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If a link in the NCCI newsletter is not wo rki ng anymore, it might be because the sou rce of the document remove it from their website. Generally you can find it clicking here EDITORIAL Issue 45- 14 December 2006 ------------------------------------------- Wanted: UN Coordinator to coordinate coordinators For many months, NGOs have requested UN agencies to work on an updated Contingency Plan, to cope with the reality and scale of the humanitarian crisis. More than 8 months after the official request which arose from an NCCI GHT workshop, at least 4 consultants have been working these weeks in Amman to I update the Interagency Consolidated Plan, and the contingency plans of L UNHCR, UNICEF and WHO. We welcome these initiatives showing that UN agencies are realizing what the H needs on the ground are. In addition, these sudden actions might denote that Agencies are expecting a further deterioration of the situation and would like to G improve their preparedness. Fair enough. I But we would have more welcomed a coordinated strategy instead of a competition between agencies. Moreover increased coordination would have certainly been more efficient. Indeed, the gathering and integrating of all H initiatives, ideas and efforts is needed to seek solutions to the problems posed Y by the difficulties of access or by the military approach of the “humanitarian intervention” which jeopardizes humanitarian organisations’ efforts. L K According to the UN resolution 1546, the main mandate of UNAMI is political, through the support of the Iraqi Government. But UNAMI also has a mandate E to coordinate UN Agencies and deliver humanitarian assistance. E If UN agencies cannot coordinate amongst themselves, or with the International Community’s political pressures, their Head-Quarter’s wishes and the reality on the ground, how can they succeed to define a coordinated W strategy? I Today the Government of Iraq lost most of its credibility and power and appears closer to collapse than ever due to continual fights for leadership and power. While political blocs are daily criticizing or suspending their participation in the Government, perhaps it would be time for the United Nations to show its independence and neutrality. NCC In the mean time, Iraq is on the brink of chaos and to a sustainable and durable humanitarian crisis. While Iraqis are suffering on a daily basis of a lack of services, fundamental rights and basic needs, perhaps it would be time for the International Community to stand supporting the Iraqi people, and to reverse the UN mandate in favor of a more significant humanitarian intervention. Twelve years of sanctions against Iraqis have weakened the UN position in the country. In addition, since 2003 most Iraqis have understood the UN strategy and position as an implicit support to Americans, which has ended the little hope and trust that might have still existed for UN trustworthiness, integrity and authority. Today the United Nations has an inestimable chance to re-gain part of its credibility in Iraq. But it would need an unconditional support to the Iraqis through a strong opposition to those who want to divide or economically exploit Iraq’s resources; a clear and coherent strategy; and strong acts to strengthen its neutrality and independence. Except in some parts of Iraq that can be considered as safer, it is not a post-conflict situation anymore. There are lots of conflicts in Iraq today and the International Community should define its strategy accordingly. The support to vulnerable needs coordinated actions to be accountable; the path to Peace needs a global, inclusive and coordinated strategy in line with the reality on the ground and not with diplomatic agendas. … “We must be pr epared to make heroic sacrifices f or the cause of peace that we make ungrudgingly for the cause of war” (Albert Einstein) ----------------------------- Salam NCCI Team NCCI Weekly Highlight 2 Issue 45 – 12/14/2006 ____________________________________ Humanitarian Updates From NCCI, NGOs’ reports from the field and UN agencies Advocacy - Louis Michel’s answer to the NGOs working in Iraq Source: European Commission Document: Letter Date: December 13, 2006 Access: Members Louis Michel, European Commissioner for Development and Humanitarian Aid, answers to Non Governmental Organisations (NGOs) in Iraq calling on DG ECHO to provide adequate funding for emergencies and humanitarian aid - As ‘major catastrophe’ looms over Iraq, UN envoy urges regional approach to peace Source: UN News Service Document: Article Date: December 11, 2006 Access: Open With Iraq at the brink of civil war, some 5,000 people dying each month and a major humanitarian catastrophe looming, the senior United Nations envoy to the country today said the region and the international community must come together in support of a solution. Recent initiatives aimed at promoting dialogue “have had no impact on the violence and bloodshed,” he added. “The violence seems out of control.” - Politics skews crisis reporting, says study Source: Alertnet Document: Article Date: December 13, 2006 Access: Open If you're looking for evidence that humanitarian issues are neglected and sometimes manipulated in press coverage of conflicts, you'll find it in a new report commissioned by the British Red Cross. It says reporting on humanitarian crises has a tendency to be sensationalist and driven by political concerns. Reporting was often used to back up arguments on the pros and cons of military involvement, and focused on Western concerns and the international community, largely ignoring local complexities, the study says. In some cases, the difficulties faced by aid workers were used to try to bring about a particular political response - such as calls for international intervention in Darfur. In other cases like Iraq, political dynamics meant the role of aid agencies was largely ignored. - Iraqi Refugees: Critical Needs Remain Unmet Source: Refugees International Humanitarian Highlights Document: Recommendations Date: December 11, 2006 Access: Open Over 1.8 million Iraqi refugees are currently spread throughout the Middle East, with the largest concentrations in Syria and Jordan and sizable populations in Lebanon and Egypt. The governments of these host nations are reluctant to publicly acknowledge a growing refugee crisis and therefore provide Iraqis with no official status and few social services. The international community is similarly in denial over the existence of an Iraqi refugee crisis, and has provided few resources to address the needs of this expanding population. It is essential that host nations, supported by donor governments and the UN, establish programs aimed at responding to the needs of Iraqi refugees. NCCI Weekly Highlight 3 Issue 45 – 12/14/2006 - Children suffer most in Iraq, says Unicef report Source: IRIN Document: Article Date: December 11, 2006 Access: Open Children in Iraq are some of the most deprived in the Middle East, according to a report released by the United Nations children's agency (Unicef) on Monday. Using under-five mortality rates as a critical indicator of the well being of children, the report ranked the country 33rd worst in a global survey of 190 countries. - Women’s rights essential to Iraq’s recovery Source: UNICEF Document: Article Date: December 11, 2006 Access: Open Iraqi women need urgent action to protect and promote their rights, UNICEF’s Iraq Office said today. The call follows the launch of a global UNICEF report saying that equal rights for women is the key to stronger societies. The UNICEF Global Report on the State of World’s children 2007 - Gender Equality in Arab World Critical for Progress and Prosperity Source: UN News Service Document: Article Date: December 8, 2006 Access: Open Women in the Arab world are still denied equality of opportunity, although their disempowerment is a critical factor crippling the Arab nations' quest to return to the first rank of global leaders in commerce, learning and culture, according to a new United Nations-sponsored report released today. The UNDP Report “Towards the Rise of Women in the Arab World” - Freedom from Poverty is a Human Rights and not a Matter of Compassion Source: UN News Service Document: Article Date: December 11, 2006 Access: Open The Universal Declaration of Human Rights rings hollow to the millions of people around the world who have to struggle in extreme poverty, Secretary-General Kofi Annan said today as he called for progress on human development to go hand in hand with advances in security and human rights. Humanitarian Operational Space - What's wrong with aid? Source: Alertnet Document: Article Date: December 11, 2006 Access: Open A controversial book by the Norwegian former head of relief agency Medecins sans Frontieres (MSF) says politics has hijacked humanitarianism. He says the state funding these organisations take compromises their claims to independence, especially in instances when donors have not been neutral.The aid organisations in Rostrup's line of fire say that his attacks are simplistic and that longer-term aid and relief operations can't avoid juggling the political considerations he criticises. But Rostrup draws a hard line between development aid and humanitarian relief, and laments that the boundary is getting blurrier by the day as aid workers choose to mix solidarity work with emergency relief and political pragmatism with independent humanitarianism. NCCI Weekly Highlight 4 Issue 45 – 12/14/2006 - In Fallujah, Marines bring goodwill, but trouble can follow Source: Christian Science Monitor Document: Article Date: December 12, 2006 Access: Open While their weapons were ready, this was a mission about charity. The US Marines weren't entering a hospital in downtown Fallujah to root out insurgents, they were going there simply to help. But any interaction with American forces can prove deadly for Iraqis, and these marines received an uneasy welcome. And already, the presence of a Marine observation post, built adjacent to hospital grounds just days before the mission, had cut the number of patients coming to the hospital from 35 a day to just five.