Oxfam America President Raymond C. Offenheiser said:
"This meeting must be more than just a photo opportunity for the two presidents. Substantive talks are needed as the lives of millions of Afghans hang in the balance. The needs of ordinary Afghans, particularly women and young girls, must be the top priority on the presidents' agenda.
"As Presidents Obama and Karzai meet on Wednesday, it's crucial for both leaders to take an honest look at the situation facing civilians in Afghanistan. Aid agencies have seen that instability and insecurity limit the delivery of services like healthcare and education for Afghans all over the country and the situation - particularly in the south and south east - is rapidly deteriorating.
“All parties to the conflict must do more to protect civilians from the violence, but certainly pro-government forces must take all possible measures to ensure the Afghans are not harmed in the course of ongoing operations in places like Marjah and Kandahar.
“Having lived through the last 30 years of conflict, Afghans are among the poorest people on the planet. As the leaders meet next week in Washington, they should make sure that Afghan needs and interests are at the heart of efforts to rebuild Afghanistan. The presidents should also underscore that the rights of Afghans, especially those of women, will not be sidelined or sacrificed in the process of developing peace and reconciliation policies."
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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."
]]>"Before I was dependent on my husband, but now I have my own money," Alam says with a smile.
Alam is a member of a self help group in the small village of Shar-i-Buzurg in the northern Afghanistan province of Badakhshan. As part of a larger rural livelihoods program funded by the Oxfam Canada and Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation, Oxfam has started self help groups for women in 10 villages.
Each group, with an average of 20 women, receives $300 in revolving funds to help the women start small enterprises. Oxfam also provides training and ongoing support to help the women manage their new businesses.
Alam is one of the first three women selected by the group members to start her own business. She recently completed repaying her loan and the group is now selecting a new batch of women for loans.
"We support each other's businesses," said another group member. "Whenever I need to buy something, I go to one of the other women's shops."
Alam says her husband was originally unsure about the idea of his wife starting a business. But now that he has seen the shop's success, he has become one of its biggest supporters.
"But if my husband wants something from the shop, he has to pay for it like any other customer," Alam laughs.
Badakhshan, a largely rural province with little infrastructure, has one of the highest poverty rates in Afghanistan. Persistent drought means that many families go hungry in lean years and malnutrition levels in women and children are high due to limited dietary options and lack of access to vitamin-rich foods.
Women in Badakhshan face even greater challenges. It is considered one of the worst places in the world to give birth—for every 100,000 live births, 6,500 mothers die—and just one in five women are literate. Highly conservative gender norms have meant that women's access to health facilities has been limited to those few clinics with a female doctor. Marriage for girls as young as 12 has been common and few adult women have completed primary school.
However, Nasima Sahar, the Oxfam gender officer in Badakhshan, is seeing some positive changes.
"When I started working here in 2002, the women were reluctant to even tell me their names because they thought it would bring shame upon themselves and their family," says Nasima. "Now they seem like completely different women, they have more confidence and you can tell how excited and motivated they are."
Training and support for the self-help group includes educating women about domestic violence and child marriage. Along with this, gender training is also being provided to more than 1,400 "change makers" across Badakhshan—men and women who have the power to change opinions and attitudes, such as religious leaders, doctors and government officials.
Oxfam is also supporting a local partner organization to provide literacy classes for 450 women in Badakhshan and runs an incentive program to attract qualified female teachers from the provincial capital to move to remote, rural areas of Badakhshan.
"Without a female teacher, many families are hesitant to send their girls to school," Nasima says. "Only 70 girls attended the school before the incentive program began, but now there are over 1,100."
Based on this success, Oxfam is now expanding this initiative to provide incentives for additional female teachers.
Though she never had the chance to complete primary school, Alam has higher hopes for her daughter.
"I got married when I was 12 or 13," Alam says. "But now my daughter is in secondary school, and I won't let her get married until she has completed university and is at least 22!"
]]>As NATO celebrates its 60th anniversary, 11 international aid agencies including Oxfam, ActionAid, CARE Afghanistan and Save the Children UK released a new report, called "Caught in the Conflict," which says NATO and other international military forces must transform the way their soldiers operate in Afghanistan.
In 2008, there were 2,100 civilian casualties, a 30 percent increase on the previous year. Although 55 percent of civilian deaths were caused by militants, there are serious concerns about fatalities caused by air strikes from pro-government forces, which increased by 70 percent to 552.
Matt Waldman, head of policy for Oxfam International on Afghanistan, said: "The troop surge will fail to achieve greater overall security and stability unless the military prioritize the protection of Afghan civilians.
"Despite taking steps to reduce civilian casualties, and repeated calls for restraint, too many military operations by foreign troops involve excessive force, loss of life and damage to property. This is causing anger, fear and resentment among Afghans, and is steadily eroding popular support for the international presence."
The aid agencies are asking for NATO and other military forces in Afghanistan to do far more to reduce civilian casualties, for example by tightening the rules on air strikes, ensuring night raids do not involve excessive force, and subjecting Special Forces operations to rigorous oversight.
Although civilian casualties are rising, the report finds no standardized system of investigation and compensation for Afghan civilians seeking redress for incidents involving loss of life, injury or damage to property caused by military operations.
Palwasha Abed, Protection Officer for Save the Children UK in Afghanistan, said: "The systems for compensating civilians are insufficient, fragmented and inaccessible to most Afghans. There must be a unified national system which ensures that when civilians are harmed during conflict, there is a full investigation where people are held to account and redress is available."
The aid agencies also criticized two programs recently established in the country. The new community defense and tribal empowerment initiatives – the Afghan Social Outreach Program and the Afghan Public Protection Forces – could put Afghan lives at risk, they said. The Afghan Social Outreach Program (ASOP) establishes district councils and part of their role is to inform on the militant activities. The Afghan Public Protection Force (APPF) creates and arms local militias.
Lex Kassenberg, Country Director of CARE in Afghanistan said: "The Afghan Social Outreach Program and the Afghan Public Protection Force are a distraction from essential reforms in security and governance. Currently, an average of three Afghans are executed every four days by insurgents for having any link to the government. In this environment, these programs put Afghans at even greater risk."
The aid agencies are calling for the APPF initiative to be abandoned and for the ASOP to be suspended and reviewed.
The report warns the military are blurring the distinction between aid workers and soldiers by doing extensive humanitarian and assistance work for counter-insurgency purposes, and by using unmarked white vehicles, which are conventionally only used by the UN and aid agencies. This undermines local perceptions of the independence and impartiality of aid agencies and therefore increases the risk to aid workers, and threatens to reduce the areas in which they can safely work.
The agencies also warn that the increasing distortion of humanitarian and development assistance for military aims could undermine long-term stability.
Agencies say that the Provincial Reconstruction Teams (PRTs), the military-led security and reconstruction teams, continue to receive massive amounts of funding: the annual PRT budget for the United States—over $200 million—exceeds the Afghan national budgets for health and education combined. The agencies recommend a phase-out of militarized aid and a substantial increase in development and humanitarian funding for civilian institutions and organizations.
Gyan Bahadur Adhikari, ActionAid’s Country Director in Afghanistan said: "The approach to security and reconstruction in Afghanistan has so far been piecemeal and insufficient—there has been no overall strategy in Afghanistan. But any new strategy has to be devised with the understanding that military solutions alone cannot bring peace and stability to Afghanistan."
Instead of focusing on such military approaches, the report recommends a comprehensive, long-term strategy for Afghanistan which includes greater support for rural development, measures to improve aid effectiveness and an enhanced response to the urgent humanitarian needs in the country.
]]>Oxfam called upon world leaders, meeting in the Netherlands today, to provide more money immediately for humanitarian relief, to radically overhaul the way they give aid to the country, and to prioritize the protection of civilians. The humanitarian emergency appeal launched last year is still less than 50 percent funded.
The health of over a million young children and half a million women is at serious risk due to malnutrition but a humanitarian rescue package is only 42 percent funded, with key sectors such as health and education less than 2 percent funded.
The agency also asked the international community to follow long-term strategies, which put the needs and wellbeing of Afghan civilians first.
Raymond C. Offenheiser, President of Oxfam America, said: "Today ministers will spend hours debating security and counter-terrorism, but the conflict is only part of the problem. The living conditions of many Afghans are deteriorating.
"Stability and prosperity will only occur if there are immediate efforts to improve the lives of ordinary Afghans. So far, the results have been inadequate.
"The response to the ongoing humanitarian situation has been slow, fragmented and insufficient. Aid has been ineffective, with too much money spent on foreign contractors or on projects that don't benefit the most vulnerable Afghans.
"If this international conference is to avert a crisis and create a workable solution, it must start by putting the future of the Afghans at the center of its agenda."
More money must go to agriculture and rural development to deal with the long-term causes of the current food crisis. For example, in Daikundi province, where half-a-million people are dependent on agriculture, the Afghan Department of Agriculture in 2007 had a budget of only $2,400 to improve farming in the area.
Offenheiser said: "Most Afghans depend on agriculture to feed their families or to make a living, but only a tiny fraction of international aid supports farming. More aid to agriculture will make Afghanistan less vulnerable to future food shortages and provide real alternatives to opium poppy cultivation."
There should also be a national strategy for ground-level peace-building and conflict resolution to make daily life safer for Afghans, Oxfam said. Peace processes must be developed at all levels, from the local and national right through to the regional.
]]>Up to five million Afghans are struggling to meet their immediate needs, and the health of over a million young children and half a million women are at serious risk due to malnutrition, yet the United Nations emergency appeal to feed Afghans is only half-funded.
Raymond C. Offenheiser, President of Oxfam America said: "With spreading insecurity, and civilians facing critical needs, the United States must take a leading role in protecting civilians and forging a new international approach to Afghanistan."
In a memo sent to President Obama, in addition to humanitarian needs, Oxfam America raised concerns that events have reached a critical juncture in Afghanistan and that conditions could deteriorate further unless the United States takes a lead in addressing failures in governance, aid and reconstruction, and protecting civilians. In the memo, Oxfam America outlined ten essential steps to change the course in Afghanistan.
In 2008, security conditions reached their worst levels since the intervention in 2001. Civilian casualties caused by all side have continued to increase, with over 2,000 civilian deaths over the past year, including nearly 800 from operations by international and Afghan government forces. Half of the country cannot be accessed by the United Nations and attacks on aid workers continue to increase, hampering the delivery of development and humanitarian assistance.
Matt Waldman, Oxfam International's head of policy in Afghanistan, said: "The only way address the worsening conditions for civilians and stem the tide of violence, is a concerted international effort, which prioritizes the safety and livelihoods of Afghan communities."
Oxfam America's memo to President Obama outlines a plan for a better humanitarian response to the crisis, major improvements in aid effectiveness, increased support for agriculture and the rural economy, action on peace-building, regional cooperation, governance reform, and new measures to protect civilians.
View Oxfam America's memo to President Obama: Ten Point Plan to Change Course in Afghanistan.
]]>Even one event like this—and there are others including flash floods, shortages of fodder, drought—can have devastating consequences on the availability of food, especially for people who depend heavily on their animals and agriculture. Decades of conflict have prevented many of them from being able to strengthen or diversify their means of making a living.
It is harsh realities like these that a $250,000 Oxfam program has helped to remedy for 2,000 families in 40 villages scattered through the Daikundi and Bamiyan provinces. With high-quality seeds, some technical training, and a boost from a supply of fertilizer, families were able to grow a whole range of produce.
"This is the first time in my life that I have eaten these vegetables," said one 65-year-old resident of Jingan village, showing off a pumpkin plucked from a garden that also produced lettuce, cabbage, cauliflower, carrots, and tomatoes. "We now save money and have a better diet."
But the program has done more than just help people produce new harvests. It has planted the seeds for their future development, too. Literacy classes for women, construction of a pair of greenhouses, and training in animal breeding to improve local herds were also among the projects initiated in this remote region.
Though a great deal remains to be done before villages can wrench themselves free of crippling poverty, projects that help people improve their standard of living have fed the aspirations of many.
"I hope that one day I will be able to read and write and will know what is happening the world around us," said a young mother named Razia, who brings her one-year-old daughter to the literacy classes sponsored by Oxfam in the village of Gochan.
The literacy classes, held in 20 communities, have been so popular that villagers have asked Oxfam to offer them for men as well. For girls who have never had the opportunity to go to school, the classes give them the basics in reading and writing—with the hope that some students will be able to continue with their educations in nearby schools.
Education, in fact, is the basis for much of this rural development initiative—from villagers learning about new seeds to improved husbandry practices. The ultimate goal is to help make sure that food is more readily available for many of the people in these rugged communities. Families chosen to participate include those caring for handicapped children, ones headed by women, and households without land and little opportunity to earn an income. All told, about 14,000 people have indirectly benefitted from the program.
With basic diets of bread, tea, and only occasionally a bit of mutton, villagers showed particular interest in learning about vegetable gardening. In separate classes for men and women, participants learned how to cultivate an array of new seeds, how to fertilize the soil, and when to harvest the vegetables and process them, too.
But challenges remain. Adverse weather and limited water often add up to small harvests. And farmers need more training on sustainable approaches to agriculture, such as through the creation of seed banks.
The establishment of orchards—a new activity for many people—also sparked interest. Thirty farmers each received 100 saplings including walnuts, pears, apples, almonds, apricots, and peaches. And 10 farmers also got the tools needed to graft fruit trees to aid in the creation of new orchards. Courses offered farmers training on the establishment and management of nurseries and garden design.
Oxfam also provided training on animal breeding and livestock management. A total of 26 new calves were born under the program and 20,000 animals received vaccinations against a host of ills including parasites and liver worms.
"Given the multi-dimensional nature of poverty and the past decades of conflict and insecurity, the local communities still have a long way to go in establishing sustainable community structures, livelihoods and environmental protection," said a final report on the project.
What's the answer? Oxfam sees the need for a long-term commitment to these villages so that local people can become empowered to undertake development initiatives that would ensure greater food security for everyone.
]]>Household contributions to education are steep and deter new entrants. Those in schools are faced with inadequate educational materials, textbooks, and teachers. Budget allocation and spending in the education sector by various stakeholders remain largely uncoordinated and opaque.
This briefing paper outlines some of the key concerns, and proposes a plan for not only increased funding, but also reforming budget allocation and planning within the Ministry of Education and amongst other actors in the education sector.
]]>The report card (for grades 1-9) recognizes that Afghanistan has made progress in enrollment, but finds key gaps in school completion rates, policy management, quality of education and available resources.
Despite the increase in school enrollment, more than half of Afghanistan's children don't attend primary school. Less than 34% of those enrolled are girls.
Drop-out rates are high, particularly among girls. Of those attending primary school, only 9% go on to secondary school.
Female teachers are scarce. In one province there is one female teacher for every 152 male teachers. Increasing the number of female teachers is essential to increase the enrollment of girls.
HRRAC recommends that international donors honor their commitments to provide sufficient and long-term funding for Afghanistan and ensure adequate steps are taken to increase the enrollment of girls and improve the quality of education.
The Human Rights Research and Advocacy Consortium is a group of Afghan and international organizations working in the fields of humanitarian relief, reconstruction, human and women's rights, peace promotion, research, and advocacy. It was established in early 2003 to engage in proactive research and advocacy on human rights issues over a sustained period.
Consortium Members
Afghan organizations
Afghan Development Association
Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission
Agency Coordinating Body for Afghan Relief (advisory organization)
Agency for Rehabilitation and Energy-conservation in Afghanistan
Afghanistan Research and Evaluation Unit (advisory organization)
Coordination of Humanitarian Assistance
Cooperation for Peace and Unity
International organizations
Oxfam International
Mercy Corps
Ockenden International
CARE International
Rights and Democracy
Save the Children Federation, Inc.
When's the last time a small-farm family called it quits and had to sell their land for development? Probably yesterday or the day before.
There's no coincidence here. The loss of truly fresh fruits and vegetables, grown for their taste, and the loss of farmland and small-scale farmers are two faces of the same coin. In this issue of EXCHANGE, we meet Michael Rozyne, founder and managing director of Oxfam partner Red Tomato.
Also in this issue, ethnic discrimination in Guatemala—and the Mayan defense. Plus, how community radio is engaging Senegal's youth, and the humanitarian imperative of land mine clearance in war-torn Afghanistan.
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