliveries of seeds provided by UNICEF (funding from USAID and ECHO) and NGOs, including MSF-Holland, SCF-UK, World Vision.

Development in an emergency

Even in an emergency UNlCEF's programme includes development. In its several visits to Sudan since 1981 the UK Committee has seen UNICEF perform five roles:

Advocacy—Emphasising the basic humanitarian obligation to protect children against the effects of war and to stop targeting children, for example recruiting child soldiers. Linking humanitarian principles with traditional Sudanese values which clearly seek to protect children and civilians in crisis. The Humanitarian Principles programme, which has been pioneered by UNICEF, is a unique and innovatory attempt to deal with the issues of ensuring that humanitarian assistance goes to the targeted beneficiary civilian population, and that civilians are protected. UNICEF/OLS, together with its counterparts, the humanitarian wing of the southern Sudanese rebel movements, launched the initiative in late 1994 for the promotion of humanitarian principles.

Assessment—We have received regular assessments from the programme in Sudan on the threats to children and the programmes needed to address these.

Care and essential social services—Over the years the UK Committee has supported financially UNICEF's work on immunisation, providing potable water and sanitation, nutrition of malnourished children, seeds and tools for cultivation and household food security. We have visited education projects and looked at the basic education kits, teacher training and provision of school uniform schemes implemented by UNICEF and partners in southern Sudan. We applied for and obtained financial support from the UK grant giving body Charity Projects for a pastoralists programme, training local vets to inoculate cattle against rinderpest.

Protection—UNICEF and its partners implement the protection programmes for unaccompanied children, demobilised child soldiers and workshops on humanitarian principles, which links the rights of children to traditional Sudanese values, carried out by UNICEF and its partners. We have recently channelled a major grant for one of the landmine awareness programmes recommended by a recent UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs mission to southern Sudan.

Building capacity—We have witnessed work on sustainability, building local capacity and development as far as it is possible given the emergency nature of the work. In particular we have noted work with the local counterparts.

Children in Conflict and the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child

The UN Convention, now ratified by almost all countries in the world, makes specific reference to protections which need to be afforded to children caught in armed conflicts.

Article 38

1.  States Parties undertake to respect and to ensure respect for rules of international humanitarian applicable to them it armed conflicts which are relevant to the child.

2.  States Parties shall take all feasible measures to ensure that persons who have not attained the age of 15 years do not take a direct part in hostilities.

3.  States Parties shall refrain from recruiting any person who has not attained the age of 15 years into their armed forces. In recruiting among those persons who have attained the age of 15 years but who have not attained the age of 18 years, States Parties shall endeavour to give priority to those who are oldest.

4.  In accordance with their obligations under international humanitarian law to protect the civilian population in armed conflicts, States Parties shall take all feasible measures to ensure protection and care of children who are affected by an armed conflict.

Article 39

States Parties shall take all appropriate measures to promote physical and psychological recovery and social reintegration of a child victim of: any form of neglect, exploitation, or abuse; torture or any other form of cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment; or armed conflicts. Such recovery and reintegration shall take place in an environment which fosters the health, self-respect and dignity of the child.

UNICEF is specifically named as having a role to support, through technical advice or assistance, the implementation of the Convention. This not only legitimises, but requires UNICEF's intervention in areas where it has special competence.

4. Operation Lifeline Sudan (OLS)

Operation Lifeline Sudan (OLS) was set up in April 1989 following a famine in southern Sudan the result of drought and civil war—which killed an estimated 250,000 people in 1988. Its mandate, negotiated with the Government of Sudan and the Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM) is to deliver humanitarian assistance to all civilians in need, regardless of their location. It is still the only humanitarian relief programme which operates cross border into a war zone with the agreement of the sovereign government and other parties to the conflict. OLS operates on four basic principles—neutrality, impartiality, transparency and accountability. Frequent UN-led negotiations centre on improving access and modalities of delivery of humanitarian assistance.

Southern Sudan has been plagued by war for three of the last four decades. The war is one of the world's longest, unresolved conflicts. More than a million people are estimated to have died since 1983, and more than four million have been displaced by fighting and famine. Despite the continuing conflict, OLS has succeeded in maintaining the confidence of the warring parties and access to vulnerable populations.

In 1998, OLS is reaching an estimated four million people with essential relief and rehabilitation services, including food, basic health care, safe water, measures to improve household food security, emergency relief and shelter, basic education and special care for war-affected children. Without these services many more people would undoubtedly suffer and many would die as a result of food shortages or preventable diseases.

OLS is on the cutting edge of initiatives to improve the delivery of humanitarian relief in complex emergencies. It is a model of cooperation between the UN and non-government agencies~ with more than 40 organisations cooperating under the OLS consortium. Nothing comparable has existed in any other country.

Since 1994, OLS has also been working to address the root causes of civilian suffering through promoting awareness of, and adherence to, humanitarian principles, as contained in the Geneva Conventions and the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989). For the first time in any conflict, the leaders of all the main Sudanese warring factions have signed their commitment to abide by these internationally accepted humanitarian principles. An intensive education campaign has taken the message to those in southern Sudan best equipped to protect the rights of civilians: community leaders, civil and military authorities, traditional chiefs, Sudanese NGOs, teachers and church groups.

OLS reports under the UN system. OLS operationally is headed by UNCERO (United Nations Coordinator for Emergency Relief Operations), Khartoum. It comprises of the northern sector, operating from Khartoum and servicing mainly, but not exclusively, government-held areas, and the southern sector, based in Nairobi servicing mainly, but not exclusively, rebel-held areas. The southern sector of OLS is headed by the southern sector Coordinator, who is also UNICEF's Chief of Operations.

The OLS southern sector is a consortium with UNICEF as the lead agency. The consortium is made up of two UN agencies (UNICEF and WFP) and international and Sudanese NGOs. UNICEF's responsibilities as lead agency include:

1. Negotiating access with the rebel movements, and supporting the UNCERO in his access negotiations with the Government of Sudan.

2. Coordinating and supporting the overall programme.

3. Providing funding for the common airbridge used by NGOs.

4. Providing the security system for international staff of 11 OLS agencies.

5. Providing a radio communications system and managing the OLS forward staging base in Lokichokio, northern Kenya.

In addition to the lead agency role, UNICEF also supports programmes for children and women within its mandate. In the northern sector, UNICEF contributes as a member of OLS to programmes mostly in the government-held areas, including those of southern Sudan.

5. The UK committee's history of concern for Sudan

The UK Committee for UNICEF has a particular link to Sudan. The UK Committee has provided rolling support for UNlCEFs development work in the country in health, clean water and sanitation and education, as well as emergency contributions since 1981. This is the most sustained programme of funding support we have given to any country. The total contributions made to March 1997 amounted to £3,900,000.

The UK Committee has been concerned at the continued under funding of UNlCEF's programmes in southern Sudan. UNlCEF's programmes only received 42 per cent of the requested funding in 1997. The UK Committee was also concerned about the findings of the OLS Annual Needs Assessment in October 1997. The Assessment found that needs in south Sudan were set to increase by 25 per cent in 1998, and that 1998 was likely to be the most difficult year for south Sudan since 1993. Bahr el Ghazal was cited as the most vulnerable area. This warning was repeated to donors and to the international community through the media at the launch of the UN Consolidated Appeal for Sudan in February 1998.

At the end of January 1998 fighting took place in Northern Bahr el Ghazal region, particularly around the towns of Wau, Aweil and Gogrial. An estimated 100,000 people were displaced. On 2 February 1998 we received notice of an emergency appeal issued by UNICEF to donor governments for £1.2 million to ensure adequate levels of emergency preparedness and response to be able to react immediately. Existing available stocks of supplies were used to respond immediately and two relief flights were sent to the area.

On 4 February the Government of Sudan suspended flights to Bahr el Ghazal and that flight ban had a serious impact, not only on the war affected population but also on the hundreds of thousands of women and children living in Bahr el Ghazal, one of the most deprived areas of the south which was already experiencing a severe food deficit. With little or no medicines on the ground wounded civilians had little or no chance of receiving medical care. Cases of diarrhoeal diseases had already been reported among children on the move and a current polio immunisation campaign was badly affected.

In March two UK Committee for UNICEF staff members visited southern Sudan with two supports. They reported that the malnourishment of children in Bahr el Ghazal was severe, and that the flight ban together with the lack of airplanes and flying hours meant that the situation was deteriorating. In addition they visited areas not affected by the ban such as Western Equatoria where extensive mining by both sides meant that fertile soil was unable to be cultivated and a major donation was given to a mine awareness project.

Although the flight ban was lifted on 31 March, when the Deputy Executive Director of UNICEF UK visited at the end of April with Lord Deedes the situation was worsening. Two months of flight suspensions put extreme pressure on traditional coping mechanisms and many people had already sold or eaten their cattle, used up their reserve stores of food and were forced to survive only on wild foods. Malnutrition rates, especially among children, were already alarmingly high and more airplanes and flights were urgently requested. The UNICEF appeal was only 21 per cent funded (end April figure) and the staff at the Lokichokio airbase had only five Mts tonnes of UNIMIX (the special food for malnourished children) left. Emergency kits of bedding, cooking pots and watercans for displaced children and families were nearly exhausted. Seeds and tools for planting were being delivered but we saw children and mothers picking up the raw seeds spilt from sacks and eating them. We visited Panthou in Bahr el Ghazal where a nutritional assessment carried out in January showed the whole community had been displaced and lost livestock and short term crops. It said that due to the drought, residents of Panthou would face up to a 55 per cent nutritional deficit until the harvest in September 1998. Since that assessment fighting had led to further displacement.

Although the OLS standard is to provide supplementary feeding for children who are below 80 per cent weight for height we visited a feeding centre where lack of capacity meant that only children less than 70 per cent weight for height were being fed. We spoke to mothers who were using one malnourished infants rations to feed up to four other children and saw progress charts OD malnourished children who were not putting on weight because the food was being shared between the whole family.

ln addition we saw the long term work of UNICEF. In education in Western Equatoria we visited a school where children with no desks, no seats, no chalk, no books were being taught by volunteer teachers. UNICEF and partner NGOs were providing school in a box, slates, chalk, books and working on a viable curriculum. The children exhibited a solid determination to learn. Capacity building was very apparent as at each location and in each activity (both in the rebel-held areas and during a later visit in May in the government areas) partner NGOs "counterparts" were participating in or leading the projects.

The humanitarian principles work of UNICEF and in particular the importance of the ground rules was brought home to us in Western Equatoria. An attempt by armed soldiers to board our truck was stopped when our counterparts explained that their commander would enforce the ground rules that stated that no armed men could be carried on board a UNICEF truck on humanitarian work.

Subsequently the Deputy Executive Director accompanied Oona King MP to the northern sector of OLS in May. There the importance of essential services was clear. For example in Bentiu in Unity State UNIMIX for malnourished children was being administered carefully but there was no clean water and therefore it was mixed with water that could carry diarrhoeal and water borne diseases.

We saw the effect of the armed conflict on children everywhere we visited. The ownership of cattle that defines the wealth of a Dinka or Nuer has always been the reason for cattle raids by one group against the other in southern Sudan. However the arming of militia on both sides means that these raids are now carried out by people armed with AK47s. We met a father widowed after such a raid, caring for his only remaining son who had been shot in the back by militia during a cattle raid.

The launch of the appeal

While the UK Committee was liaising closely with the field we were also in touch with other Committees about the UNICEF appeal. On 20 April the Netherlands Committee launched an appeal with nine other NGOs (the equivalent of the DEC). Five days later the UK Committee for UNICEF which had received many queries from the press and the public about southern Sudan placed an advertisement in the press, appealing for funds.

During a telephone conference on 27 April between the Executive Director in London and the Deputy Executive Director at the OLS supply base in Lokichokio, and with the support of the UK Committee's Trustees, it was decided to launch a major appeal. There was a great deal of public interest in the appeal which was covered on the 1pm, 6pm and 9pm news on 28 April. We continued to bring the situation in southern Sudan to the attention of government and parliamentarians—on 30 April Lord Deedes and the UK Committee briefed the Secretary of State on the situation in southern Sudan, on 14 May we arranged for the coordinator of OLS to brief MPs in the House of Commons and in May we accompanied Oona King MP to visit UNICEF supported projects in northern Sudan.

In June 1998 the UK Committee continues to fundraise on the basis that 2.2 million people are at risk. Approximately 30 per cent of children in Bahr el Ghazal, and 25 per cent in Western Upper Nile (Unity state) are malnourished. Seeds have been distributed and planted in some areas. In other areas, local community leaders are saying that the rains are not right and are holding off planting. The rains are late and may not come at all, and this would be disastrous. Not only would the harvest suffer (people depend for about 40 per cent of their needs on the harvest), but also pasture would not replenish. nor would the wild foods nor the fish, which people also eat. According to FEWS (Famine Early Warning System of USAID),

The onset of rains, expected from mid-March onwards, was delayed by up to a month in many areas. Areas to the east of the Nile in Upper Nile, Jonglei and parts of Eastern Equatoria have remained unseasonably dry, both during May and since the start of the rains. Elsewhere, the rains have been erratic with localised heavy rains interspersed with dry spells. Consequently, vegetable growth has remained below the seasonal average in most areas.

Therefore the UK Committee for UNICEF is preparing to continue to fundraise for a long-running emergency. In the last two days we have received reports of a worsening situation in southern Sudan. The World Food Programme are now characterising the situation as a famine and the UNICEF programme in southern Sudan is severely strained because of the cost of additional flights.

Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC)

The UK Committee for UNICEF is not a member of the DEC Consortium, despite its close relationship with many of the agencies concerned in terms of co-ordinated action in the field and mutual assistance and co-operation in delivering assistance to children. In the UK we act together with several member agencies in education and advocacy activities on issues affecting children's lives—on landmines, on debt, on children's rights, for example.

The Executive Director contacted the Secretary of the DEC on Tuesday, 28 April in the wake of the visit to the southern sector of Sudan by Lord Deedes to inform the DEC of the action the UK Committee was taking~and to share information on UNICEF's perception of the needs of children as compared with those of the population at large. Funding requirements and fundraising plans and the editorial coverage being given in the press and on television were also discussed. The DEC indicated that there were divided views among its members and that a decision had been taken not to mount any joint appeal for the time being.

The friendly exchange of information has continued. We spoke again on Wednesday, 20 May. On the eve of the launch of the DEC Appeal for Sudan, indicating that UNICEF was hoping to arrange a further visit, this time to government-held areas via Khartoum, with Oona King MP. The DEC shared the outline of their appeal plans.

—And DFID

In a similar way the UK Committee for UNICEF tries to liaise with the field and with DFID. A close liaison is essential in emergencies and we were in contact with the Government, other NGOs and civil servants for example.

The field visit by Oona King MP and the Deputy Executive Director of UNICEF UK was confirmed in the course of a meeting between a delegation of MPs accompanied by UNICEF's Executive Director in the UK and the Secretary of State on 20 May to talk about UNlCEF's Children in Conflict Campaign.

Frequent telephone and face-to-face contact with the Africa, Greater Horn and Co-ordination Department at DFID has been maintained throughout recent weeks in relation to the visit by Lord Deedes, that by Oona King MP. and over the three separate Government contributions to UNlCEF's work of £100,000 each during March, April and May 1998.

Finances

On 19 February the UN launched the 1998 Consolidated inter-agency Appeal for Sudan requesting £67 million to implement humanitarian projects in the country during the year. UNICEF's component was £20.725 million. This was the minimum amount that UNICEF required to fulfil its lead agency role and to carry out programmes for women and children. The UK Government was the first to respond pledging £4 million to the UN appeal. Subsequently £300,000 of this sum has been allocated to UNICEF programmes. We understand that a further sum is being allocated to UNICEF programmes in the next week. As of end May 1998, funding had been received for 42 per cent of the total UNlCEF-part of the appeal

Readers' response to The Express UNICEF Appeal in the last weeks have totalled over £350,000. In addition the UK Committee has raised a further £2,065,000 from supporters—a total of £2.4 million the largest amount ever raised by the Committee from a single appeal.

6. Fundraising in emergencies

Images of development

We accept the arguments set out in Development with a Human Face (Clarendon Press 1997) written by one present and one former UNICEF employee that the negative image of development is partly due to the presentation of fundraising appeals in the past as emotive images of failure. In our fundraising work we use positive images of development and tell of the progress that has been achieved eg in global immunisation, child survival, access to health care and safe water. Care needs to be taken not to destroy public confidence in development and the successes of development.

Even in an emergency images used should respect the dignity of the victims of disasters and highlight their capacity and aspirations. In the case of Sudan we have highlighted the courage and endurance of both mothers and unaccompanied children. Aspirations that have been highlighted have ranged from the need for southern Sudanese to have seeds and tools to plant a crop to the longer term hopes of girls for a safe home and education.

The images used in our advertising are vetted by a staff member with an MA specialising in images in development. We have staff discussions and training on images in development. We avoid using pictures of extreme malnourishment as are sometimes shown in the media, not because they are untrue. but because they show such a small part of the truth as to be misleading. Such images can reinforce stereotypes and deny people their dignity.

ln our work on development education in some 6,000 schools we run sessions on images of development in order to try and disperse some of the stereotypes in children's minds. In addition. we train our speakers to use language which does not reinforce negative stereotypes.

Use of public fundraising appeals in emergencies

A pubic fundraising appeal is not the automatic response of the UK Committee to an emergency. In the case of Sudan we watched the situation deteriorate over six months before launching an appeal. However, sometimes the needs of the children and their families affected by an emergency require a public appeal to raise necessary resources. In addition our donors and supporters wish to help UNICEF's programmes at such times of clear undeniable humanitarian need. A political solution is the only long term solution which will protect the children of Sudan to survive and develop. While the international community focuses on the need for political solutions and access, from time to-time the immediate needs of children cry out for urgent attention.

We have not found any evidence of compassion fatigue during either of our most recent public appeals—for North Korea (August 1997) and Sudan (April to June 1998).

Coordination

The UK Committee for UNICEF works closely with UNICEF, with the UK Government, with parliamentarians, the DEC, and other UK voluntary organisations in its advocacy and fundraising. Consultation is critical in this respect and we keep in close touch with all parties as the emergency progresses.

7. Conclusion

There are several lessons to be learnt by the UK Committee for UNICEF from our work on the Sudan emergency.

Communication

The situation in Sudan has been fast moving. Statements such as "we have resources" or "access is the best that we have ever had" are relative and relate to a humanitarian and political situation that is rapidly moving. Definitions of words such as famine and resources are often very different.

Timing

It seems to us unfortunate that the UN system of appeals means that an early warning in October. translates to a draft appeal in December and an actual appeal as late as February. Whilst we are aware of the importance to ensure coordination and avoid duplication it is also clear that February was rather too late to be asking for resources as the crisis was unfolding.

Emergency appeals

As a development agency we are clear about the importance of showing the positive side of development—the decline in infant mortality and the rise of immunisation for example. However there are circumstances where areas beyond any one agency's control result in a severe emergency. On such occasions NGOs, field staff and IGOs, hopefully working together, need to appeal to ensure that resources are made available—and fast.

Complex emergencies

In these often fast moving situations a variety of political and natural causes mean that children are put in danger. An effective response to complex emergencies necessitates a well thought out political strategy but also a carefully coordinated approach by agencies in the field and by donor fundraisers and advocates in countries. Coordination and communication in the industrialised countries can always be improved.



 
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