Land Recuperation in Niger. ©Mari A. Mortvedt/Norwegian Red Cross

When looking at the Economic Stress posed by climate change, efforts will likely have to be substantially stepped up if we are to avoid major, irreversible harm. The Adaptation Performance Review of the Climate Vulnerability Monitor 2010 assesses over 50 key measures that can be taken to reduce dangers and harm to communities and the planet. In this podcast, we examine adaptations specifically targeting economic stress that will arise as the effects of climate change become more pronounced. Tune into DARA’s latest podcast on economic adaptations to climate change based on the findings of the 2010 Climate Vulnerability Monitor.

While most evaluations focus on emergency response, this study will address disaster risk reduction and transition.

DARA will evaluate the FAO’s role and work in Disaster Risk Reduction within the overall framework of Disaster Risk Management. The evaluation intends to be forward-looking and formative, providing FAO’s Member Countries and FAO Secretariat with a qualitative assessment of the Organization’s activities in this field in both regions, highlighting lessons learned and good practices, and with recommendations on its role and work in the future.

The study is comprised of one normative study and one meta evaluation of FAO’s field experience, as well as fieldwork in four countries in Asia and four countries in Latin America and Caribbean. A pilot country visit, yet to be determined, will take place in July.

The study is being conducted by a Core Team composed by Allan Lavell, Yasemin Aysan, Nicolai Steen and Riccardo Polastro and will be supported by DARA’s in-house researchers.

Man receiving malaria medicine. Benoit Matsha-Carpentier/IFRC

Lifesaving measures to address climate-change-related health problems are some of the most well-documented and effective measures we have in fighting the overall negative effects of climate change. The Adaptation Performance Review of the Climate Vulnerability Monitor 2010 assesses over 50 key measures that can be taken to reduce dangers and harm to communities and the planet. In this podcast highlighting the Adaptation Performance Review, we examine adaptations specifically targeting health issues that will arise as the effects of climate change become more pronounced. Tune into DARA’s latest podcast on health adaptations to climate change based on the findings of the 2010 Climate Vulnerability Monitor.

The European Policy Centre (EPC) is an independent, not-for-profit think tank, committed to making European integration work. The EPC works at the “cutting edge” of European and global policy-making providing its members and the wider public with rapid, high-quality information and analysis on the EU and global policy agenda. It aims to promote a balanced dialogue between the different constituencies of its membership, spanning all aspects of economic and social life.

DARA is also a member of Active Learning Network for Accountability and Performance in Humanitarian Action (ALNAP), The International Council of Voluntary Agencies (ICVA), The European Evaluation Society, The American Evaluation Association, and The International Initiative for Impact Evaluation.

By David Singh

GENEVA, 16 April 2012 – A new report on humanitarian responses states that “If other donors were to follow the lead being set by Australia, Germany and the United Kingdom, it could mean a turning point in transforming the humanitarian system from a reactive, response-driven model, to a proactive, preventive and anticipatory model.”

The 2011 Humanitarian Response Index (HRI) by Development Assistance Research Associates (DARA) which is based on research carried out on 23 of the world’s main donor governments and nine major crises, highlights that Australia and Germany are becoming increasingly engaged in supporting disaster risk reduction (DRR) and preparedness efforts, with a focus on capacity-building at the local level as an integrated part of their humanitarian assistance.

The HRI further highlights that the United Kingdom also has a revised humanitarian strategy which is now centred on how aid efforts, including development aid, can contribute to building resilience and anticipating future needs.

The report underscores however, that “DRR and prevention have been relegated to a grey area where no one takes ownership and leadership.”

According to the HRI, its findings confirm what previous reports have consistently revealed, “A persistent lack of political commitment and investment in capacity-building, conflict and disaster prevention, preparedness and risk reduction.”

“Part of the problem”, state the HRI, “is a narrow vision among donor governments of humanitarian assistance as emergency relief in the strictest sense, with everything else falling in the development assistance remit.” The flip side is that “most development assistance programmes fail to see risk reduction and prevention as part of their mandate”.

The HRI finds corroboration in another recent study – Disaster Risk Reduction: Spending where it should count by Jan Kellet and Dan Sparks – which estimates that less than one percent of all official government aid (ODA) – development or humanitarian assistance — is allocated towards preparedness activities.

The Kellet-Sparks study states that from 2000-2009 the 40 top recipients of humanitarian aid only received about 30 percent of total development aid ($363 billion out of $1.2 trillion) compared to 90 percent of all emergency aid. And just $3.7 billion was spent on DRR in the 40 countries surveyed.

According to the HRI, donors scored lower in prevention, risk reduction and recovery as well as in learning and accountability. Both pillars include indicators around greater participation and ownership of affected populations in the design and management of programmes, and longer-term approaches to capacity- and resilience-building.

“The inability of donors to respond in a timely manner to the drought and famine in Kenya and Somalia, despite ample early warnings, shows the devastating effects of inaction,” notes the HRI.

In the words of one of the respondents from Kenya quoted in the report: “We tried to propose something for early recovery but donors were not interested. They only want to fund emergencies”.

“The response to Haiti, Chad and Pakistan underline once again the importance of building local capacity and resilience, and … for prevention, preparedness and risk reduction”, notes the HRI.

And as one Haitian respondent quoted in the HRI states: “Most donors do not fund the transition to recovery and development. It is difficult to find donors once the emergency has passed over”.

The 23 donors surveyed by the HRI were Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, European Commission, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom and the United States. The nine crises reviewed were Chad, Colombia, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Haiti, Kenya, The occupied Palestinian territories, Pakistan, Somalia and Sudan.

• Download the 2011 Humanitarian Response Index: Addressing the Gender Challenge
• Report: Disaster risk reduction: Spending where it should count

On the heels of last month’s “Kony 2012″ comes a new viral video aiming to tackle Ireland’s cutbacks in overseas aid.

YouTube video “Sean 2012″ tells the story of a boy who wants to “go to Uganda and stop Kony” after watching the viral hit. But his older brother helps him understand that he might better help the complex situation by lobbying politicians from Ireland.

“Sean 2012″ ties in with Act Now 2015, an existing campaign spearheaded by the University College Dublin to get the Irish government to honor a pledge to raise its overseas aid budget to 0.7% of gross national product (GNP) by 2015.

But according to the 2011 Humanitarian Response Index, Ireland falls short of this goal and currently contributes only .52% of its GNP to foreign aid.

The filmmakers hope Irish citizens who watch the video will sign an online petition intended to spur action from the Irish government on the issue.

For more on the movement, check out the ‘Sean 2012′ Tumblr blog or the group’s Facebook page.

Madrid-based think-tank DARA believes the number of countries adversely affected by changing weather will rise from 15 today to 54 in 2030

DUBAI, 4 April 2012 (IRIN) – There is “worrying evidence” that the scale and scope of disasters will increase significantly in coming years and “the international community is not prepared,” says Ross Mountain, director-general of Development Assistance Research Associates (DARA), a Madrid-based think-tank which advocates better humanitarian policies.

He was speaking at the Dubai International Humanitarian Aid & Development Conference & Exhibition, which ran from 1-3 April.

In vulnerable countries food prices, urbanization, migration, the impact of climate change and population growth are all increasing. But as the challenges grow, the resources available in OECD countries – the traditional donors – to respond to humanitarian crises are shrinking.

“The challenge will be huge,” Johannes Luchner, head of the Middle East, Central and South-West Asia unit of the European Commission’s humanitarian aid arm ECHO, said at the conference. “We need to do things differently in order to cope with this development.”

Part of doing things differently is planning for the future.

“Given the increased scale of needs and vulnerability, we need a radical shift in attitude and working practices to integrate anticipation, disaster risk reduction, preparedness and resilience into our programmes,” Mountain said.

“Many governments and many organizations still operate on a model that focuses on short-term crises, rather than looking at the longer term trends and their humanitarian implications… If we do not take a more participatory preventive approach, we will be responsible for countless avoidable suffering in the decades to come.”

His thoughts were echoed by Yacoub El Hillo, director of the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR)’s Bureau for the Middle East and North Africa, who told the conference:

“I don’t think the international capacity today is well placed to respond – not to a collection of these mega-crises – even to one of them… And they are literally all over the world.” He said the international community needs to ask itself “whether the business-as-usual approach will continue to cut it…

“Prevention is better than a cure,” El Hillo told IRIN later. “A cure can never be adequate if the needs are growing by the hour, but the resources are declining by the minute.”

Speakers at the conference identified a number of trends, challenges and issues that humanitarians should take heed of if they are to “do better” in the future. Here are some of them:

Youth bulge: Almost 40 percent of the global population is under 24; over one billion people – one in five people – are aged 15-24; in one third of the world’s countries, more than 60 percent of the population is under 30; and 85 percent of the world’s youth live in the developing world. “Youth are a dominant demographic reality… a reality that demands urgent focus and consideration, especially in our development plans,” William Lacy Swing, director-general of the International Organization for Migration (IOM), told the conference.

“Without investments early on, youth remain trapped in situations of poverty and dependency, and are easily co-opted into criminality, social conflict, and patterns of inter-generational violence.”

Participants also stressed the need to better engage youth in humanitarian aid. “People under-estimate the capacity of youth,” said Princess Haya Bint Al Hussein, wife of the prime minister of the United Arab Emirates and a UN Messenger of Peace. “How is it that we give them so little role in setting the global development agenda or helping find new routes to ending political conflicts that deplete our energy and resources?”

Unemployment: With this “demographic tsunami”, as Princess Haya put it, “there are already too many people for too few jobs and the impact of technology, especially in the manufacturing sector, will be to reduce those numbers even further.” The Middle East and North Africa, for example, will have to create 20 million jobs in the next 10 years to align its unemployment rate of 25 percent with the global rate of 10 percent – a task that is “utterly daunting,” according to Justin Sykes, manager of social innovation at the Doha-based company Silatech, which focuses on creating jobs in the Arab world.

Migration: The rising number of young people, combined with high rates of unemployment, has been a key driver of global migration, which has reached unprecedented heights. Today, one in seven people in the world is a migrant. About 215 million migrants are crossing international borders and another 740 million are domestic migrants moving from rural to urban areas in search of work.

“Migration is with us to stay. It is a mega-trend of the 21st century,” Swing said. In some North African countries, more than three-quarters of youth said they intended to migrate at any cost, but had little information on the details of their journey or what job they would do once they reached their destination, IOM surveying has found. Increasingly, people who would meet the definition of a refugee are hidden in large groups of migrants, El Hillo added. This so-called “mixed migration” is making it harder to help refugees.

Climate change*: Climate change in the coming years is expected to affect almost every aspect of our lives, making it a challenge for the aid community to design effective response strategies.   Beyond financial loss, “extreme events …  can lead to a loss of what matters to individuals, communities, and groups, including the loss of elements of social capital, such as sense of place or of community, identity, or culture”, points out the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s new report, Managing the Risks of Extreme Events and Disasters to Advance Climate Change Adaptation (SREX).  Higher temperatures and altered rainfall patterns could potentially lead to an increase in the incidence of vector-born diseases such as malaria, yellow fever, dengue fever, onchocerciasis or river blindness, and trypanosomiasis or sleeping sickness, the IPCC said in its last assessment.

Politicization of humanitarian aid: Governments are increasingly linking humanitarian assistance to political, military or anti-terrorism objectives. Think Afghanistan, Yemen, Libya, Sudan, Somalia and the occupied Palestinian territory. “This is a dangerous game which has deadly consequences in terms of access, protection and safety of civilians and humanitarian actors alike,” Mountain said. In other cases, like Syria, governments and/or armed groups have increasingly denied access to humanitarian organizations. Read more on the politicization of aid in the 2011 release of the Humanitarian Response Index, an annual survey published by DARA.

New actors in humanitarianism: There has been an explosion of NGOs in recent years; but also a change in the donor landscape. The economic downturn in the West has meant a growing role for donors and organizations from the Arab and Muslim worlds, for example. This means two things. First, the international community needs to better, and “more respectfully”, engage these new players. “The tendency on the part of many of us in the international community is to come thinking that money is to be given so that we, the experts, go back and do the work,” El Hillo said. “The talk should be more about strategic partnerships and not about money… Forging smart and strategic partnership is one way for the international humanitarian community to better respond to today’s growing humanitarian challenges,” he told IRIN.

But as humanitarian aid becomes more popular, ECHO’s Luchner said, “we also need to be sure we can channel all this good will into a professional way of providing humanitarian aid.”

Local ownership: National actors have shown a desire to take on increased responsibilities in responding to crises, and the international community should welcome that, according to Ambassador Manuel Bessler, deputy director-general of the Swiss Humanitarian Aid Department. He said he learned this lesson during the floods in Pakistan, when, as the head of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs there, he was not in enough contact with the authorities. The Arab Spring has also shown the capacity of civil society, and this must be embraced, El Hillo said: “Civil society organizations, NGOs in the Arab world are not there to be taught what they will do. They have a lot to teach.”

Innovation: The humanitarian community must move beyond traditional ways of thinking and look to innovative ways of dealing with the crises it faces. Bessler pointed to the success Switzerland has had in places like Somalia, with giving cash assistance instead of in-kind donations to vulnerable people. The Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) is now experimenting with how to do this in emergencies. “It moves away from hand-outs to hands-on,” Bessler said, and also helps stimulate local economies. Another growing field is the use of text messaging on mobile phones to connect youth to potential employers, as Silatech has done in several new projects in the Arab world, or farmers to markets as has been done in sub-Saharan Africa.

Humanitarian versus development aid: As the lines between humanitarian aid and development work become increasingly blurred, humanitarians need to do a better job of advocating preparedness, Mountain said.

“When you deal with the military, they spend about 90-95 percent of their time planning and maybe 5 percent of their time doing,” he told IRIN, “whereas the humanitarians spend about 95 percent of their time, if not more, doing, and very little time planning… Even when people are not at war, they have an army. When there are no fires, you have a fire department sitting there. When you have a humanitarian crisis, by and large, you actually go out and try to get the firemen to come together and go out. So surprise surprise, we’re not as fast as we need to be.”