Aung Kyaw Moe / Task 2 - Humanitarian Aid and Supply Chain

Memo
To: From: Date: RE:

Francois Damba Aung Kyaw Moe

28 May 2013

TASK 2 HUMANITARIAN AID SUPPLY CHAIN

Basically all humanitarian aid organizations base all of their activities on the core values of humanity, impartiality, neutrality and independence. I would like to present you these fundamental humanitarian principles reflecting with my past experiences. Most of the information I collected for that task were from ICRC website, Sphere website and Wikipaedia website in addition to our Logistics Manual. Humanity The principle of humanity means that humankind shall be treated humanely in all circumstances by saving lives and alleviating suffering, while keeping respect for the individual. It is the fundamental principle of humanitarian response. Humanitarian action should be directed toward the relief of immediate, life-threatening suffering. It means that human suffering must be addressed wherever it is found, with particular attention to the most vulnerable in the population, such as children, women and the elderly. The dignity and rights of all victims must be respected and protected. Since 1996, I worked for a French NGO called Action Contre La Faim which is working in our country, mainly in Rakhine State. We implemented there such programs as Water and Sanitation program, Hygiene Education Program, Food Security program and Nutrition program. The main beneficiaries in two townships, Maungdaw and Buthidaung are Rohingya people who profess Islam but they have no country. They were the victims of our governments immigration law promulgated in 1983. They became stateless people because the governments of Myanmar and Bangladesh did not recognize them as their citizens. The humanitarian situation is very worse there because there are both types of disasters, natural and man-made. The iron laws of Myanmar military government deepened their vulnerability. We can see there how human beings are abused, degraded, mutilated and suffered from the whole

catalogue of problems. The experiences I got from these programs taught me a lot about the value of humanity. Impartiality It means that humanitarian assistance must be provided without any kind of discrimination based on ethnic origin, gender, nationality, political opinions, race or religion. Relief of the suffering must be guided and provided solely by the criteria of needs and priority must be given to the most urgent cases of distress. Humanitarian action responds to human suffering because people are in need, not to advance political, sectarian, or other extraneous agendas. It should not take sides in political or religious conflicts. As I have mentioned before, our organization (ACF) is mainly implementing some humanitarian programs in Rakhine State. Its main beneficiaries are Rohingya people but sometime some village tracts lived by other ethnic minorities such as Rakhine or Myo or Khamee maybe more vulnerable than Rohingya villages. In this regard, we prioritize our relief activities to the more vulnerable communities in the area. I learnt the principle of impartiality by addressing our humanitarian activities towards the group of people choosen by the criteria based on needs only. Neutrality The principle of neutrality means that humanitarian assistance must be provided without involving in hostilities or taking sides in political or religious or ideological conflicts and controversies. Nowadays, the word neutrality is widely used within the humanitarian community, depicting the provision of humanitarian aid in an impartial and independent manner, based on need alone. According to my past experiences in humanitarian aid activities, the principle of neutrality is very important in an area where there are different ethnic groups and differing cultural and religious backgrounds. A humanitarian organization like ACF must show that it is above the political and racial conflicts. In this case, even it has main support from the government; it needs to stay away from any deeper involvement with government bodies. It could not allow government officials, both military and civilian to use its premises or vehicles in order to avoid the wrong image it can get from such kind of involvement. But some NGO in our country did not care about the principle of neutrality whenever they get the hefty funding from a donor who is politically affiliated with the military government. Independence The humanitarian organizations should be free of interference from home or host political authorities to fulfil their mission. Humanitarian space is very important for effective action. In our country, one INGO (I dont want to mention the name) accepted a funding from a very big oil company who is doing joint-venture business with notoriously ill-named military government. This oil company made a lot of damages to the local inhabitants within the area of oil exploration and production. Therefore, this company wanted to whitewash and greenwash the scars it has done to

the local people and environment. They offer an attractive amount of donation to that INGO in the name of community development and rehabilitation and the INGO accepted it. In this case, this INGO violates the principle of Independence and indirectly provides the service to the company and the military government. On top of these above-mentioned core values of humanitarian activities, we could add the codes on conduct mentioned by sphere project. Code of Conduct 1. The Humanitarian imperative comes first This code is based on the principle of Humanity. The basic motivation in any response to disaster is to alleviate human suffering amongst those least able to withstand the stress caused by disaster. The humanitarian aid given must not be a partisan or political act and should not be viewed as such. 2. Aid is given regardless of the race, creed or nationality of the recipients and without adverse distinction of any kind. Aid priorities are calculated on the basis of need alone This code is based on the principle of Impartiality. Human suffering must be alleviated whenever it is found; life is as precious in one part of a country as another. Therefore the provision of aid will reflect the degree of suffering it seeks to alleviate. 3. Aid will not be used to further a particular political or religious standpoint This code is based on the principle of Neutrality. Humanitarian aid will be given according to the need of individuals, families and communities. The humanitarian assistance will not be dependent on the adherence of the recipients to those opinions. 4. All Humanitarian Organizations shall endeavour not to act as instruments of government foreign policy This code is based on the principle of Independence. All Humanitarian Organizations should formulate own policies and implementation strategies and do not seek to implement the policy of any government. 5. Humanitarian Aid workers shall respect culture and custom All Humanitarian Organizations should endeavour to respect the culture, structures and customs of the communities and countries we are working in.

6. All Humanitarian Organizations shall attempt to build disaster response on local capacities The greater involvement of local people could highly support the humanitarian aid activities. All people and communities possess their own capacities as well as vulnerabilities. Where possible, these capacities should be encouraged by employing local staff, purchasing local materials and trading with local companies. 7. Ways shall be found to involve programme beneficiaries in the management of relief aid This is also same as above. Disaster response assistance should never be imposed upon the beneficiaries. Effective relief and lasting rehabilitation can best be achieved where the intended beneficiaries are involved in the design, management and implementation of the assistance programme. The organizations should strive to achieve full community participation in their relief and rehabilitation programmes. 8. Relief aid must strive to reduce future vulnerabilities to disaster as well as meeting basic needs Long-term view of sustainability is the most important thing. All relief actions affect the prospects for long term development, either in a positive or a negative way. Recognizing this truth, the humanitarian organizations should strive to implement relief programmes which actively reduce the beneficiaries' vulnerability to possible disasters and help them to create sustainable lifestyles in future. 9. All Humanitarian Organizations should be accountable to all stakeholders or constituencies (beneficiaries and donors) A humanitarian organization acts as an institutional link in the partnership between donors and the victims of disasters. Therefore they must hold themselves accountable to both constituencies. All kind of dealings with donors and beneficiaries must be based on an attitude of openness and transparency in terms of reporting on their activities, both from a financial perspective and the perspective of effectiveness. 10. In all information, publicity and advertising activities, the Humanitarian Organizations shall recognize disaster victims as dignified humans, not hopeless objects All humanitarian organizations must maintain the respect for the disaster victim as an equal partner in action. The capacities and aspirations of disaster victims are

highlighted, and not just their vulnerabilities and fears in public information by portraying an objective image of the disaster situation. Now lets move to the topics of constraints imposed upon a humanitarian organization and the general situations in Betaland. Geographical and Climatic Constraints One of the biggest constraints in humanitarian works is the difficult and unfriendly environment in which organisations often have to work in. They can be listed as follows : _ Strong weather conditions caused by and following a natural disaster. _ The original climatic conditions of a country or region of a country. Seasonal changes in weather such as heavy raining, storm and flood can also constrain aid activities. _ Difficult terrain. Certain countries and regions have regions difficult to get access to. For example, countries with a lot of mountain ranges or rivers. _ The actual size of countries can create large distances that will need to be travelled to reach the needy people. Situation in Betaland Betaland is used to be attacked by hurricanes and torrential rain, by which the flat coastal regions has devastating effects. The transportation are serious disrupted and the crops are heavily destroyed. Sometimes even human lives are in danger. As a poor country, Betaland does not have to finance environmental initiatives. Now there is a threat of a Hurricane named Bharat coming through the region. Hopefully, this time it will not be affected too severely. Ten years ago, a Hurricane hit Betaland but it was not a very strong one. Now there is an inter-agencies committee working on a contingency plan to response this Hurricane. SCILaid is just participating in the plan. The main concern is that the north-western part of the country can be damaged strongly. The Mugla port, where SCILaids main warehouse is situated in this part of country and the SCILaids supply chain can be disrupted by this Hurricane. Constraints in Infrastructure Particularly in the developing countries, such kind of infrastructure as roads, railways, airports, ports, telephone lines, warehouses, etc. can be mostly badly working or limited. This can effect the movement and storage of supplies and the communication of information to be difficult. In a natural disaster, large parts of this infrastructure will either be destroyed or will need repairing before it can be used. Situation in Betaland Originally, the waterway transportation is the chief way of transport in Betaland. Now the government is considering on developing road and rail links. 2 major bridges were

built over the main rivers since 1996. Betaland has two major ports in Mugla and Jumna, which are being upgraded to take advanced container ships. The country has 2 airports, one with the international airport handling an average of a million passengers per annum which is situated at the capital, Dhetra. In Chagong it has a small domestic airport. Air transport is possible. It is supposed to be 3 flights per day between Dhetra and Chagong but it is not very regular. General road conditions in Betaland are quite workable and it needs just 2 days roundtrip between Mugla and Chagong and from Chagong to Camps we need only 1 day for roundtrip. It is difficult to reach to the camps in wet season if there are torrential downpours. Telecommunication is accessible in Betaland and both HF and VHF systems are working well in the area. But internet access is not 100% available here. In terms of media and public communication, Betaland has 7 newspapers. Two of them are in English language titles which are targeted to the urban elite. Most of TV programmes (around 70%) are produced locally; about one third is in black and white. There had been strong censorship for many years, but now political intervention in the media was greatly reduced after the fall of the Presidential system in 1990. Constraints in Security and Instability The security situation in a country where aid is being provided is becoming a greater characteristic of aid operations where the aid operation is responding to a man made disaster, or complex emergency, where armed conflict is taking place. Situation in Betaland General security situation in Betaland is fine. Following the prescribed security rules and procedures is the best way to avoid major threats and risks in the area. Political and Cultural Constraints There are different cultural and social systems as many as there are different countries and regions in the world. When providing humanitarian assistance, there culture, values and social customs need to be understood and be recognised in their own terms. In an emergency relief operation, large numbers of people from different parts of the world come to the country affected. Therefore, a sense of mutual cultural respect is so vital for the creation of a smooth and productive working environment. Situation in Betaland The political situation in Betaland is that, from 1975 to 1990, Betaland was under military government and by 1991 it returned to multiparty democratic system. Betalands first woman Prime Minister was elected in February 1991. The previous presidential system was overthrown and replaced with Prime Minister System but the Army is still strong to intervene in the political affairs. Betaland is struggling to cut

costs in the state sector. At the same time, the workers in State Sector are demanding wage increases in accordance with the inflation.

Commercial Constraints In an emergency situation, there can be a negative effect on the local economy by sourcing of goods locally in the country or region where aid is required. Purchasing large amounts of goods by Aid organisations may disrupt the local economy because there is not enough supply for the local needs, or by making the price of goods rise up beyond the capabilities of local people. Sourcing goods internationally in order to avoid having this negative effect, more time and cost to acquire and transport them are the necessary results. Situation in Betaland Betaland is a poor country in which Jute cultivation is the major agricultural work for the people. It dominates 80% of the worlds jute export market. 68% of the whole population are working in agricultural sector and their wages are comparatively low. SOE (State Owned Enterprises) are the major problems in the economy of Betaland and some of them urgently need proper privatization soon. Beta Dollar is the local currency. Exchange rate is quite stable at 1 Beta Dollar to 0.031 US$. There is not much worry for hyperinflation so that SCILaids funding for next three month (2,485,000 US$) will be safe. According to the data from Finance Department, the prices in Betaland are twice as much as international standard. For example, 1 kg of sugar is 0.98 US$ whereas it costs 0.50 US$ internationally and 1 Kg of salt is 0.42 US$ whereas it is just 0.20 US$ in the international market. It is better to plan ahead for importation of these main supplies rather than purchasing from a local supplier.

Regards, Aung Kyaw Moe