The Canadian organization Rights and Democracy has developed an assessment tool that communities can use to answer these questions for themselves. The system is called the “Getting it Right” Human Rights Impact Assessment tool, and is designed so that local organizations and citizens can, with minimal training, carry out their own study of how their basic rights -- such as free speech, water, safe working conditions, shelter, and education -- are affected by the actions of governments and companies establishing mines, agricultural operations, factories, or oil and gas pipelines.
“A lot of companies will do an impact assessment on their operations, using an outside consultant, but these don’t always do much for the stakeholders in the community, or promote accountability,” says Chris Jochnick, director of Oxfam America’s private sector program. “Helping community members conduct their own human rights assessment strengthens their capacity to examine their situation, frame their issues, and engage with a company or government,” he says. “We think this will produce a more robust and balanced assessment than one done by outsiders.”
The Rights and Democracy assessment tool helps people document how their rights are supposed to be protected under national law, and the actual effects of an investment project on these rights. It helps community leaders create a team, plan out the work and specific rights to assess, carry out surveys and community consultations, validate findings, write reports, and meet with companies and governments to urge action to address the problems uncovered in the assessment.
Rights and Democracy commissioned five assessments to test the system starting in 2005. One of them looked at the effects of a metal refinery on women’s rights in La Oroya, Peru, concentrating on the rights to water, health, adequate housing, and working conditions. It was done by the Centro de Promoción y Estudios de la Mujer Andina. The organization concluded that lack of enforcement of environmental rules by the state was one of the main contributors to the poor public health situation in the city. The report also cites lack of commitment by the Doe Run Peru SRL company to improve the environmental performance of the plant.
“By looking at the health problems in La Oroya through a woman’s eyes, this assessment helped uncover a pattern of children’s and reproductive health issues that was clearly connected to lead poisoning,” says Gabrielle Watson, Oxfam America’s planning and learning specialist who helped develop the assessment tool with Rights and Development.
Oxfam America is helping two organizations carry out a Human Rights Impact Assessment. One is related to a proposed natural gas operation in Bolivia where the Centro de Estudios Aplicados a los Derechos Economicos, Sociales y Culturales (CEADESC) will carry out the study with local Guaraní indigenous communities that were denied their right to be consulted about the gas exploration activities in their territory. The other case concerns tobacco pickers in the United States, and will be carried out by the Farm Labor Organizing Committee (FLOC). FLOC will look at efforts by migrant and undocumented farmworkers to improve working conditions on tobacco farms.
Watson says the human rights assessments will help people take control of the type of development carried out in their name. “Local people are the experts about human rights impacts of private investment projects in their communities. This tool puts them in the driver’s seat in the search for safer, more equitable outcomes that are good for everyone.”
]]>Here are Rankin's opening thoughts about the project—and about a place in which he has found "the basic, beautiful business of life."
I first visited the DRC with Oxfam in June 2008. I expected to be depressed. I had done my homework; the statistics were horrific. I could only imagine what the human face of those statistics would look like. The people I met confounded my expectations. I met fathers, mothers, children... all getting on with life, making it through, even having a laugh and a joke. These people didn't see themselves as victims, despite the bad hand that fate had dealt them. They were human beings, exactly the same as you and me.
I wanted my portraits to do something different. The West has been anesthetized to traditional pictures of disaster zones. My style of portraiture is always about bringing people out of themselves, getting them to share something. I chose to photograph the people against a stark white background instead of in their physical environment. The expressions in their eyes and on their faces—their humanity—was what I wanted people to notice and relate to.
It didn't seem morally or politically right to just go and take pictures. So I decided to put on a show in the refugee camp, and give the people prints of their portraits. Give them something back. It was incredible. One guy said to me, 'This photograph is amazing. I wanted to let you know that I will use it on my coffin when I die.' No-one has ever said anything so moving to me.
The overriding feeling I had while I was out in the DRC was one of anger and powerlessness. That taking a few snaps was inconsequential in the face of the insurmountable problems that were being faced there. But when I got back, we put on an exhibition. I pushed the images, did press interviews, raised awareness. I believe that it made a difference to the people I met.
I was inspired to return to the DRC in October 2009. I didn't want to do the same thing as I had done the year before and, as on my first trip, I felt that it was important and right to give something back. So this time I held photographic workshops. I gave out cameras so that the people could have authorship over their own images—show us what was important in their lives. The collection of shots from my second trip builds on those from the first one, but focuses on the relationships that bind people to each other—a mother's love for her child, a husband's love for his wife, two friends. The basic, beautiful business of life.
I hope that these photographs can aid understanding. They are neither ugly images of brutality, nor sentimental images of suffering. The world needs a more sustainable form of imagery that, instead of encouraging pity and powerlessness, promotes understanding, connection, and ultimately action. It's about making people accessible to each other."
]]>Unfortunately, not all indigenous groups participating in these working groups felt that the discussions were productive. AIDESEP, a long-time Oxfam America partner and one of the largest federations representing indigenous peoples in Peru’s Amazon, has withdrawn from the dialogue process, citing lack of progress and reluctance on the part of the government to accept its share of the responsibility for the violence in Bagua.
While indigenous people and the government struggle to continue a meaningful dialogue, the Indigenous Federation of Madre de Dios (known as FENAMAD) has been objecting to the presence of Hunt Oil of Texas in the Amarakaeri Communal Reserve (RCA), part of the 3.5 million-acre Block 76 oil concession located in the Madre de Dios region in southeastern Peru. FENAMAD contends that Hunt Oil could be playing indigenous communities against each other to gain access to their lands. “The current strategy of the US company Hunt Oil is to negotiate directly with the members of each native community and seek to divide them and provoke open confrontation among the brother indigenous people within each community,” FENAMAD is saying in a memorandum.
There is a real danger this could emerge as the next flashpoint in a disturbing stream of conflicts between communities and oil and mining companies in Peru. The Peruvian Ombudsman Office estimates that of the 273 social and environmental conflicts in Peru in the first six months of 2009, 80 percent were related to extractive industry projects. (In 2008 there were 123 social and environmental conflicts in the same period.)
FENAMAD and other indigenous federations are insisting that foreign oil, gas, and mining companies must attain the free, prior, and informed consent from communities before they can enter any indigenous lands such as the Amarakaeri Communal Reserve. The right of free, prior, and informed consent is a right of indigenous peoples established under international law, and requires free access to full information (including independent analysis of project proposals), adequate time for a community decision free of pressure and coercion, and the option to reject a proposal--or accept under certain conditions.
The failure of oil, gas, and mining companies to gain appropriate access to communities with natural resources limits Peru’s ability to benefit from revenues it needs to help the approximately 50 percent of its population now living in poverty.
The legislature gave Peru’s President Alan Garcia broad powers to promote economic competitiveness through decrees last year, saying it was necessary to adapt legislation to comply with new requirements of the Peru-US Free Trade Agreement. Indigenous federations and many civil society organizations have strongly protested the possible consequences of these laws for the Amazon rainforest and indigenous lands, as well as the fact that they were adopted without transparency or genuine consultation. Some of these legislative decrees were rescinded following violent confrontations last June, but many are still in force.
Oxfam America's campaign—called the Right to Know, Right to Decide—aims to arm local citizens with the information they need to weigh the costs versus the benefits and decide whether to provide consent for the projects to move forward.
“There is a potential for this confrontation to escalate to violence,” says Emily Greenspan, Oxfam America’s policy advisor who monitors oil and gas projects in Peru’s Amazon. “Companies seeking to operate in any areas need to attain the free, prior, and informed consent of communities. Those that appear to be forcing their way into communities risk serious conflict, as we have seen in the recent past.”
]]>Sarpong had moved here in 1984. He and his wife had raised six children on this farm. “It used to be lively here,” he said. “We lived as a family, and we had everything: goats, sheep, fowl—everything.”
They had used water from a stream running next to their home, now diverted by the waste rocks. Sarpong had sent his family away to live with relatives since they no longer had drinkable water. The AngloGold Ashanti mining company had offered Sarpong money for his farmland and trees in 2004, but he’d decided it was not enough and refused to move. He and about 35 others had formed an organization called Concerned Farmers’ Association of Teberebie to fight the terms of the compensation agreement, and they brought their case to Ghana’s courts. Although all the other members of the Concerned Farmers’ Association had moved off their farms, Sarpong had remained on his, awaiting the legal judgment.
As the case dragged through the courts, this past summer there was a legal decision that shocked Sarpong: a judge granted an eviction order, and AngloGold moved in and demolished what was left of the Sarpong homestead before his lawyer could file an appeal. According to a press release from Oxfam America’s partner WACAM, an environmental and human rights organization in Ghana, his dwellings were destroyed and all his property was seized, a violation of Ghana’s Minerals and Mining Act.
Sarpong is now living in WACAM’s office in Tarkwa, a 20-minute drive from Teberebie. He is 65 and has no home or means to make a living. WACAM’s executive director Daniel Owusu-Koranteng, says the court order to demolish Sarpong’s farm “shows how corporate power could erode our democratic structures and render our judicial system liable to corporate influence.”
The legal system in Ghana is slow—as in many countries—but it does not help the Concerned Farmers’ Association that the date slated for a judgment in their case came and went in August with no decision. The judge, it seems, happened to retire just before the ruling was due. A new judge has been assigned to the case.
When I got Sarpong on the phone in Ghana in August, he was happy to say hello but honored his lawyer’s advice not to discuss the case. Paul Ahornuy, who works for WACAM in Tarkwa, says the demolition of Sarpong’s houses created a furor in Ghana. Ahourny says it will take more time before the case in Teberebie can be resolved, but that “this is a human rights issue, and we need to support them in their struggle.”
]]>In practice, however, US-supported SSR efforts often continue to focus primarily on training and equipping military and police forces, especially in connection with counter-insurgency and counter-terrorism operations. This paper looks at the implementation of US-supported SSR programs, and particularly at how they have integrated protection of civilians. The paper identifies current gaps between global standards of good practice—with which US doctrine and principles increasingly conform—on the one hand, and actual US practice in the field on the other. Oxfam believes that protection of civilians must be a cornerstone of US foreign policy, so effective links between SSR and protection must be present in practice as well as in principle. The paper concludes by offering legislative and policy recommendations that can help ensure that US-supported SSR serves as an instrument of protection.
]]>The recommendations, written by a group of national and international non-governmental organizations including Oxfam International, Cooperation Centre for Afghanistan (CCA), and Sanayee Development Organization (SDO), also call for the protection of civilians and securing the rights of women.
Mary Akrami, head of the Afghan Women’s Skills Development Centre (AWSDC), said: “Life expectancy is still only 43 years and in many areas the rate of maternal mortality is the highest in the world. Half of all schools in Afghanistan don’t have buildings. The country needs more health workers, more teachers, and better infrastructure. Afghans are desperate to see improvements in all these areas.”
Grace Ommer, head of Oxfam in Afghanistan, said: “Our recommendations are ambitious, given the increasing violence in Afghanistan. But they are not impossible. Over the last eight years, Afghanistan has made significant progress, enrolling more than six million children in primary school and expanding access to healthcare by 40 percent.”
“Positive change can happen in Afghanistan, but there must be political will in Kabul and long term support from the international community.”
The report suggests ensuring government appointments are made on merit and that human rights and criminal records are thoroughly checked. Access to equitable justice remains limited and despite modest improvements in the Afghan National Police, the force needs more reforms such as better oversight and improvements in pay.
Mirwais Wardak, Program Director for Cooperation for Peace and Unity (CPAU) said: “Afghans overwhelmingly want their government to deliver basic services and maintain law and order. But too much waste and inefficiency and a lack of access to justice has frustrated Afghans and undermined confidence in the government.”
The organizations called for international donors to improve transparency and provide complete information to help the Afghan government track and coordinate foreign aid, which funds around 80 percent of its budget.
Dr. Hamid Saljuqi, Director of Coordination of Humanitarian Assistance (CHA), said: “The Afghan government faces immense challenges in making aid money work more effectively. Too often, aid delivery is opaque or distorted by the conflict, rather than being spent according to need. Donors should provide complete information about the aid they give and devote more funds to long-term projects that are aligned with the Afghan National Development Strategy.”
As the Afghan National Security Forces start to take on more military operations, protecting civilians should also be a priority for the new government. There should be more checks and balances to prevent abuses and to investigate abuses when they do occur. An autonomous forensic unit should be set up to address allegations that pro-government forces have killed or injured civilians.
The recommendations highlight the progress made for women since the fall of the Taliban while noting that many of these fragile and limited gains are in serious danger of being reversed. Oxfam said the government should secure the rights of women enshrined in the Afghan constitution. For example, by fully enforcing the Elimination of Violence Against Women act, which criminalizes rape and provides greater protection for female survivors of violence.
"Memo to the President: Key Recommendations to the Next Afghan Government."
]]>Here are just two examples:
“The killing of civilians has become commonplace in modern conflict” says Raymond C. Offenheiser, President of Oxfam America. “Levels of impunity and lawlessness in conflict zones throughout the world have reached crisis levels.”
Violations of the laws of war are committed by governments and non-state actors, including terrorist and rebel groups. Many government forces are not equipped to protect civilians, or make decisions based on political considerations that endanger innocent people. And the United Nations Security Council has failed to take effective measures to protect millions of people in conflicts.
Oxfam America is working actively to promote more respect for international humanitarian law like the Geneva Conventions, and is recommending the following measures:
Zelaya intended to hold a public opinion poll the day he was arrested. The poll was to determine if there could be a referendum to create a new constitution. Hours after the coup, the congress named Roberto Micheletti interim president.
Since then, the country has entered a political crisis that could affect other countries in the region. Citizens are holding protest marches all over the country, and social movements are criticizing the coup and demanding respect for the constitution. The interim government has suspended five constitutional rights: the right to protest; freedom in one's home from unwarranted search, seizure and arrest; freedom of association; guarantees of due process while under arrest; and freedom of movement in the country.
Much of the international community (including El Salvador, Nicaragua, Guatemala, the Organization of American States (OAS), the United Nations, and the European Union) condemns the coup and insists on the reinstatement of Zelaya and the restoration of political and social order. The OAS suspended Honduras's right to participate in this international body as long as Zelaya is not restored to the presidency.
Zelaya attempted to fly back into the country on July 4th, but the military blocked the runway as hundreds of thousands of people marched to Tegucigalpa's international airport to welcome him. One man was shot and killed, and 10 were wounded by the army.
Instability in Honduras is affecting the programs Oxfam is supporting in the country. These include helping small-scale farmers to increase their production, and better sell their crops in national and regional markets. Oxfam also supports organizations that protect women victims of violence, and disaster risk reduction projects that help communities to prepare for and better withstand natural disasters like earthquakes or hurricanes.
]]>"Much like the Cairo speech, we are hoping the Accra speech will signal a new era of engagement, respect and partnership with Africa," said Raymond C. Offenheiser, President of Oxfam America. "This historic visit, so early in his presidency and on the heels of important commitments at the G8 in Italy, signals the importance President Obama places on African development."
Millions of Africans live in extreme poverty, and are now hit hard by the global economic and climate crisis. Sub-Saharan Africa alone is expecting losses of up to $245 billion this year as a result of the global slump, which is almost seven times the amount it receives in global aid. In Ghana, a resource-rich country, the life expectancy is a mere 58 years and 70% of people in the poor northern regions live on less than $1 a day. Despite the economic crisis, Africa continues to attract large investments to extract the riches that lie below ground, producing billions in government revenues. By 2015, oil revenues in African oil-exporting countries will exceed the amount needed to meet key social development goals by $35 billion annually—but investing this money wisely is not a sure thing.
"Africa is rich in natural resources like gold, diamonds and oil, but, too often, these resources have contributed to corruption, conflict, and human rights abuses," said Offenheiser. "But important progress can be made to turn this around. President Obama can help by supporting increased transparency and the disclosure of payments from US and other companies to African governments to help ensure responsible use of billions of dollars of government revenues per year."
Oxfam praised Ghana's recent commitment to transparency in the country's nascent oil sector and urged President Obama to encourage the government to follow through on these commitments and encourage other African governments to follow the positive steps the Ghanaian government has taken to date.
Oxfam also noted that key reforms are needed to make the US foreign aid system as effective as possible in reducing poverty and creating prosperous communities throughout the developing world. The US currently lacks a coherent assistance strategy for many of the countries it is trying to help. Oxfam is calling on the US to keep recipient country governments and their public informed on the nature and amount of American aid, help the recipient country to manage its own development, and ultimately, let each recipient country lead its own development agenda.
"American generosity is undermined by a reactive approach that prioritizes relief efforts—like food aid—that saves lives, but doesn't address underlying causes of poverty and hunger," said Offenheiser. "If the US wants to use its aid consistently help the poor in countries such as Ghana, it needs a global development strategy to guide the US government's efforts to fight poverty."
Climate change is already impacting the lives and livelihoods of millions of poor people in Africa, as a recent Oxfam report details. Tackling these impacts is essential to addressing food security and broader development objectives. President Obama must commit to help bring about a comprehensive global climate strategy that will help poor communities cope with the impacts of global warming, from failed crops to dwindling reserves of clean water and displacement caused by extreme weather events.
"Global hunger and poverty is a human tragedy exacerbated by faltering investments in agricultural production and the growing impacts of climate change," said Offenheiser. "We are pleased to see President Obama follow through on his commitments to reassert US leadership and address the challenges facing the billion people around the world without enough food."
]]>Newmont, the largest US-based mining company, agreed to the review in 2007 following allegations of serious rights abuses by police and private security forces hired to protect the mine. Among other recommendations, the review calls on the company to more rigorously investigate human rights abuses, disclose contracts with police forces, consider severing ties with a private security contractor, and promote greater dialogue with local communities.
"This report contains a number of important recommendations for addressing ongoing human rights problems at Yanacocha," said Raymond C. Offenheiser, president of Oxfam America. "Given the current tensions around mining projects in Peru, we urge Newmont to take immediate action to implement these recommendations."
The report is the result of a two-year mediation process between Newmont and Oxfam America under the auspices of the Voluntary Principles on Security and Human Rights, a global initiative bringing together mining and oil companies, governments, and nongovernmental groups. Newmont and Oxfam entered the mediation after Oxfam filed a complaint over abuses by security forces at Yanacocha in three separate incidents throughout 2006-2007. These included the fatal shooting of a local farmer involved in protests at the mine and the surveillance and harassment of members of a local human rights and environmental group.
Peru has been hit by a recent wave of protests around mining and oil projects. According to government estimates, there are more than 70 active conflicts at mine sites in various parts of the country, some of which have turned violent. Tensions reached a boiling point in early June when actions by the national police to quell protests by indigenous peoples in the Peruvian Amazon, who were protesting government decrees designed to open up more land to mining and oil operations, resulted in a tragic loss of lives and a large number of wounded police officers and indigenous peoples.
"Newmont can help reduce the level conflict in Peru by implementing these recommendations," said Keith Slack, extractive industries program manager at Oxfam America. "Doing so would be an important confidence building measure among local community members affected by mining operations."
The report recommends that Newmont more vigorously implement the Voluntary Principles on Security and Human Rights, which include ensuring that security forces employed by companies do not have a history of human rights abuse. The report further calls on the company to review the results of psychological examinations of all security personnel before employing them at the mine.
"This is a critical first test of the complaints mechanism of the voluntary principles," noted Slack. "Newmont's compliance with these recommendations is important for the continued credibility of the initiative."
This report follows a previous independent review of Newmont's community relationship management practices, the results of which were released in March. Oxfam encourages Newmont to continue taking leadership in this type of review process and to fully implement the resulting recommendations to improve relationships with local communities near mining projects.
]]>The new study, Building Common Ground, reveals vast similarities in the post-Katrina experiences of two groups often considered separately in discussions on hurricane recovery and rebuilding. While the study revealed many of the tensions and misconceptions that existed between the two groups, it demonstrated that there is very fertile ground upon which African Americans and Latinos can forge new relationships to combat some of the challenges they face together.
The results of the study will be presented Tuesday at 6 pm at Xavier University and will be followed by a panel discussion. Lydia Camarillo, Vice President of Southwest Voter Registration Education Project will deliver a keynote address following opening remarks from Xavier University president Dr. Norman Francis. Members of the panel include:
In one key finding, 83 percent of African Americans and 86 percent of Latinos said building alliances are important to achieving social and economic equity in New Orleans.
"Too often we talk about tensions between African-Americans and Latinos," said Ilana Scherl, Gulf Coast Field Representative for Oxfam America. "This study demonstrates that African Americans and Latinos face common challenges which limit their opportunities to succeed in society."
The study's results were driven from a survey conducted in late 2008 by Dr. Silas Lee & Associates of African Americans and Latinos living in New Orleans. Hundreds of residents were interviewed and participated in focus groups to gauge the issues and concerns affecting these communities.
The study found striking similarities, including:
The report also identified some of the obstacles and opportunities for working together on the issues both groups experience:
Most importantly, both groups recognized the importance of working together on common issues, with one focus group participant saying "We have to be here, and we have to get along. How can we start the dialogue?"
"This survey goes a long way to deconstructing some of the myths that have sprung up after Katrina," said Dr. Silas Lee. "Contrary to popular belief, significant percentages of both African Americans and Latinos not only believe that the two groups can and should work together, but are willing to take steps to continue to the process of recovery together now."
"Building Common Ground: How shared attitudes and concerns can create alliances between African Americans and Latinos in a post-Katrina New Orleans," was published by Oxfam America. Read the full text of the report and detailed results of the survey.
]]>West African countries produce millions of ounces of gold each year, but the region is one of the poorest in the world. Provisions set forth in a directive issued by the Economic Community of West Africa States (ECOWAS) create a basis for helping communities ensure that mining revenues will be used in ways that will reduce poverty, and that they enjoy some of the benefits of wealth produced by mining—instead of simply enduring the costs in terms of pollution, and loss of farm lands. Uniform standards across the region will help prevent destructive competition for foreign investment that force governments to relax environmental and financial standards.
Richard Ellimah, from Obuasi, Ghana, says the new mining directive is "probably the most audacious attempt by the sub regional body to address concerns of mining-affected communities... We are looking forward to using the directive to demand respect for human rights, and freedom of information."
Campaign activities during the week of action will take place in Ghana, Burkina Faso, Senegal, Nigeria, and Mali, and will include debates and information workshops to teach people in communities affected by mining about the principles in the ECOWAS mining directive. Top among those principles is free, prior, and informed consent, which will give people the right to say whether—and under what terms—mining can be carried out in their community. Civil society organizations will reach out to the press, holding information workshops for the media and interested environmental and social organizations. Organizations also plan to contact their legislatures and mining ministries to ask them to change their regulations to comply with the ECOWAS directive on mining.
Six allied organizations held a press conference following the workshop and released a statement calling on the government to revoke permits it granted Newmont Mining of Denver to explore for gold in the Ajenua Bepo Forest Reserve. "When government revokes the Environmental Permit to mine in Ajenua Bepo Forest Reserve it would demonstrate its preparedness to define forest reserves as 'No Go Zones' for mining," the statement says.
"This campaign is the next phase of the movement towards an increased citizens' participation in public policy making and better governance and regulation in the mining sector in West Africa," says Ibrahima Aidara, Oxfam America's lead expert on extractive industries in West Africa.
]]>According to Oxfam, while a solution is needed to halt appalling levels of human rights abuses committed by armed rebels, the answer cannot be action that knowingly increases levels of human suffering.
Marcel Stoessel, head of Oxfam in DRC, said:
"Four months ago an offensive against the FDLR set in train a spiral of violence against civilians which has forced 250,000 to flee their homes and caused untold death and suffering that continues to this day. By any yardstick it has been a humanitarian disaster, and one the world has ignored. The UN force's top priority in Congo must be to protect the lives of innocent civilians. The UN needs to be aware of the full implications of continuing to support military action in the present circumstances."
Oxfam said any military action should ensure that risks to civilians are kept to an absolute minimum and, in accordance with international humanitarian law. The agency also called for appropriate sanctions for any violations of international humanitarian law noting that for too long human rights abuses, including by government soldiers, have gone largely unpunished.
The aid agency urged the UN to set out and stand by clear preconditions, based on rigorous observance of international humanitarian law, for MONUC support to any military action by the FARDC. It also called for greater emphasis on non-military efforts to disarm rebel groups, which present less risk to civilians but so far have not been given sufficient priority.
The previous joint offensive against the FDLR in North Kivu, launched in January 2009, has already created immense suffering for thousands of civilians. An estimated 250,000 people are still unable to return to their homes. Villagers have reported that thousands of homes have been burned to the ground in reprisal attacks mainly by the FDLR. Rape and looting by all sides, including government forces, has also been reported. According to recent reports, 100,000 people have already fled their homes in South Kivu, even before the new offensive has started. Aid agencies are planning for the possible displacement of a further 400,000 people in South Kivu.
Oxfam had to expand its programs in North Kivu after the first offensive, bringing life-saving assistance to at least a further 85,000 people, in addition to those that it was helping already. Oxfam has also opened a new rapid response office in Bukavu, South Kivu, to be prepared for possible humanitarian fallout there. The international agency urged all major donor countries to give sufficient attention to the humanitarian crisis, which has been raging since January.
Oxfam is helping to support more than 500,000 people affected by the conflict.
]]>The rise in numbers—from the current 250 million per year to 375 million by 2015—is due to the increasing threat of climate change-induced severe weather events and inability of millions of people worldwide to prepare to deal with such catastrophes. In the report, The Right to Survive, Oxfam America recommends adequate and urgent investments in climate change adaptation and an overhaul of the current system of humanitarian assistance in order to meet the challenge of more frequent and devastating disasters.
"Entrenched poverty in many parts of the world makes people more vulnerable to disasters," said Raymond C. Offenheiser, President of Oxfam America. "Climate change is already threatening our work to overcome poverty, and now it is increasing the pressure on our relief work. It is crucial that we tackle global warming head on by cutting dangerous greenhouse gas emissions, but we must also invest in community preparedness to cope with climate-related disasters."
According to the report, the international humanitarian system must change the way it delivers aid, with a focus on helping build countries’ ability to prepare and withstand future shocks. The report recommends increased humanitarian aid to ensure there is adequate funding to support timely, effective, and good-quality humanitarian action. In addition, Oxfam urged aid providers—including the US government—to act impartially after a disaster, investing money and effort to commensurate with the levels of need.
As climate-related disasters increase, aid must be more focused on preparing communities, working with local NGOs and governments to create relief that works in the long-term, and helping make vulnerable communities stronger in the face of climate change.
"Communities around the world have the knowledge and experience to craft their response to the negative impacts of climate change, but they need adequate funding to make it happen," said Offenheiser. "Investing in community resilience, especially for the most vulnerable, must be a cornerstone of any American effort on climate change."
The report is released right as important climate change legislation is moving through the Energy and Commerce Committee of the House of Representatives and as the White House prepares to host a high-level meeting of developed countries in Washington on climate change.
"Now is the time for bold action on climate," said Offenheiser. "We must not only improve our response to disasters, but also fund measures that help communities adapt to climate change. After all, it is poverty and failure to recognize everyone’s right to survive that turn a storm into a disaster."
]]>
UPDATE: April 2011
This note is to briefly explain why Oxfam has revised its view of its 2009 forecast of a likely rise in the number of people affected by climate-related disasters.
Two years ago Oxfam did an analysis of the number of people affected by past climate-related events. From this analysis we made a forecast that by 2015 it was likely that the average annual number of people affected by climate-related disasters would be 375 million and this represented an increase of 54 per cent compared with the average figure of the decade 1998-2007.
Having reviewed the data and the method we used to analyse the data we are no longer confident in the specific approach we used, given the nature of the data, as described below, and so we are no longer confident of this specific forecast.
Our concerns are essentially two-fold: the limitations of the data and the limitations of the way we analysed the data.
The limitations of the data: The data we used was from EM-DAT, the international disaster database managed by CRED, the Centre for Research on the Epidemiology of Disasters. This is a respected set of data which captures, amongst other things, the number of disasters that has happened and the number of people affected.
Like most sets of data it has its limitations. In EM-DAT’s case one of the key limitations is that the more recent data is more reliable. This was well known to us and we dealt with this in our analysis by using double exponential smoothing on the data (see the explanation of how we carried out the analysis and catered for the data’s limitation).
However one limitation we did not know at the time and have only recently discovered is that the number of people affected by climate-related disasters in China is unusually low in first half of the 1980s when compared with subsequent years. It is highly likely that this is the result of under reporting from China. Given the size of China’s population its disaster figures are significant when considering the global picture. The likely impact of this on our forecast may mean that we started our analysis with data from 1980 that was likely to be unreasonably low and therefore made our projected increase in the number of people affected artificially high.
We now know that there has been a significant increase in reporting from many other countries over the same period due to better information and communication.
Limitations of our analysis: Though we were clear in our explanation of the way we came to our conclusion that “different forecasting models could lead to different results,” what we should have done, particularly given the high volatility of the data especially in 2002, was run these different models to help determine the degree of confidence in the conclusion we came to.
It does not mean though that there will not be an increase in the numbers of people affected by disasters in the future. There is evidence to point to this likelihood.
According to EM-DAT the number of climate-related disasters has increased by 35 per cent from the 1990s to the 2000s. Floods have increased by 50 per cent over the same period. Munich Re’s database of global disasters also shows an increasing trend in climate-related events. It is not possible to know how much of this is an increase in events or better reporting of events and neither can we assume that an increase in events will lead to an equal increase in numbers affected.
Population growth means that there is a likelihood of more people being affected by climate-related events.
The number of people exposed to some climate-related events is also on the increase. According to the forthcoming United Nations Global Assessment Report 2011 the number of people exposed to floods and cyclones has doubled between 1970 and 2010. It is likely that many people who are ‘exposed’ to hazards are not affected due to measures that protect them, such as flood defences for example. However in many vulnerable countries investment and efforts to reduce significantly the risk of disasters is sorely lacking leaving millions exposed and likely to be affected by disasters.
Finally as the effects of climate change become more apparent there are more frequent and more intense climate-related events according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Fourth Assessment Report.
Oxfam is in the process of further research into the number of people affected by climate-related events and will be publishing the results of this research in due course.
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