Humanitarianism: The new colonialism?

Talking about colonialism is problematic. People might label me a reactionary or a radical...but since I’m neither, I have to have the courage to open my heart to you, so we all can learn from one another.

The world has been facing numerous emergencies over the past few years. Some were manmade while the rest were natural disasters. The individual humanitarian response was overwhelming – to the point where we as international humanitarian organisations could hardly deliver the dreams and desires of our donors. The last few disasters – the tsunami; Darfur; the Asian earthquake; Yemen – proved that the international community cannot do it alone, even if we had the resources and the expertise.

We’re at a time when we have ample money to respond to disasters. But how do we allocate it? It’s my belief that we need to use some part of this money in building the local infrastructure of Civil Society Organisations in disaster areas. Five years on from the tsunami I’d like to raise a question: How much have we spent on relief, and on capacity building of local civil society, and how much has been drained and wasted because of inefficient delivery and overspending on bringing in our own experts, imported from Country A to Disaster Area B, when we could have utilized the expertise and knowledge of local organisations?

If we’re honest enough to answer such questions, I propose we change the policy of our funding with the intention of building stronger, more independent CSOs in such areas. I propose we ask our governments, institutions and INGOs to allocate 10-15% of funds to the future of local civil society in these areas.

This would be an important step, but funds alone are not enough. If our long term goal is to hand the capability for disaster response over to the local and national organisations, we need to shift our entire attitude. Rather than supporting our own organisations exclusively, our emphasis must be on partnering, training and supporting local humanitarian actors in becoming more effective, sustainable and accountable. In short: treating local actors as equals.

Changing the way we work will take time and investment. It will not happen overnight; rather it will happen over a generation. But by beginning that investment now, we will eventually build a truly global humanitarian society – one which really does ‘think globally and act locally’.

We need to be courageous - to admit that it’s impossible nowadays to respond to these terrible disasters from an international perspective alone, and to admit that it is indeed preferable to reach beneficiaries in their own communities and through their own communities. Because if we don’t work this way, we’re missing the most important players or stakeholders: namely the local civil society organisations, whom we should use as active partners from the time of planning to the process of delivering and monitoring. This could only be done when we change our mindset from a top-down, ‘colonial’ humanitarian approach to a grass roots humanitarian approach.

Our new role should be complementary to the emerging new role of stronger local civil societies. It should not replace them or exclude them. It is for us to be honest enough to step back, and instead empower those people who are already ‘on the ground’ when disaster strikes, and will continue to be there long after our operations have left.
Shall we be a colonial humanitarian movement - or a people’s humanitarian movement?

Yemen: Turning a coach ride into a journey

On my recent trip to North Africa, I spent 3 days in Yemen with our new country director and many of the members of Humanitarian Forum Yemen (HFY), in what turned into an inspirational visit.

The first day of this 72 hour visit included 5 meetings, and I was very happy to learn that the government has appointed State Minister for Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs), who is doing his upmost to meet the needs of the quarter of a million IDPs as well as the challenges of the local and international community. This newly appointed position is to coordinate the needs of IDPs from a government point of view, but with a new vision: to understand the language of the international and donor community. Before this there was no minister for IDPs – the growing situation in Yemen led them to invent this post. The position will create a more cohesive response to the problems for IDPs, a more focussed and undivided attention to this issue.

Days 2 and 3 comprised a long field trip to three different IDP camps in Harad. We started out at 6am on Wednesday 25th February, taking with us 25 individuals (7 of whom were women) from 17 local organisations. The journey from sana’a to the IDP camps in Harad, over mountains and switchback roads, took 7 hours. Although tiring, it turned out to be the most fruitful of journeys, where some of us became sick (myself included!) and others became energetic and hyperactive.
The journey turned into an operational workshop – or workshop in action. An informal, impassioned 2-day discussion – so different to such high level, high calibre, traditional, static workshops we in the humanitarian community generally favour. The fruit from such a workshop was immense – and less costly than those expensive traditional varieties, which can often be unproductive because of the top-down approach which forms them.

The result of this impromptu workshop in action was firstly confidence building between all members of HFY who participated, and secondly an implementation of THF’s organisational learning philosophy. Each small organisation was educating its sister organisations and the larger organisations managing the camps were able to educate the smaller organisations in turn. The IDPs who participate in managing the camps also educated the visiting local organisations and indeed those larger organisations managing the camps, through their involvement and feedback.
The tone of the discussion that took place between every participant was vibrant. They inspired one another, because each and every one of them was focussing on the issue of the IDPs and their welfare, and not on the agendas of their organisations, or other such issues. People didn’t feel tired as they talked; not on the coach in the early morning or the late evening; not in the field which was so hot and humid; nor even over dinner as they continued to discuss while they killed their hunger.

I came back with a new dimension of our message of capacity building and humanitarianism. The discussions we had shout: ‘no more traditional workshop: enough is enough’. Instead, let us build a new style workshop on the foundation of our collective dynamic action, led by the local participants. Let us take what we discuss in the conference room with us on buses, on planes and to the camps themselves, and let us bring what we discuss in those places to the conference room in turn. From here, local organisations will be able to transfer the knowledge and the expertise to their colleagues in different cities and districts, so their colleagues can feel that such a product can be, and is made in Yemen itself, and not only in Europe. If we want to leave a stronger, sustainable civil society, we must enable its members to build it, whether we’re there or not.

Honestly, at the end of the trip, we did not feel tired. No headaches, backaches, vertigo or dizziness – the spirit which was born inside this atmosphere had replaced our ills with vitality. So let’s bring the spirit to the workshop in action, actively engaging the local owners of the programmes in the stage of designing, not the stage of implementation.

Sowing the seeds of peace in Sudan

While Sudan is enjoying the first few days of ceasefire in Dafur, and in the run-up to the preparation for the general elections and referendum on the Southern issue, The Humanitarian Forum (THF) is working to become part of cementing the relationship between Sudan and the outside world, from a humanitarian point of view. Following the visit of the high-level delegation last November, THF went to Khartoum to discuss peace in Dafur. We held meetings with the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, HAC, and a number of special advisors in the humanitarian field, to try and capitalise on humanitarian society, to build peace in the Sudan as a whole.

The atmosphere in Sudan is different from that which we experienced at the beginning of last year, when some aid agencies were asked to leave the country, and even from the atmosphere of the meetings we held in London last November. The authorities are taking on a new role, and the tune of the officials is changing. It has become more welcoming than the media portrayed last year. Now is our opportunity build a stronger relationship and a solid bridge, and we will all have to revisit our roles as we look to strengthen the role of civil society in Sudan and build long term peace.

We have to see Sudan not as a handful of problems - which we can impose solutions on from the top down - but to see Sudan as a resourceful country – as its own solution – which all of us need to bear its fruits. We need to change not only the local mindset in Sudan, but our own mindset. If we want to maximise the our common global benefit which is emerging from Sudan, the only way forward is to meet in the middle.

I am optimistic about the signing of the ceasefire, but optimism is not enough. We must now work to change the ceasefire into sustainable peace, based on delivering the needs of citizens of the area, and become vital parts of the Long Term peace. Not only for the benefit of Sudan and its citizens, but for the benefit of humanity.

Building the bridge from both sides in Egypt

How can we work together to strengthen the social fabric of the Arab world? This is the issue we’ve been discussing with The Arab League over the last two years, to find solutions through building stronger Civil Society Organisations (CSOs). And in my most recent visit we took great steps forward.

Through the vision of Secretary General Mr Amr Mousa and his chief of Staff, Ambassador Hisham Yousef, we reached an agreement to work together in addressing this huge issue. On the one hand this gave The Humanitarian Forum a very positive message, that the League has confidence in our mission, and on the other hand it conveyed the more dynamic message that we are building the bridges from both sides – across the gaps, the rivers, the oceans that divide us. This is a new milestone that The Forum is building with the Arab League.

The Arab world has tens of thousands of civil society organisations (CSOs) which need to work together in a more conducive atmosphere with their societies and their governments. Their intentions are sincere, pure, and clear. But sometimes the mechanics of the philosophy of their discussions can be misinterpreted through many different pressure points, both global and local. On the global side, there’s the global political climate; global financial problems; global war on terror; the media war on Islam and Arab nations; the global culture of divides. On the local side, the philosophy can be seen through the lens of local theological interpretations and understanding of religion, and the role of local culture, values and religions. The impact of these pressures on cementing or fragmenting the social role of Civil Society in building (in partnership with governments and the private sector) more sustainable economic, political and social movement within the country should not be underestimated.

Many efforts have been made to address such points – and we don’t want to reinvent the wheel again. While we’re mapping the TREE of problems (Terrorism, Radicalisation, Extremism, Exclusion), we also need to find the proper solutions for every large and small problem.

Our proposed conference in December 2010 will be the beginning of a long term process, not only addressing the problems but identifying the solutions. To organise such a conference, we’re facing a few challenges: coordination, finance, logistics, and most importantly, implementation of the result in action with the community – our challenge is to close any gap – be it in civil society, government or private sector - and our success will be measured by the dynamic social, political and economic atmosphere we create. We must all work together for our nations, not for our organisations / political parties /companies. Our focal point should be our citizens, our countries; our world. And we are grateful for any support from you to make our conference a success story.

We love Mondays!

The British Pop band, The Boomtown Rats, had a hit with the song ‘I don’t like Mondays’. But even though we all woke up in the early hours, to get from our various locations to the Central London conference centre last Monday before 9am, it was still a Monday to love. Because last Monday, we had the chance to communicate face-to-face with humanitarian organisations in Gaza.

The day after Valentine’s day, (shall we call it Pale-ntine’s day?!) marked the first of The Humanitarian Forum’s video link conferences: bringing together local and international actors in the UK, Gaza and Qatar.

The reason we were so excited and motivated by such an event, is because it represented such a great opportunity for people under the siege to be seen, heard and taken seriously. They were recognised as part of the solution, not part of the problem. In the different rooms - in Doha, London and Gaza -everyone felt ready to search for a new alternative solution to the lack of communication with Gazan people and Gazan humanitarian organisations.

We heard the message from Gaza. It was loud, clear and to the point. ‘We can do it, because we have the knowhow. Consider us as valuable partners, from the time of creating the proposal for a project to the time of delivering such a programme.’

What made us all so excited and motivated was witnessing the hope in our colleagues’ eyes, the passion and determination in their voices; the spirit of resilience created by being together and facing problems jointly.

Such an alternative way of communication by The Humanitarian Forum was a new opportunity for the forgotten voices to be heard by others. It helped us all see Gaza as a source of the solution, not a base of extremism, radicalism and terrorism. If we really want to fight such ‘isms’, we have to – all of us – plant a new ‘TREE’: of Trust, Respect, Engagement and Empowerment.
If we plant those seeds - in Gaza or in any vulnerable, marginalised, depressed community - we will be able to bring from amongst them both the ideas, and the leaders to put the ideas into practice. Not only to sort out the local problems, but also to find a solution to our global problems.

It’s an open invitation to everyone: to come together and to start to listen so we can understand others. Because listening means consideration, accommodation and partnership, and giving up disregard alienation, marginalisation and polarisation.

Every person at the meeting came out highly motivated – because we felt that we all shared some common ground – the value of our ‘TREE’.

We hope to double the number of organisations at our next conference call and hope to receive your ideas for a better future, not only for Gaza but for other communities.
To have your say on Gaza, please visit our online forums.
You can read more about The Forum in Gaza here.

Stemming the tide of unrest in The Balkans

This region is one of the world’s most culturally rich, highly civilised areas, enjoying a multiplicity of faith and language, and a diversity of culture.
With this in mind, The Humanitarian Forum decided to explore this wealth of knowledge, to highlight its great value as an asset to humanity. The Humanitarian Forum’s visit to Macedonia last week strengthened this view, that these riches should be brought to the international community.
When Muslims, Christians and Jews, ethnic Albanians, Macedonians and others, come together, you can see that there is a lot of common ground between them. And they bring the hope that together they can all build a stronger foundation for a better future and a safer Europe.
The energy shown by those groups during the our visit has left us deeply touched; their message is one of of peace, bridge building and looking for a better future for all.
With our experience and resources in the international community, we can help to pave the way and lay the foundation for an innovative, entrepreneurial solution, which we need not only for the Balkans itself, but to add to the mosaic of international partnership.
This spirit is not new. We’re simply highlighting and facilitating the existing role of the people in this area, taking into account the expertise and status of the newly emerging states. Our meeting in April will enable them to highlight the problems facing civil society, and to propose solutions for them. Our role should be to bridge the gaps between them as well as to let the international community listen to them and support their vital work, welcoming these new players who can enrich and advance the global civil society sector as a whole.
We are inviting partners from the Balkans and internationally help cement these relations and find a better prospect for the future. Our responsibility is to discover – together – the new pioneers of the 21st century form the Balkans as well as other regions.
Let us share our thoughts, exchange views and information, and support such initiatives for the betterment of developing a stronger civil society movement in the region which can include everyone.
We have witnessed too many wars over the last three decades, which have claimed the lived of hundreds of thousands, and caused the forced migration of millions. We need to learn how to replace the process of war with a future built on peace.

Play for today - History will follow!

Sometimes we’re so preoccupied with how history will see us. There’a a lot of ego in each of us, preoccupied with what people say about us, how we’re perceived, how we’ll be remembered.

The problem with worrying about our obituaries is that we forget to live. Here’s the challenge: Don’t worry about how history will write you up. Worry about what needs to be done. There’s so much need in the world, and so much opportunity to get involved, to engage and to create something new.

Twenty years ago, when I was the President of Islamic Relief, I heard so many humanitarian actors focussing on the need for partnerships supporting sectarian Islamic groups. Everyone was talking about his own organisation!

Now, we’re creating the Islamic humanitarian movement together, and the emphasis is changing from Muslim/Muslim support to Muslim/non-Muslim support. We’re defeating the divisions inside the Muslim community, and bringing the humanitarian spirit of Islam to the larger community. We’re crossing the sectarian, racial and religious boundaries, to the wider humanitarian world.

I witnessed this last week when I attended a meeting of the Muslim Charities Forum. It was so heartening to see humanitarian actors looking beyond themselves and creating new possibilities for partnerships. They stopped worrying about how they looked; about what history would think of them. And because they did, history was in the room with them, as they created something new.

Instead of chasing history, let history chase your footsteps and try to listen to the whispers of your thoughts and dreams. People who don’t bother about what history will say, will be able to deliver what humanity needs today, because they are so heavily engaged with addressing the needs of humanity.