6—Memorandum
submitted by World Vision
World Vision values the opportunity to respond
to the Departmental Report 2006 published by the Department for
International Development (DFID) and to the request for evidence
from the International Development Committee. This Memorandum
constitutes the written comments/evidence of World Vision.
World Vision—a leading international faith-based
humanitarian aid and development agency—is a remarkable
network which brings together 80 southern and northern civil society
organisations in poverty reduction. This connects people fighting
poverty worldwide—from 40 million in the South to over three
million in the North. Through effective child-focused development
and humanitarian programmes in over 15,000 communities and growing
advocacy and policy influence with national governments and international
institutions, World Vision's contribution towards the Millennium
Development Goals (MDGs) is among the most significant of any
non-governmental organisation in both scope and scale. As an influential
member of this international network, World Vision UK has matured
to become an organisation active in policy engagement, public
advocacy and development awareness, built on its growing constituency
of 165,000 committed supporters.
AREAS OF INTEREST
1. COHERENCE
AND COOPERATION
World Vision is concerned with DFID's close
cooperation with the Ministry of Defence; particularly in regard
to the use of military resources in humanitarian assistance. World
Vision believes that whilst in the short-term, the use of military
resources to respond to natural disasters (such as the Tsunami
and the Pakistan earthquake) can be necessary, they should not
prevent longer-term development of better civilian resources and
support mechanisms as backed by DFID and other donors. Military
involvement cannot by definition be humanitarian (albeit it can
be deployed towards humanitarian ends) and will always be subject
to partiality and is by no means neutral.
Furthermore we would ask that DFID carefully
consider how "security" is delivered in conjunction
with humanitarian assistance. Promoting human security
through civilian humanitarian assistance or peace-building activities,
is in stark contrast to the approach to greater security in Afghanistan,
where military forces have become involved in the delivery of
humanitarian aid, which has caused confusion about the respective
roles played by military forces and development workers.
Nonetheless we welcome the changes brought forward
in the recent Humanitarian Policy paper "Saving lives, relieving
suffering and protecting dignity."
World Vision support calls on DFID to commit
to military resources only being deployed as a last resort in
concurrence with current UN guidelines on Military and Civil Defence
Assets in disaster relief.
World Vision recommends that military assistance
should only be implemented upon receiving a request from the relevant
civilian authorities in the host country.
World Vision strongly believes that DFID should
continue to emphasise this human security approach in its humanitarian
operations—as lain out in the Humanitarian Policy paper—and
should avoid utilising military capabilities for tasks with humanitarian
objectives except when there is no viable civilian alternative.
2. EFFECTIVE
RESPONSE
World Vision welcomes DFID's rapid responses
to a number of disasters over the past year. However, it is a
concern that insufficient attention is given to the needs and
rights of children in both emergency response and post-disaster
reconstruction. History has show us that unless special consideration
is given to child protection in the initial stages of an emergency
response, the plight of children is likely to get worse despite
the arrival of aid. 12[12]
Due to children's particular vulnerability to
illness, malnutrition and abuse, their uniquely dependent social
status, and the fragility of their physical and mental development
processes, their protection should be a primary consideration
in the design and implementation of any humanitarian response.
This can be done through ensuring that the following five elements
are included in such interventions:
The creation of "Child Friendly Spaces"
(CFSs) in camps and communities
In crises children need a structured and safe
environment. A "child friendly space" is an area where
children and youth can come and meet other children, learn age
appropriate competencies that help them deal with the risks they
face, be involved in expressive and educational activities, and
relax in a safe place focused on them. CFSs give children the
sense of safety, structure, and continuity that provide psychosocial
and physical support amidst overwhelming experiences. As such,
they are both a protective environment and one that enables children's
healthy development.
This approach is a practical one. It reaches
the largest number of children, it re-establishes the child's
link with education and routine, it allows for the integration
of local social and cultural practices, and it aims to build local
and individual capacities for coping with grief and loss. For
generations past, cultures have developed their own cultural understanding
of what is happening to them. This local understanding, which
is ever changing and may reflect ideas from many different cultures,
often provides the basis for the creation of an appropriate response
for the children who are profoundly affected, something which
Western notions of "trauma" or PTSD counselling often
fail to do in such situations.
Moreover, a CFS provides the opportunity to
identify the smaller number of children who are in need of more
focused attention and refer them to specialized services if available.
It also provides a forum in which children can feel confident
in reporting abuses.
The registration of all separated children and
family tracing as a first priority
Separated children are particularly vulnerable
to abuse, exploitation, disease and malnutrition. All children
who have been separated from their primary caregiver must be identified,
registered and reunited with their families, or found other suitable
alternative care arrangements, in order to prevent their exploitation.
A CFS can provide a suitable place for doing this. Moreover, it
can also be a place where parents/relatives/siblings can enquire
about missing children.
The creation of suitable alternative care arrangements
and a focus on children in the family/community
Providing for the care of separated children
must be an urgent priority in emergency situations. Residential
institutions must be a last resort, with first priority being
given to strengthening families and communities to care for their
own children. Where children are unable to be cared for by extended
families or families in their community, small group care within
the community should be sought. Adoption should not be an option
in an emergency context.
A practical commitment to child protection from
all response agencies and donors
Part of the protection of children in emergency
response situations involves the implementation and adherence
to a child protection policy by those organisations working with
the affected communities. Such a policy specifies the commitment
to a child safe organisation and supporting the safety of children
in their communities. All organisations responding to the crisis
should have such a policy. Moreover, the existence of a child
protection policy should be a condition placed on aid by donors.
A concerted effort to identify and meet the needs
of "invisible" children
All interventions must seek to be inclusive,
to ensure that those children who do not typically take part in
mainstream activities are considered in both design and implementation
of responses. These children are often the most vulnerable.
The UK Government prioritises the protection
of children within UK-funded disaster-response programmes.
The UK Government places the registration of
all separated children and family tracing as a first priority
in disaster situations.
In the past many countries recovering from disaster,
and those agencies purporting to support them in recovery, have
tended to pay insufficient attention to children and their rights.
In light of this World Vision would urge:
That the UK Government recognises and respects
the human rights of children and mainstreams them across all UK-funded
reconstruction policies and programmes.
That UK-funded reconstruction programmes actively
consult and involve local children at all stages of the reconstruction
process.
That planners pay particular attention to ensuring
the rights of those children that often fail to have their basic
needs met. For example, schools and hospitals should be rebuilt
in a way that allows disabled children access.
That the principles on long-term care arrangements
as outlined in the "Interagency Guiding Principles on Unaccompanied
and Separated Children" are adhered to with regards to separated
and orphaned children who cannot be reunited with their families.
Priority must be given to community-based care solutions and the
best interests of each individual child must be considered.
That child protection considerations continue
to be foremost in the reconstruction phase and local capacity
to ensure child protection is supported.
3. THE IMPACT
OF INCREASING
AID VOLUMES
ON DFID POLICY
World Vision welcomes DFID's commitment to funding
civil society organisations; we believe that to be successful
in poverty reduction, state-centric approaches which focus on
accountability between donor and recipient governments without
promoting similar accountability between states and their citizens
must be avoided.
It is vital that this takes place either through
strengthened institutions such as parliaments and traditional
structures, via Civil Society Organisations (CSOs), and via other
innovative methods.
DFID and other donors must continue to champion
the opening up and implementing of formal spaces for policy dialogue
across all forms of bilateral and multilateral assistance with
non-government actors.
World Vision believes that CSOs are important
agents in enabling poor women and men to hold their governments
to account because of their direct work with the poor, mostly
in the context of delivering services but also in championing
their rights via local advocacy initiatives. Although DFID has
alluded to working with CSOs in the pursuit of greater accountability,
it currently has no clear polices or implementation plans on how
to work with civil society in different developing countries and
contexts.
DFID must establish clear policies and implementation
plans on support for building citizen engagement and increased
accountability through CSOs, such as making provision for Southern
CSOs to actively take part in policy dialogue, implementation
and accountability initiatives with regard to direct budget support
or other assistance approaches.
World Vision recommends that DFID should make
greater use of the "Drivers of Change" analysis that
has been used in some countries for other purposes.
DFID must also aim to influence other donors
on similarly improving CSO engagement.
4. EDUCATION
FOR ALL
World Vision welcomes the UK government's commitment
to supporting education for all and achieving the MDG on universal
primary education. However, 115 million children are still denied
an education and within this figure one third are ignored. 40
million of the 115 million out of school are disabled children:
without education they are condemned to lifelong poverty.
Following the international community's failure
to meet the 2005 MDG 3 on gender equality, DFID took the bold
step of creating a strategy for Girls' Education. It is now increasingly
clear that without dedicated action to reach disabled children,
the 2015 goal of Education For All will also be missed and 40
million children will continue to be denied an education.
As such, World Vision recommends that DFID should
recognise the urgency of action and commit to a similarly ambitious
strategy to tackle the needs of disabled children excluded from
school.
This strategy must:
— recognise the vital role that teachers
play in bringing disabled children into education;
— call for all pre- and in-service
training of teachers in developing countries to concentrate on
clear, accessible and participatory teaching focussed on the needs
of each child;
— show how the government will work
with developing country governments and other donors to address
conditions that prevent teachers from teaching in a way that includes
all children; and
— be developed through a process of
consultation, particularly with disabled people's organisations
and other civil society organisations working on this issue.
World Vision welcomes the leadership that the
UK government has taken in its commitment to support developing
countries' long-term education plans, including provision for
teacher salaries.
World Vision recommends that, order to achieve
the MDG of universal primary education, such support should prioritise
inclusive education.
To be effective dedicated action on disability
must be approached as a core part of education system development.
For success, DFID will need to treat inclusion as fundamental
to basic education planning, not as a separate or secondary concern.
DFID should include acting as a champion for
inclusion within the Fast Track Initiative.
5. AID MODALITIES
World Vision supports DFID and other donors
shift towards Poverty Reduction Budget Support (PRBS) as a means
of enabling greater country ownership and donor harmonisation,
both of which are key factors in aid effectiveness. However, the
examples of Kenya, Ethiopia and Uganda cited by the Secretary
of State in White Paper consultations demonstrate the need for
development of a more flexible range of aid instruments appropriate
for different country contexts.
When states meet the PRBS criteria allowing
greater co-operative donor support this should predominate, whereas
in contexts of failing or fragile states aid through UN and NGOs
is an appropriate interim alternative. In between these two poles
a mix of aid instruments should be considered, including earmarked
funding through government (eg for education or other basic services)
and funding for local civil society organisations to enhance citizenship,
strengthen government services and other poverty reduction programmes
that align with national level PRSPs (Poverty Reduction Strategy
Papers.)
World Vision research in Zambia and Bolivia,
has confirmed that donors often insist on improving recipient
government systems in order to protect aid money from corruption
and ensure greater coherence and effectiveness, but often do very
little to make sure that they are individually or collectively
supporting sectors of development where countries actually want
assistance.
DFID must continue to use its influence, via
funding to the EC and other multi-lateral institutions, to ensure
assistance strategies are driven by developing country priorities,
established through participatory poverty reduction strategies
or national development plans and evaluation of aid effectiveness
continues.
6. OVERALL RECOMMENDATIONS
— DFID must continue a human security
approach when carrying out Humanitarian operations, and to minimise
the use of military resources.
— Military assistance should only be
implemented upon receiving request from the relevant civilian
authorities in the concerned nation.
— DFID must ensure that special consideration
is given to child protection during the early stages of relief
and post-disaster reconstruction; whether this be through the
creation of Child Friendly Spaces, the registering of children
and family tracing or by recognising the invisible children following
disasters.
— DFID must continue to work with Civil
Society Organisations in order to promote accountability between
recipient governments and their citizens.
— DFID must commit to a strategy that
includes disabled children in education as they have recently
done with gender equality.
— DFID must ensure that assistance
strategies are developed in line with developing country priorities.
June 2006
12 For example, the UNHCR/Save the Children UK report
of 2002 that alleged sexual exploitation of children by aid workers
in West Africa. Back
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