Moving Beyond Rhetorics

The humanitarian sector is grappling with similar problems after Hurricane Matthew. There is again a race to get maximum funds, rush to Haiti to set up response mechanism, finding local actors inefficient, a chaotic coordination mechanism and so on. This is happening right after the World Humanitarian Summit, in which almost all major actors came up with huge commitments while talking in favour of localisation and empowerment of national response mechanism.

I came across this article which sounds a brutal criticism of the humanitarian sector. However, those who have spent years in the sector, will find themselves in agreement, however reluctant they might be. After every mega disaster, we diagnose the same problems, come up with a global process to fix them up, only to find next time that nothing got changed. Then where does the problem lies? In my opinion, the problem lies in the patronising attitude of western organisations, which believes that they got solutions to every problems facing the developing world, and which they must transfer to local actors for their larger good. Unless this attitude gets changed, no global processes will bring about the desired changes in the humanitarian sector. Finance is not the only resource one needs for an efficient humanitarian response. Human resources and knowledge of context are equally important. It is the local people and organisations who better understand the problems and their possible solutions. They who should be at driving seat?

Accountability has been a key theme during all global processes and the standards emerged during recent years. However, we need to be clear how do we define accountability and how do we we hold ourselves accountable to what we have defined. Shouldn’t we hold someone accountable if the commitments made during all global processes fail? If we don’t move beyond jargons and rhetorics, we will continue discrediting the humanitarian sector at the cost of increasing population of those suffering from natural disasters as well as conflicts.

International Community pledged $10 billion for Haiti after the 2010 earthquake to Build Back Better. One expected that the reconstruction would take care of vulnerability of Haitians and strengthen resilience to protect them from future disasters. The failure of coordination also inspired UN to come up with Transformative Agenda to be more effective while dealing with next mega disasters. Six years down the line, we find little outcome of both.

So far, death toll in Haiti has already reached 1,027 which is still mounting. Only in southwest Haiti 750,000 people need lifesaving assistance and protection. The humanitarian response is again dominated by international actors with little visibility of local organisations and the government. Are we going to plan another global process or a summit which will eventually yield the same result?

National organisations can’t find the solution if they share the belief of western organisations that power lies elsewhere which need to be disseminated at the local level. Humanitarian Aid International (HAI) is trying for an approach with is independent of this western narrative. We believe that power lies with us. We are better aware of the contexts, the problems and the solutions. The financial resources may not be enough for which we welcome collaboration with international community.

HAI is coming up with a national platform in India which consists of homegrown NGOS, civil society organisations and corporate houses. This platform is expected to be self-sufficient to deal with most of the disasters affecting India. There are enough resources within the country to take care of domestic needs. We only need to restore trust of the civil society and corporate sector on the NGO sector. That can be done through utmost operational efficiency, cost-efficiency, accountability and transparency.

Hopefully, HAI will be able to come up with a replicable model within a year or two.

#HurricaneMatthew #Haiti #earthquake #HAI #HumanitarianAidInternational