Poverty Reduction knowledge process

Poverty is increasingly acknowledged to be multidimensional. There is no reason to limit a concept and even measurement of vulnerability to income, consumption or other moneymetric dimensions only, even when using quantitative means. Other dimensions of poverty, such as related to educational opportunities, mortality, nutrition and health are also accounted. Broader dimensions, such as exclusion and the experience of poverty are valid dimensions to consider as well. Earlier the focuses of poverty alleviation programmes were very much on the development and transfer of new technologies for use in developing countries. Latterly there was a shift in emphasis, with a greater proportion of projects investigating barriers to infrastructure provision, maintenance and access, with a particular focus on sustainable solutions and pro-poor ‘livelihoods’ approaches and increasing involvement of southern partners in projects. Working with local partners facilitates access to local communities, understanding specific vulnerabilities and building trust amongst project participants. Studies are focused on technical, managerial and policy solutions in the infrastructure and urban development sectors that enable poor people to escape from poverty on a sustainable basis.

In many communities there are considerable possibilities for the health sector to interact with social development. However such programmes have been initiated rather infrequently and rarely evaluated. With increasing numbers of communities now looking toward their own activities for improving health rather than relying on governments there are considerable opportunities for evaluating the impact of programmes which enhance analysis, planning and action by communities themselves. Whereas there is a strong knowledge base on how to enhance participation within other sectors such as agriculture and rural livelihoods, there is little documentation of its impact on health.
It is important to be aware of the availability of health services, nutritional status of the population, food security and shelter as well as the more obvious water and sanitation issues and for agencies to plan their response in collaboration with each other. The success of any emergency intervention is dependent on the coordination of all those involved and no one intervention can address the problems on its own.
Assessment data is meaningless without subsequent analysis of the information and the setting of priorities. Compiling a problem tree may allow a closer examination of the causes of problems and possible solutions and help to focus on the most significant risk factors. A problem tree is formed by outlining problems and for each problem asking the question ‘why’. By continually asking ‘why’, the root causes of problems may be discovered and priorities for intervention thus become clearer.

Although infrastructure issues (water excepted) are not mentioned in the headline MDGs, the key role of infrastructure in livelihoods improvement, sustainable economic growth and poverty reduction is widely recognized. Infrastructure is found to be the key to achieving the central MDG of halving poverty by 2015. In an updated description3 of the international consensus on development, Maxwell (Head of Research, DFID) usefully points out that, “Growth is the most important and maybe the easiest driver of poverty reduction…. Infrastructure for productive sectors, water, health and education are the priorities for public expenditure.” But growth has to be environmentally as well as economically sustainable.

There has been emphasise on the importance of an ‘innovation’ approach rather than a more narrowly focused ‘research’ approach. This emphasis has arisen out of awareness that overcoming gaps in knowledge is not, in and of itself, sufficient to ensure a positive pro-poor outcome from programmes. This generic guidance has been effective in helping to shift the focus over time away from primarily ‘engineering’ solutions developed at arms length from potential users, to a far more participatory, action research and innovation centered approach. It has also been helpful in ensuring that projects cover more than one (and ideally all) of the key stages of the knowledge process – ranging from identification of needs, the research and development of one or more viable solutions, the production of outputs and transfer of results, commercialisation or policy implementation and uptake pathways.

Key factors:

Identify critical knowledge gaps and main areas of knowledge benefit
Assess dissemination needs and opportunities and develop strategies
Select, support & monitor knowledge programmes and knowledge projects
Review knowledge programmes
Build capacity for poorer countries to manage knowledge
Liaise with other development agencies on knowledge activities
Evaluate knowledge and research programme


Recently the importance of infrastructure service provision to both sustainable development and the eradication of poverty in developing countries has been well documented. Improved infrastructural services can bring immediate benefits in terms of helping poor people to meet their basic needs for safe drinking water, secure shelter, energy, transport, and so on. They can also facilitate sustainable economic growth in the longer term through, for example, the development of improved employment opportunities; reduced input and transaction costs associated with the production and sale of goods and services; and enhanced human capital and mobility.

While researches confirm the importance of infrastructure service provision to sustainable development, investment in infrastructure has not always contributed to pro-poor growth. Inadequate attention to governance and institutional frameworks, high levels of personal and political corruption, and weak systems have resulted in a situation where the benefits have often been less than anticipated, and too often there have been negative rather than positive consequences for poor people. Influenced by negative experiences of this kind, DFID and other bilateral donors have turned away from major investment programmes through the public sector and reoriented the assistance that they provide to more direct poverty reduction measures in recent years.

Despite these negative experiences with infrastructure investment, it is hard to imagine how any country could escape from poverty whilst its people lack proper access to basic services such as water, energy and transport. Indeed, DFID’s own Target Strategy Papers - developed recently in order to help frame DFID’s work in support of the MDGs - recognises the key role of infrastructure to livelihoods improvements, sustainable economic growth and poverty reduction. The challenge with respect to infrastructure is therefore to:

- Develop an improved understanding of the technological, economic, social and institutional problems associated with the provision of infrastructure and the
development of urban areas in developing countries, and

- Identify and foster those policies, technologies and skills that improve poor people’s access to infrastructure and help them to escape from poverty on a sustainable basis

These issues has been addressed directly by researches in the key sectors associated with infrastructural development – water and sanitation, transport, energy, geosciences, urbanisation, disability and healthcare, and information and communication technologies.

Since 1990, the idea of ‘systems of innovation’ has become widespread, and with it an emphasis on the importance of networks and interlinkages in the innovation process – both among firms and between industry and research. There has been growing concern with knowledge users’ ‘absorptive capacity’ – that is, their ability to perceive external technological opportunities and to absorb the knowledge needed to make use of them. As a consequence of these changes, innovation policy makers have tended to move away from instruments that give money to single actors and increasingly invest in partnerships and, more recently, innovation networks. The idea is to secure the needed coupling between push and pull, to strengthen the network relationships that help innovation and to support the growth of absorptive capacity.

The recent House of Commons Select Committee report on the use of science in UK development policy stresses the importance of science for development, the need for DFID to strengthen its policies and its personnel in this important area, to increase the involvement of beneficiary countries in developing its research strategy and the need to evaluate the outcomes of research.

There is also concern about the guides on dissemination and communication, which while of a good quality and utility, do not help much to overcome the key barriers identified, namely that:

Stakeholders are largely unaware of the information that is being disseminated
Potential users often do not have the resource, knowledge or incentives to use the information
There is insufficient attention paid to the tailoring of outputs to the real needs of real users
There is rather too much information ‘out there’ leaving potential users unsure of what they should and should not be paying attention to


These barriers are not easy to overcome, but their resolution certainly requires more than improved information management and dissemination organised at the UK end of things. The general focus of these ‘additional’ communication efforts on those elements that can be readily addressed in the UK without the expense of having to conduct a lot of activity overseas are in line with DFID’s preferences.

Reviews of the literature and experience suggest that research is more likely to be taken up into policy in international development if research programmes develop a detailed understanding of: (i) the policymaking process – what are the key influencing factors, and how do they relate to each other?; (ii) the nature of the evidence they have, or hope to get – is it credible, practical and operationally useful?; and (iii) all the other stakeholders involved in the policy area – who else can help to get the message across?. This is the basis for developing an overall strategy and practical activities for ensuring that the programmes maximise their chances of policy influence.



Sources:

Evaluation of DFID’s Engineering Knowledge and Research (EngKaR) Programme,
Technopolis & Overseas Development Institute, July 2005

Oxfam GB’s experience with Cash for Work, Poverty Reduction Programme, June 2005

ADAMS, J., Managing Water Supply And Sanitation In Emergencies, OXFAM, 1999



“But I, being poor, have only my dreams;
I have spread my dreams under your feet;
Tread softly because you tread on my dreams.”


Cited in DFID’s Simon Maxwell report, 20th October 2003

Geopolitical Review

Political geography is a valuable field of social science, linking geography and political science – it is concerned with the spatial interaction between political and geographical phenomena. There are a number of established approaches to political geography, though few can be justified as holistic approaches. It is currently conventional to recognize historical, morphological, functional and power analysis approaches, though the latter, concerned with the assessment and comparison of the power of states is a branch of, rather than an approach to political geography. The historical approach is generally adopted in studies which describe the evolution of a political or social unit through time. The morphological approach calls for a descriptive and interpretative analysis of the external and internal structure of the state area as a geographic object. The external morphological attributes include size, shape, location and boundaries, and internal morphological subdivisions include core areas, the capital, cultural regions. This was replaced by functional approach, which emphasized the dynamic relationship of the human and morphological contents of the state to each other and to the whole.
The real founder of political geography was the German geographer Ratzel (1844-1904), whose writings closely reflect the location of its author in time and space, being coloured by DARWINISTIC notions about the survival of the ‘fittest’ and by the environmental determinism of the late nineteenth century German school of geography. The state was regarded as an organic entity, its success depending largely upon its ability to obtain space, and itself an expression of the imperishable ties between men and the land.
Ratzel formulated a potentially dangerous view of the world in which the competitive aspects of state behaviour were flattered with the dignity of natural laws. The concept was studied through power analysis approach which described similar world view, following hostile definitions of social classes presented earlier in the century.
Other political geographical works of considerable quality were produced at various intervals during the past century. Two texts in particular merit special mention, Bowman’s The New World and Whittlesey’s Earth and the State, which produced more optimistic, objective and authoritative survey of the new world.
While political geography in the West was pursuing its rather aimless course, in Germany the development of geopolitics proceeded with a more definite if sinister sense of direction. Ratzel’s organic view of the state was followed up, which gave a pseudo scientific justification to the rights of strong states to expand by any means possible, found an avid readership among extreme nationalists in Germany. Hoshofer, a German soldier, traveler and geographer (he was a disciple of Hess rather than of Hitler) and other group of German geographers, and their speculations produced an amalgamation of the organic state notions of Ratzel, macro regionalism, post war paranoia and the supposed German right to Lebensraum. These ideas were mainly articulated in the pages of the periodical Zeitschrift fur Geopolitik which first appeared in 1924 and continued for twenty years. Geopolitik was developed in this journal as the geographical conscience of the state, though certainly moral and scientific consciences must have been abandoned, for data were either presented in subjective and misleading forms or more simply, falsified, in order to suggest directions or to enlist support for expansion policies of war aims. The launching of Geopolitiik in Germany rightly inspired profound reactions of disgust in the outside world. In Germany the subject had in fact harboured nationalistic and deterministic undertones, stated by one as “German geographers have long ago tried to make physical geography one of the moral weapons with which they are prepared to carry out their plans of dominating the world.” – the journal represented the grotesque eruption of a long seated blemish, a rationalization of the basest policies. In 1932 Demangeon wrote, ‘we are able to establish that German geopolitics deliberately renounces all scientific spirit. It is diverted to the arena of controversies and national hatreds. To Bowman, there was no sure science to bring them out of these new depths of international difficulty. Geopolitics is simple and sure, but in German writings and
It is widely suggested that political geography suffered as a result of the general outcry against Geopolitik. Certainly most western geographers were extremely wary of accusations of subjectivity, and at the end of the 19th century Mackinder apparently faced a certain hostility in the establishment of a School of Geography at Oxford, partly on the grounds that it might ‘subvert’ geographical techniques to the study of international politics. Yet all political geographers had been aware of the distinctions between political geography and Geopolitik , as was explained, for example, by Maull:
Geopolitik is concerned with the spatial ‘requirements’ of a state while political geography examines only its spatial conditions.
After the 1945, the post war development was much as before. In the 1950s, a number of important theoretical innovations appeared which seemed to promise further conceptual advances. Since 1967, a number of promising publications have appeared many by non political geographers, but they have not yet been fully absorbed into the theoretical basis of the subject. Political geography is quite rich in regional descriptions, particularly those concerning boundary studies but the resumption of its rightful status as a branch of geography, the equal and essential companion of the economic, historical and social branches, will depend upon the development and refinement of theoretical and analytical techniques.

Hygiene Education: Building on local culture and priorities

Behaviour is not only influenced by available resources, but also by how people think and fee. Hygiene education that is not based on the local culture cannot possibly be effective in changing people’s behviour and practices. For example, frequent diarrhea may be taken as a fact of life, rather than as a disease. In promoting hygiene behaviour it is important to start from an understanding of what disease means to people, what diseases they recognize, and what their notions of prevention and cause are. The more hygiene education builds on local cultural values, the more chance there is that it is attractive and effective. As a merchant would say, you have to speak the language of your customers to sell your products.

Cultural values and beliefs also largely determine what people consider right or appropriate behaviour and practices. When this is not taken into account it will cause project failures. For example, in a solid waste removal programme, the wheelbarrow was introduced to transport household waste to the dump site. However, as women were responsible for this task, and it was considered embarrassing for women to push a wheelbarrow because it would show their breasts and buttocks, the programme had to be revised. Example about beliefs and practices in relation to hand washing was also highlighted.

Cultural patterns are hardly ever nationwide. Specific cultural values may even differ between nearby villages and between the same social, ethnic and economic groups. It is always important to investigate cultural values, even when hygiene education is given by a person from the area.

Behavioural change can gain an important impetus through the support and example of respected persons. If a respected key person is setting the example and promoting a certain behaviour, it is likely that more people will follow. The role models may be official leaders such as religious leaders and community representatives, but also individuals who are trusted and consulted for specific problems, or who live the life desired by many people. Which people are inclined to follow the example of which key persons, has to be investigated on a case by case basis, it is hardly ever the same for all community groups or for men and women. The reverse is also true. When hygiene behaviour is promoted by people who have neither status nor influence, it is unlikely that the new behaviour will take root among many people.

To encourage new behaviour, incentives may be used, such as little gifts or prizes when people switch over to new behaviour. Examples are prizes awarded to the cleanest village, the village with the best protected water source, or to the maily with the best constructed latrine in each village. Status and prestige may also act as incentives to the adoption of new facilities and practices. However, experience shows that status and prestige considerations are more helpful in getting facilities (eg. Latrines) constructed than in getting them properly used.

Behavioural change can also be promoted through formal and informal regulations and agreements. For example, it may be decided that households are only entitled to house connections when they make the necessary provisions for safe wastewater disposal. Social control can be an important mechanism for informally enforcing certain behaviour. For example, cleanliness around the tap site may be successfully based on social control principles.

Promotion of new behaviour is not just telling people what to do. After all, why should they believe you and why should they take the trouble when they do not see how it will make life easier or better. Changing behaviour requires active participation of both men and women in the community and the combined efforts of technical and social staff, supported by government authorities.

Changing practices through hygiene education and water and sanitation improvements requires a willingness in people to think about their ideas and behaviour and a willingness to take up new knowledge, to consider behavioural alternatives, to overcome reluctance and ingrained habits, and to decide and get used to new behaviour. This cannot be expected to happen overnight, it will necessarily take some time.

For project staff to facilitate behavioural change they have to understand why people act the way they do. For example, with a new water supply installed, the use of more water for personal and domestic hygiene is promoted through hygiene education. But this may be opposite tot what many people have learned to practice. Especially in dry areas, people usually have been brought up with the message that water is a precious and limited resource, and therefore they are used to taking as little water as possible. Changing from water saving behaviour for survival to water using behaviour to reduce water and sanitation related diseases can only be facilitated when there is an appreciation what this means to people. Educational staff have to realize that this will require motivation and support over a longer period of time with results coming gradually.

Effective hygiene education at community level presupposes the sensitivity of project staff and government officials to finding appropriate solutions to reduce health risks from poor water supply and sanitation. Effective hygiene education also requires an intimate knowledge and understanding of possible barriers and resistance to behavioural change and factors that may facilitate the adoption of new behaviour. This cannot occur without careful hygiene education planning and implementation, giving due attention to the various levels of influence. This cannot occur without careful hygiene education planning and implementation, giving due attention to the various levels of influence. This requires the set up of a participatory hygiene education programme in a suitable organizational setting.

Source:
Technical Paper Series, Just Stir Gently, International Water and Sanitation Centre, IRC, 1991

Motivating factors

The term motivation was originally derived from the Latin word that meant ‘to move’. However this one word is obviously an inadequate definition for broader purpose, meaning the various aspect inherent in the process by which human behaviour is activated. How human is mobilized to get started, energized, sustained, directed, stopped – is a process governing decision making that is made by persons among alternative forms of voluntary activity. Motivation primarily is concerned with what energizes human activities, inspirations, what directs such action and how this choice of action is sustained.

The basic building blocks of a generalized model of motivation are: needs or expectations; behavior; goals; and some form of ‘feedback’; depositing that individuals possess in varying strength a multitude of needs, desires, and expectations. Most concepts proposed about motivation have their roots in the principle that states - the individuals tend to seek pleasure and avoid pain - this later appeared quite inconsistent. The idea assumes a certain degree of conscious behaviour on the part of individuals whereby they make intentional decisions or choices concerning future actions. It is the process by which individual calculate the pros and cons of various acts of behaviour.

As consideration of this important topic grew, it became apparent to those who attempted to use the philosophically based concepts – that several serious problems existed. Reeent ideas was argued that a more comprehensive explanation of behaviour was necessary than simply assuming a rational person pursuing his or her own best interest.

Hence instinct and unconscious motivation was added to driving force. Instead of seeing behaviour as being highly rational, they saw it as resulting from instinct – inherited disposition which determines its possessor to perceive, or focus on objects of a certain class to experience an emotional excitement of a particular quality upon perceiving its goals experiencing impulse to such an action.

Cognitive theories how ever viewed motivation behaviour, thus, seen as purposeful and goal directed and based on conscious intentions (Kurt Lewin, early researches).

Expectancy/valence theories view motivational force as a multiplicative function of two key variables: expectances and valences

Studies among both managers and employees indicate that money is a primary motivation at force and that workers will in fact select jobs based more upon salary prospects than work content.

However newer approaches have tended to view the role of money in more complex terms as it affects motivational force. Moreover, these newer theories argue that additional factors are also important inputs into the decision to produce one such revisionist approach to motivation at work, is the “human relation” model.

Management have responsibility to make employees feel useful and important on the job, to provide recognition, and generally to facilitate the satisfaction of employee’s social needs. Being motivated by a complex set of interrelated factors translates into wider prospects, such as money, need for affiliation, need for achievement, desire for meaningful work and finally need for power.

‘Too Diverse?

Migration is customarily conceptualized as a product of the material forces at work in our society. It is in this context, that the popularity of migration model metaphor takes significance. Migrants are also seen in other models either as a rational economic individuals choosing personal advancement by responding to the economic signals of the new career opportunities, or as a virtual prisoner of his or her class position, and thereby subject to powerful structural economic forces set in motion by the logic of wealth accumulation.

However, the common sense knowledge of migration as a phenomenon which is in part culturally produced, culturally expressed, and cultural in its effects, perceives migration, cultures and cultural change in Britain through different lenses. The reason that there are few researches on cultural aspects of migration is because researchers correctly shy away from the excesses of the culturalist and other idealist forms of explanation of social events so common among other writers. Other reason is the emphasis of academia on material production and playing down cultural production and the role of consciousness and values in shaping behaviour. And since culture is poorly defined, it is then far too difficult to measure, for it to figure in empirical research.

Democratic rules and regulations allow migrants who are culturally eccentric or even intimidating present persuasive arguments to occupy separate spaces in British societies not only to advocate their visions and values but do it with great persuasion.

‘Separate educational arrangements, community and voluntary bodies, employment, places of worship, language, social and cultural networks, means that many communities operate on the basis of a series of parallel lives. These lives often do not seem to touch at any point, let alone overlap and promote any meaningful interchanges.’

In these separate spaces ‘Ignorance … can easily grow into fear’, and ‘In such a climate, there has been little attempt to develop clear values which focus on what it means to be a citizen of a modern multi-racial society’.

‘Multiculturalism, like that other dangerous “ism”, communism, is based on a mistaken idea of human nature. Multiculturalism has accentuated the differences between people, not their similarities and shared purpose’. David Goodhart (2004)

These are among many signs to be, if recognition demands equal respect for all cultures because they are considered of equal value - the end result is a form of relativism which destroys the idea of value.

It is suggested that the plural society, which encourages diversity but rejects multicultural separatism is a ‘recent and fragile entity’ and asks, ‘at what point must pluralistic tolerance make room not only for “other cultures” but for “hostile cultures”’. In his article he lists numerous demands including Muslim schools, and observes that they will soon be asking for the right to undertake polygynous marriages and circumcise women. ‘Pluralism means living together in difference and with differences’, but membership of a pluralistic community involves giving as well as taking.

Pluralism assumes intersecting social and cultural divisions and seeks to balance representativeness and governability, multiplicity and cohesion.
‘Is Britain becoming too diverse’, ‘to sustain the mutual obligations behind a good society and the welfare state?’:

‘In a developed country like Britain … we not only live among stranger citizens but we must share with them. We share public services and parts of our income in the welfare state, we share public spaces in towns and cities where we are squashed together on buses, trains and tubes, and we share in a democratic conversation - filtered by the media - about the collective choices we wish to make. All such acts of sharing are more smoothly and generously negotiated if we can take for granted a limited set of common values and assumptions. But as Britain becomes more diverse that common culture is being eroded’.

Thus ‘sharing and solidarity can conflict with diversity’, and ‘negotiating the tension’ between them ‘is at the heart of politics’.

Those from the same place tend to ‘congregate together’, and public policy should ‘try to prevent that consolidating into segregation across all the main areas of life: residence, school, workplace, church’.

‘the laissez-faire approach of the postwar period in which ethnic minority citizens were not encouraged to join the common culture (although many did) should be buried. Citizenship ceremonies, language lessons and the mentoring of new citizens should help to create a British version of the old melting pot culture.’

What emerges, idealistically, is a multicultural society constituted politically in a non-essentialist way in institutions and practices. A presumption of tolerance and of assumption of the possibility and value of dialogue, but these must be supported by mechanisms which would assist in the processes of negotiation, helping people determine what the boundaries are, and perhaps above all a conducive public culture and civic consciousness. This is easy to say, but in practice extremely difficult to achieve. How can we foster individual and collective engagement in intercultural dialogue and above all get beyond deeply engrained defensive barriers between cultures?

However, one thing need not rule out another. The problems are multi-level and solutions must be multi-level and multifaceted too, coming at the issues in many different ways, from many different angles, simultaneously. The strategic aim is an egalitarian form of weak multiculturalism which recognises difference and defends the right to be different in the private sphere, inviting it into the public sphere only when all parties concerned agree that it should become part the ‘interculturally created and multiculturally constituted common culture’; a new order which emerges through negotiation and dialogue.

The ongoing debate in Britain in 2004-5, when things became more complicated, with a shift towards a more nuanced view of the relationship between diversity and cohesion, this was signalled with the publication of a Home Office Consultation Document (2004) titled ‘Strength in Diversity’.


‘There is space within the concept of “British” for people to express their religious and cultural beliefs. We see this in practice in the sensitisation of public services to accommodate different expressions of identity or belief, for example the adaptation of uniforms in schools and key public services, like the police, to include Muslim hijabs and Sikh turbans’ (Section 2.5).

The white paper had set out what it meant to be British (Section 2.7) emphasising the importance of ‘respect [for] those over-arching specific institutions, values, beliefs and traditions that bind us all, the different nations and cultures, together in peace and in a legal order’, and that ‘diversities of practice must adhere to these legal frameworks’. At the same time (Section 2.8) ‘to be British does not mean assimilation into a common culture so that original identities are lost’, and as this phrasing suggests it might, the Report goes on to quote with approval the Jenkins Formula (Section 2.9), adding (Section 2.10) that their understanding of ‘integration’ means ‘neither assimilation nor a society composed of, as it were, separate enclaves, whether voluntary or involuntary’, and further that it involves ‘not simply mutual respect and tolerance between different groups but continual interaction, engagement and civic participation, whether in social, cultural, educational, professional, political or legal spheres.

‘Respect for diversity must take place within a framework of rights and responsibilities that are recognised by and apply to all - to abide by the law, to reject extremism and intolerance and make a positive contribution to UK society. Different ways of living our lives, different cultures or beliefs all coexist within this shared framework of rights and responsibilities’ (Section 2.6).

‘Faith communities’ and their leaders have an important part to play in this (Consultation Document 2004: Section 2.5, see also Final Report of the Community Cohesion Panel 2004). Faith communities, says the Panel, might contribute to community cohesion because of their ‘in-depth knowledge and understanding of local neighbourhoods, their histories and the issues that are important to them’, their central place in social networks and their ability to ‘create social capital by binding people together in particular locations and developing local leadership and the capacity to organise’; they may also ‘promote values and virtues that are necessary for cohesive communities - neighbourliness, care for the weak, civility and mutual respect, honest dealing’ (p. 32). This represents the ‘British model’ which is ‘widely respected throughout the world and by the minority communities who have settled here’ (p. 9)


Extracted from:

Grillo, R.D., Identity and Cultural Politics, Backlash Against Diversity? Centre on Migration, Policy and Society , COMPAS, Working Paper No. 14, University of Oxford, 2005

www.barcelona2004.org/eng/eventos/ dialogos/docs/interaccionfeng2.pdf

Goodhart, D. (2004). ‘Too Diverse?’. Prospect Magazine. 95

Grillo, R.D. (2005c). Debating Cultural Difference in Multicultural Societies. Paper presented to COMPAS/ISCA Seminar Series, University of Oxford, April 2005.
Kymlicka, W. (1995). Multicultural Citizenship: A Theory of Liberal Rights. Oxford: Clarendon Press

Oxfam Campaigns: Health and Education for All

What has been achieved?

As a direct result of your tireless campaigning, 2005 was a landmark year for the MDG campaign. There was massive worldwide mobilisation and significant victories on debt cancellation and more and better aid. > The MDGs

What is Global Call to Action against Poverty?

The Global Call to Action against Poverty, a global campaign launched in Porto Alegre in January 2005, laid down the gauntlet for world leaders to achieve a breakthrough on world poverty in 2005. Since then it has grown into the world’s largest-ever anti-poverty alliance, its organisations together represent more than 150 million globally, with national campaigns active in more than 80 countries.

What will be happening in 2006?

The campaign to end poverty will continue globally as Oxfam and its GCAP colleagues around the world continue to pile on the pressure so that all of our demands, particularly those concerning national government commitments to achieve and surpass the MDGs, will be met.

In the UK, Oxfam will be working with many of the organisations that were involved in Make Poverty History to take forward the campaign to end poverty. (Make Poverty History verdict)

Our priorities will be:

Delivering on past promises – debt cancellation, more and better aid, and trade justice, as well as greater commitment on budgets from southern governments;
Demanding tough regulations on the arms trade which is out of control;
Health and Education for all.
Urgent action is needed to guarantee people’s human rights to quality education, basic health care, water and sanitation; and to empower women to secure rights for themselves and their families. Oxfam will be campaigning for education, health and water for all poor people – at the heart of this campaign is the delivery of an accountable and effective public sector.

Oxfam will be demanding:

More teachers, nurses and other public-sector workers;
An end to user fees – rich countries and southern governments should pay for health care and education, not poor people;
More money from rich countries for the Global Health Fund and the Education for All fast-track initiative (Global Campaign for Education). And for southern governments to commit more of their budgets to health and education.

http://www.oxfam.org.uk/what_you_can_do/campaign/he.htm

Popular geopolitics

Understanding the wider cultural context of geopolitical models is important for the reason that it is through institutions such as the media and education that ordinary people are drawn into the political process as subjects of various political discourses. The media and education explain the linkages between their audiences and what is being explained in order to provide a context of interpretation. People are told what various changes and occurrences both at home and around the globe mean to them personally. Popular culture presents imagined geographies to their audiences and explains where individuals fit into these political models. Intellectuals of statecraft in order to make their arguments sensible, they refer to concepts and values that have consonance for the population at large, if their support is to be assured. Geopolitics is no more a discrete and relatively contained activity confined only to a small group of wise men who speak in the language of classical geopolitics. Simply to describe a foreign policy is to engage in geopolitics and so normalize particular world view.

For establishing relation wider range of groups, political elites use stories and images that are central to their citizen’s daily lives and experiences. By reducing complex processes to simple images with which their audiences are familiar, geopoliticians render political decisions natural or could make the result of the process appear predetermined. Sport metaphors are also used by politicians to show the rules of the game are understood by players within which there are clear winners and losers. This wider context of interpretation is important and arguments often rely upon accepted models, metaphors and images. These are common sense statements reproduced in education and popular culture. Through these institutions, people with little political education learn about different places whether this is a list of factual data or more metaphorical narration. As a result popular geopolitics have a special significance in reproducing the values and beliefs upon which more formal geopolitical statements must draw in order to resonate with various audiences.

Else where, world cultural decline is blamed on learning values of the education system, which leaves students ignorant on how life in a free and democratic context is different. Consequently, street protests replace informed election processes. Education systems are not adequate if they do not fulfill their societal role to teach the basic information necessary to maintain democratic society. Otherwise people may well not be prepared for even the most basic national responsibility – understanding what the society is about and why it must be preserved. An informed citizenship is the basic principle that underlies the system of education. People in a democracy must be entrusted to decide on all important matters for themselves because they have the means to literacy and can deliberate and communicate with one another.

Nonetheless, the territoriality of geography of good and evil at the end of the Cold war might not be so easy to define. The assumption is that without popular recognition of a powerful opponent, the threats to a coherent national identity fragment. Involved within the structure of identity is a romantic desire for chaos and uncertainty which can be restrained through various heroic trials. This version of national identity requires an organizing purpose and a populace signification of danger over which the nation can triumph. This means that when nation’s enemies are not clearly recognizable, identity becomes difficult to define in this way. The nation’s destiny and identity depends upon the existence of an identifiable threat somewhere. For example, German ideologists and politicians projected dark account of enemy, both in 19 and 20th centuries.

Without the unordered spaces, or spaces distorted by war, it is impossible to stage the wanderings and disorientations, the quests and conquests and conversions, the sufferings and sacrifices and triumphs that are the elements of romance. The ultimate enemies of romance, then are not the foreign foes held at bay by these essential opponents; rather it is the banal, ignorant, populace, quotidian world of calculation - the compromises from which the heroes of romance always remain distant. It is suggested that popular democracies do not refer their citizens to higher aims leaving a vacuum that can be filed with sloth, self indulgence, banality and desire for wealth.

‘However selfish man may be supposed, there are evidently some principles of his nature, which interest him in the fortune of others, and render their happiness necessary to him, though he derives nothing from it’… Adam Smith, 18th century

Have Your Say

Is the simultaneous spread of democracy and rise in identity-based violent conflicts a historical accident? Or are they causally interconnected? Some may see democratization as a major cause or at the very least precipitant of political violence, holding that the opening of democratic space throws up many groups pulling in different directions, that it causes demand overload, systematic break down and even violent conflict. By helping politicize non negotiable identity terms, democracy can contribute to political polarization and ultimately violence. Governments may not respond to the demands of excluded groups, or may fail to protect citizens from violence, because they have pledges to special interests groups. Political processes in democratic governance should provide tools as well as wisdom and space for different groups to change the thinking of people in the governments at senior policy making levels. Nonetheless, to complain you are marginalized is one thing, but come up with proposals of how you want to help yourself and flourish your identity is something else.

Think tanks, universities, research and creative institutions have a job to educate power players and ultimately change and create different roles for wide range of players in the society. Epistemic communities essentially shaping how decision makers think about what is natural or normal and consequently highlighting these traces in social behavior. Lobbying, persuasion and enthusiasm have become effective ways to win the minds of decision makers. Lobbying has been used as a strategic process of convincing those in the corridors of power to make decisions or to exert their influence in favour of an advocacy cause. It is a rational process of making a convincing argument, using information and knowledge. It is about initiatives to lobby power, particularly where there is lack of real strong alternatives with the capacity to lobby meticulously. Therefore both in terms of ideas and decisions it is much more contested than it was five years ago due to all sorts of movements and organizations getting better tooled up. An unprecedented interconnected global system comprising of so many global institutions with unclear accountabilities, ethos, agendas have prepared the ground for such democratic tools to function so powerfully.

The real bargaining power of lobbyist comes from people, the public as well as the process of networking. The ideas exist that lobbyists should be grounded in real life experience and have an organic relationship with grassroots movements and the credibility and legitimacy that comes from that relationship. However, the balance of decision making power lies with political or managerial creatures. It is crucial to identify all those who have power and influence to make change happen. Politicians, and parties (elected, appointed, etc.) in formal government businesses and business associations, faith groups, workers groups and trade union, consumer groups, media, NGOs and other civil groups including think tanks, and anyone else.

Increasingly, the very mechanisms by which motions or counter motions can be triggered are cumbersome and slow since authorities are far too busy to get involved at any greater frequency. To achieve necessary influences, it is wise not to send something into the minister who has hundred things to worry about. The art of influencing government is often recognizing the multiple levels at which power is held. And often quite a junior official may be the key person to influence, the key person who will be eternally grateful if you make his or her job easier by giving them insights and ideas. And the standard flaw, as it is shared by businesses, which spend huge amounts of money lobbying government, but academics do the same –is always to approach to high up the hierarchy and actually power is not all concentrated at the top of many hierarchies, as anyone who knows organizations, knows the importance of informal power structures. So directing things at many different levels, and then in some ways it is practical to respond to where, there turns out to be necessary enthusiasm and energy and go with that, even if it is at quite surprising places. People and public outside of government might not have a feel for the sheer pressure of business and time. This is why summary, brief and efficient request and clarity is so important. So if there are any ways that one can cultivate brief and to the point remarks that would be very valuable for an idea to win its way through the mind of decision makers.

In addition, it is important to ensure that visions of development, relationships and techniques are all governed by essential principles, compatible with increase of democratic space, that is to give more human dimension to wants and needs.

public health promotion

Public Health is often defined as the ‘promotion of health and prevention of disease through the organised efforts of society’. A public health intervention aims to ensure co-ordination between sectors (e.g. in Humanitarian programmes with those involved in food and nutrition, water and sanitation, shelter, health care etc.) and to base its actions on sound public health information which is aimed at the maximum impact for the greatest number of people. Public Health Promotion is the planned and systematic attempt to enable people to take action to prevent or mitigate disease. It combines insider knowledge (what do people know, do and want) with outsider knowledge (e.g. the causes of disease, epidemiology, vector control and communications and learning strategies). As the situation settles people may be less willing to do this but the short term action has prevented unnecessary deaths. The emphasis on action rather than behaviour change can also provide a more empowering approach to working with those affected by disasters by recognising that they are not just victims but that through collective and individual action they are also able to help themselves to mitigate the effects of a disaster. Public Health Promotion stresses the need for a planned and systematic approach to the provision of clean water, improved sanitation, vector control, the provision of essential items such as soap, water containers or bednets and the provision of information and learning opportunities. It depends on a detailed knowledge of what people know, do and think as well as knowledge of environmental health, engineering, epidemiology, communication and learning strategies.

Community participation does NOT simply involve people contributing labour, equipment or money to the project but aims to promote the active involvement of all sections of a community in project planning and decision making. It aims to encourage people to take responsibility for the process and outcomes, both short and long term, of the project. Encouraging participation in an emergency can help to restore people’s self esteem and dignity but achieving participation within a short time frame can present significant challenges. It should be remembered that at different stages of the emergency different levels of participation will be possible and therefore a flexible response is required. Project managers, engineers, public health promoters, vector control officers all are responsible to ensure that Public Health principles are adhered to, that minimum standards are met, that those affected are involved in the response.

Interventions in Public Nutrition and the education component of Food and Nutrition programmes should apply a Public Health Awareness to enable people to take action to reduce health risks. People may be more receptive to information from mass information campaigns but wherever possible discussion and dialogue should form the basis of mobilisation campaigns. Systems of community organization may be involved in promoting public health and in raising awareness. Schools may be functioning, religious groups mobilised and government structures may be involved in the delivery of services.

The process of assessment and analysis, planning, monitoring and evaluation which are as essential in relief as in development work should be organized to mobilise communities. In this respect, to have deeper understanding of what people know, do and think is important. Assessment is carried out by data collection using mapping, focus group discussions and household observation as well as other participatory tools to supplement the acknowledgment. Community structures may have become severely disrupted during an emergency or may be non existent. Mobilising the community to regroup and elect new leaders or representatives if necessary will facilitate any future work with them.

What data is need for assessment?
The list below is an example of some of the initial key information for Public Health Promotion that should be gathered initially. The Public Health Assessment Tool (PHAT) should be consulted for further details of what assessment data is required.
__government structures (health services(including public health)/water supply/education)
__population (numbers and profile), average household size
__mortality and morbidity (including malnutrition)
__basic epidemiology of common diseases which pose a risk to the population (e.g. diarrhoea/malaria) disaggregated by sex if possible
__key informants, opinion leaders (male and female)
__community organisation & structures (women’s groups, water committees, religious institutions, social societies, youth groups, schools, markets, health service etc.), gender roles
__existing outreach workers (Community Health Workers, Social Development extension agents etc.)
__vulnerable groups (disabled, older people, female headed households, ethnic minorities, etc.)
__literacy rates for men and women


Reference: Oxfam Guidelines for Public Health Promotion in Emergencies, 1996

UK Education Debate

Key points of the education bill

'Trust schools'
every school to be able to become a foundation school, acquire a foundation and allow that foundation to appoint a majority of governors
local authorities to continue to be able to propose community schools in competitions for new schools
parents can complain about a school to Ofsted
councils empowered to require a weak school to collaborate with another school or to work with a partner on school improvement.

Admissions
existing ban on selection by ability reaffirmed
ban on interviewing prospective pupils and their parents
schools must "act in accordance" with the admissions code, rather than simply "have regard to" it
local admissions forums can refer objections to the Schools Adjudicator and produce an annual report on fair access in their areas
parents get council help in choosing a school
free transport extended to help the poorest families

Meals, learning and discipline
nutritional standards applied to school meals
councils can offer free meals to all if they wish
teenagers entitled to new vocational diplomas
schools and colleges to collaborate in offering diplomas
duty on councils to ensure all children achieve their potential
all staff in schools get power to discipline misbehaving pupils even out of school
detention can be imposed on weekends
parenting contracts and orders are extended
parents made responsible for excluded children

Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/education/4808768.stm

Oxfam:Shattered drought economy may take 15 years to recover without support

Pastoralists struck by the current East African drought may take 15 years to recover their livelihoods unless they are given appropriate support, said international aid agency Oxfam International today.

With death rates of cattle herds in some areas topping 95 per cent, local economies are crumbling. In Wajir in north-east Kenya, up to 70 per cent of small shops have closed because customers are unable to repay mounting debts.

In many areas, two-thirds of people are reliant on food aid but in some parts of Wajir it is much higher than this. Mohamed Ali, a resident of Dambas in Wajir, where 98 per cent of people are currently reliant on food aid, told Oxfam:

"During lean periods the shops would bail us out with credit, but now nearly all the shops have been run down by giving too much credit and not receiving any payment back. I don't know how we'll get through this period. So many people are on the brink."

Regenerating the economy once the immediate crisis passes will require the international community to provide cash-for-work schemes and restocking programmes to help pastoralists recover. It will also require stronger commitment from the Government of Kenya to improve health, education, infrastructure and other basic services for pastoralist communities.

Based on previous experience of the 1992 drought, local elders in Wajir estimate that, without aid for regeneration, it could take 15 years for a herd of 120 cows decimated by this drought to recover its original size.

Antar Ahmed, 76, lost all but nine of his 52 cattle in the 1992. His herd recovered to 85 by 2004, of which just two are left alive.

“Now that our livestock have perished, our own lives are in mortal danger,” he says.

The extent of the food crisis is accelerating, with the numbers of children requiring emergency supplementary feeding in Wajir up 50 per cent since January, according to health charity Merlin, which is working in partnership with Oxfam to respond to the crisis.

Pastoralism is the only viable way of life that has proven able to sustain itself despite many shocks in these arid landscapes, with the livestock sector providing 95 per cent of household income. In 2002 livestock production accounted for 10 per cent of Kenyan GDP, much of it accounted for by the work of pastoralists.

Paul Smith-Lomas, Oxfam regional director said:
“Pastoralism is a viable livelihood and makes an important contribution to the Kenyan economy. But there is an urgent need for improved development and economic policies in drought affected areas.”

John Le Carre, author of The Constant Gardener, part of the movie of which was filmed in Loiyangalani, in the drought-affected district of Turkana in north-west Kenya, said:

"In the worst drought of the decade, three-and-a-half million people in Northern Kenya are in imminent danger of starving to death, dying of thirst, or being killed in fights for survival. Wouldn't it be wonderful if, this time round, we devoted as much money and energy to saving three-and-a-half million of our fellow citizens as we do to making war in other regions of the globe".

Oxfam International is responding to the food crisis in Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia by targeting food distribution, water and livelihoods support at over 500,000 affected people.

ENDS

For more details please contact:
- Douglas Keatinge, Oxfam GB Regional Media Officer for the Horn, East-, and Central-Africa (HECA), + 254 (0) 733 632 810 or + 254 (0) 20 282 0136
dkeatinge@oxfam.org.uk

Notes to editors

• The United Nations/Government of Kenya appeal for $225m to fund emergency interventions by the World Food Programme remains seriously under-funded.

• As of 8th March $56m had been given, a shortfall of $170m or 75 per cent.

• Committed donations so far:
US $29m, Kenya $13m, ECHO (EU) $6m, UK $2m, Australia $1.5m, Ireland $1.5, Austria $0.7m, Belgium $0.6m, Italy $0.6m, Luxembourg $0.3m, New Zealand $0.3m, Turkey $0.2m, Israel $0.02m

• Unconfirmed contributions:
UK $17m, Canada $4m, Denmark $1.2m, France $1.2m

• Over two-thirds of people in the North East of Kenya live below the poverty line.

• Adult literacy rates are 12 per cent and secondary school enrolment is just 5 per cent.

Indicators in Humanitarian Response

The complicated, but popular, question of how to measure progress in responding to humanitarian needs has become highlighted once again. At present mortality and malnutrition rates continue to serve as the most commonly used indicators for the time being, there have been renewed need for benchmarks to measure the performance of aid agencies in effective emergency response to disasters. Early 2005 following the call of British International Development Secretary for the need to set benchmarks for the scale and speed of response, DFID launched an initiative to define new sets of standards for this purpose. One suggestion made by DFID is to create standards relating to protection. There have already been debates that have taken place on this issue, in various forums, leading to the understanding that protection work does not lend itself to be translated into standards and indicators. The SPHERE project, Humanitarian Charter and Minimum Standards in Disaster Response, has been the most comprehensive effort in setting standards to date. Following the Rwandan refugee crisis in 1994, the sphere standards, which are rights based, were created to improve the quality and accountability of humanitarian response. The main issue however may be that coordinators and more often practitioners seem to not know enough about the sphere standards and filling the gap of integrating sphere into coordination mechanisms. At the moment the sphere office is not alone in researching the bottlenecks for implementation of standards at the field level. In the world of standard setting, networks or initiatives, such as the Humanitarian Accountability Partnership or the Emergency capacity building initiative, undertaken by predominant NGOs are also looking at the practices of agencies using standards at the field level. Other standardized methodology for monitoring and assessing relief SMART, for example, has also been under development in other corners of the humanitarian community, but unless these new methods make their way to field level, their feasibility is under question. On the other hand, too many standards, and indicators run the risk of creating bureaucracy and even duplicating some of the same efforts in search for professionalisation of the aid community. While the need to strike a balance between techniques of needs assessments and data collection with the need for reactivity and speed in emergencies being primary issues. Hilary Benn, in answering a member of parliament's question on his most recent estimate of the number of people who have died each day on average in Darfur, stressed, back in June, on the lack of data available on mortality rates. Mortality figures continue to be key indicators in assessing the magnitude of a crisis. Many issues are raised with regards to mortality data, such as the classic ethical dilemma in making a distinction between the mortality rates in industrialized countries with those in African countries to classify emergency levels. There were also concerns about collecting and using the data which might be manipulated by political actors. This even throws up questions on the relevance and use of the most basic data with regards to human survival in emergency settings. The point was made in a survey by the Humanitarian Policy Network that mortality findings in emergencies will help to hold combatants, host governments, relief agencies, donors, international governments, and the media accountable for their possible shortcomings to respect, protect, and assist affected populations. In this respect where the UN takes the leading role in emergency response, there could be scope for improvement in the issue of having combined Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator as the preferred option. Given that here are so many Residents without adequate humanitarian experience, there should be greater efforts to try having a separate Humanitarian Coordinator in at least some situations to compare the two options. The UN has often cited that the separation does not work.. there is a fundamental dilemma in having both the RC and HC functions in cases where the government is a party to the conflict. The RC is expected to work with such a government on the development side, while at the same time, pushing issues such as humanitarian access and security. Issues around impartiality and neutrality come into question when there is a dual hat roles being undertaken by the same person.

Oxfam : Global Emergency Fund

Global emergency fund launched today: poor countries pledge money but richer Japan and Germany missing

Developing nations Pakistan, India and Egypt have all pledged money to a global emergency fund yet richer donors Germany and Japan have not given a single cent, said Oxfam International today. The fund was launched today by UN Secretary General Kofi Annan in New York.

Oxfam highlighted the disparity in giving which shows that poorer and disaster affected countries are contributing to the Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF), yet governments that have called for increased effectiveness in responding to emergencies including Japan and Germany have not pledged any money to the fund.

Disaster affected countries Pakistan, Grenada and Sri Lanka have all pledged a small amount, India has given $2 million and Korea has donated $5 million. Yet rich countries France and Belgium have given just $1 million and $1.2 million respectively.

The fund will help to ensure a rapid response to potentially save lives in emergencies such as last year痴 South Asia earthquake, rather than the UN having to wait for money to be pledged every time a crisis occurs.

The new CERF was formally approved by the UN General Assembly in December and officially launched today. It now has a total of just $256 million (plus an existing $50mn loan facility), contributed by more than 30 governments with Canada ($17mn), Australia ($7.3mn), Spain ($10mn) and the United States ($10 million) all announced funding at the launch today. The Dutch government today doubled its contribution to $24 million.

Other donor governments that earlier contributed to the fund include UK, Sweden, Norway, Netherlands, Ireland, Switzerland, Denmark, Korea, Finland and Luxembourg.

Oxfam International痴 Policy Advisor Greg Puley said that Oxfam welcomed today痴 contributions from several donor countries and urged countries to continue contributing. Puley said the fund could help in the crucial first hours and days after a disaster and could also provide money to 創eglected crises・that do not receiving adequate donor government funds and attention.

溺any poor and disaster affected countries see the value in supporting the global emergency fund yet Japan and Germany have not contributed a cent,・said Oxfam痴 Puley. 迭esponding immediately after a disaster is vital to saving lives, but without adequate money the global emergency fund will not be able to do so. Governments must pledge to the fund now, before the next emergency occurs.・

Oxfam International estimates that a fund of US$1billion is needed to help ensure that the UN can achieve its goal of quick and balanced response, and must come on top of governments・existing aid budgets. One billion has been the annual shortfall between global humanitarian appeals and donor country response each year 2001 to 2004.

Oxfam used the example of Chad as a forgotten emergency that could be helped by the global emergency fund. Chad has suffered the consequences of a major influx of 200,000 refugees from the neighboring Darfur region and needs international assistance for water, sanitation, health, education and food programs. Yet the UN humanitarian appeal received just 55 percent of the funding needed in 2005 ・just $125 million of the $227 million requested. The global emergency fund could help fill this gap.

Under current German budgetary regulations it is not possible for the government to contribute to a general fund. All pledges must be tied to a specific crisis. Oxfam International urges the German government to change this system to allow it to support the CERF

Citizen Engagement

Three means of citizen engagement with the state in a democratic society includes: first through the ballot box as part of the electoral process, second as active citizens enrolled in civic participation at a local scale, third through involvement in social engagements. Each of these activities is it self a result of particular rights enjoyed by citizens in a democratic context – the right to vote, the right to participate in government and the right to participate in social, religious, economic and cultural activities. The difference between de jure and de facto citizenship frequently has a spatial manifestation – on finding that their rights are restricted in particular often public spaces, excluded groups create more private, marginal, spaces in which proper machineries can be achieved and the enforcement agencies of the state or of an intolerant minorities may be compromised and be negotiated.

International law

During 1980s international law was presented as a topic in universities while only few students of the whole attending the lectures, would ever come across to work in the field in real life. International law was taught across the world, to govern relations between states at the international level with little, if any impact on citizens or on local issues. Before the second WWar international rules had been minimal in context and addressed only a small number of areas of human activities.

Since 1990s public perceptions of international law have been transformed. At some point in the 90s these arcane rules moved out of the corridors of foreign ministries and into the boardrooms of business, lobbying newsletters of NGOs, and the front pages of our newspapers. International law went public. Against the back ground of changes during 80s, and 90s several factors transformed perceptions about the function and nature of international law. First factor is globalization a concept caught on during 1990s, premised on rule based system of international, and international economic relations in particular.

Global emergency fund – Oxfam reports: major donors missing in action

Five major donor countries have failed to commit anything to a global emergency fund just one week before it is officially launched by UN Secretary General Kofi Annan next Thursday.

The United States, Japan, Australia, Italy and Canada have not pledged a single cent to the Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) said Oxfam International today. France has only given just over one million dollars despite being one of the richest countries in the world. By contrast, poorer countries including Mexico, Grenada and Sri Lanka have all contributed to the fund.

The global emergency fund will help to ensure a rapid response to emergencies, potentially saving thousands of lives by allowing action within 72 hours, rather than the UN having to wait for funds to be pledged every time a crisis occurs. The new CERF was formally approved by the General Assembly in December and will be launched in New York on Thursday March 9.

Oxfam’s Policy Advisor Sarah Kline said that the fund could help both in rapid-onset disasters and also provide money to forgotten crises such as Chad that are not receiving adequate donor government funds and attention.

“The fund could help save lives in crises such as northern Uganda and Chad that do not make it onto the world’s radar,” said Oxfam’s Sarah Kline. “It could go a long way to solving the constant and recurring battle for money in disasters and neglected conflicts.”

“Governments have committed to responding quickly and effectively to help those in most need, yet now that we have a global emergency fund, governments seem reluctant to actually put money into it,” Kline added.

Oxfam used the example of Chad as a forgotten emergency that could be helped by the global emergency fund. Chad has suffered the consequences of a major influx of 200,000 refugees from the neighboring Darfur region and needs international assistance for water, sanitation, health, education and food programs. Yet the UN humanitarian appeal received just 55 percent of the funding needed in 2005 – just $125 million of the $227 million requested. The global emergency fund could help fill this gap.

Only $188 million total has been pledged to the CERF by governments including UK, Sweden, Norway, Netherlands, Ireland, Switzerland, Denmark, Finland and Luxembourg. Oxfam International estimates that a fund of US$1billion is needed to ensure that the UN can respond immediately to future disasters. One billion has been the annual shortfall between global humanitarian need and donor response for the past several years.

Oxfam is stressing that all money for the global emergency fund up to the additional $1billion needed – which amounts to less than US$1 per year for each person in the rich OECD countries – must come on top of governments’ existing aid budgets.

ENDS

Notes to Editors:

The following countries have contributed the following amounts to the CERF: UK $70 million, Sweden $41 million, Norway, $30 million Netherlands, $12 million, Ireland $12 million, Denmark $8.1 million, Luxembourg $4 million, Switzerland, $4 million, Finland, $4.9 million, France $1.2 million, Greece $100,000, Estonia $24,000, Croatia $5,000, Sri Lanka $10,000, Liechtenstein $100,000, Mexico $50,000, Grenada $10,000, Armenia $5,000.
The original CERF fund was established in 1992 with a US $50mn pot of money to respond to emergencies. It was a revolving fund, making loans that had to be repaid. This new, reformed CERF includes grants, so UN agencies can ask for the money from the fund without having to work out where the replacement funds will come from. The new CERF was formally approved by the UN General Assembly in December 2005 and will be launched in New York on March 9 2006.