IRC says one in ten children are in danger of starvation at the Horn of Africa

The International Red Cross has issued a statement on what the organization has observed from the dire situation in the Horn of Africa. The Red Cross says one out every ten children living in the drought affected area are in danger of starving to death. The emergency level drought is gripping the countries of Kenya, Somalia, Ethiopia and others.

From Reuters Alert Net, writer Stephanie Nebehay relays the information from the Red Cross.

"Levels of malnutrition have reached a new peak and are currently the highest in the world," the ICRC said in a statement.

The independent aid agency, one of very few with access to Somalia's worst-hit areas, said that even in the Bay and Lower Shabelle regions, the traditional breadbaskets, nearly 11 percent of children under five had severe acute malnutrition.

This meant they were at risk of starving to death. Rates were believed to be significantly higher in other areas.

"In some parts of Somalia, the number of children with severe acute malnutrition has almost doubled since March."

The disturbing findings were based on data from 39 clinics and 18 therapeutic feeding centres run by the Somali Red Crescent with its support. The ICRC said it was opening 10 new feeding centres in Bakool, Gedo and the Afgoye corridor.
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Somalia has had no effective central government for two decades, worsening the impact of recurring droughts. Islamist al Shabaab rebels have refused to allow food aid to be delivered in areas under their control, saying it encourages dependency.

The world body is looking into security guarantees to return to southern Somalia following an unexpected announcement by al Shabaab last week that it was lifting its ban. [ID:nN1E765198]

The World Food Programme (WFP), in a statement on Wednesday, said it could return to the south "if conditions allow and if the necessary security clearance from the United Nations is granted".

If you feel moved to donate to the Red Cross and their work of feeding the drought stricken Horn of Africa you can do so by going to this link.

A pair of Palestinian items

The blockade against the Gaza strip is making big headlines, especially since the Israeli raid onto an aid ship that killed 9 people. A couple of stories concerning the blockade and the life of the Palestinian people have caught our attention this morning.

First the International Red Cross says that the blockade against the Gaza strip is illegal as a violation against Geneva conventions. From Vision MP, this story gathers together various internet reports on the statement.

According to the Al Jazeera website, An ICRC statement issued Monday termed the blockade a “collective punishment” and a crime under international law.

“The closure imposed on the Gaza Strip is about to enter its fourth year, choking off any real possibility of economic development,” the ICRC said.

“Gazans continue to suffer from unemployment, poverty and warfare, while the quality of Gaza’s health care system has reached an all-time low.”

For Palestinians who live in Lebanon, they still face a tough life due to restrictions to gaining employment. The Lebanese government does not allow Palestinians to obtain work visas for many types of jobs. Further many employers will not hire Palestinian people at all. The despair brought on by this discrimination could fuel even more extreme terrorism.

From the Inter Press Service, writer Mona Alami makes the case that the lot of Palestinians in Lebanon is not that much better than in Israel.

Large camps, such as Ain el-Helweh, Bedawi and Chatila, are guarded by the Lebanese military or police. Youngsters sit idly around the meandering dirty streets, chatting or smoking cigarettes.

At night, militants often run amok, engaging in futile feuds with rivaling political gangs. The often explosive environment means that a seemingly harmless game of football could turn into a violent gun battle.

There are about 300,000 Palestinians in Lebanon, mostly residing in nine camps throughout the country. The discrimination and marginalisation they face in their ghettoised reality are exacerbated by restrictions on their employment.

It is estimated that 60 percent of Palestinians are unemployed. Previously, Palestinians could not work in about 70 job categories; in 2005, however, the labour ministry lifted the ban on around 50 professions.

Khaled, 22-year-old Palestinian, studied electrical engineering in Baghdad before coming back to Lebanon to look for a job. "I have been looking for over a year with no success. I have been rejected because I am Palestinian, in spite of my credentials. In Iraq, Palestinians have more rights," he explains.

Much of the discriminatory treatment Palestinians face in the job market in Lebanon is rooted in the fact that they have been stateless since 1948. According to figures provided by the Human Rights Watch, only 261 Palestinians got work visas in 2009, compared to 36,754 Ethiopians. Lebanese authorities have denied them equal rights with Lebanese and other foreign residents.

"Lebanese labour law treats Palestinian refugees like other non-Lebanese and requires them to have a work permit and social rights, subject to the principle of reciprocity. This means that Lebanon grants the right to work to nationals of other states whose countries grant Lebanese citizens the same right. This law naturally bars Palestinians from many jobs," says Alexander Adam, project manager at the Danish Refugee Council (DRC).

In addition to fewer employment opportunities legally employed Palestinians cannot benefit from the Lebanese social security pension or insurance plans even though employers are still obligated to pay the government for such programmes, explains Adam.

Professional associations, such as those for lawyers, doctors, and engineers, either apply severe restrictions on non-citizens or exclude them completely, leaving Palestinians with few job choices.

"Most Palestinians work in the real estate sector as painters or builders as well as seasonal employees in the agricultural sector, or as taxi drivers. For professionals, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East and other NGOs constitute the main source of employment," adds Adam.

Questioning how the Red Cross spent the Haitian money

One of the Haitian earthquake survivors is wondering where the Red Cross is, and he is using youtube to spread his message. Armed with his camera, Fred Sajous cannot find any evidence of the $430 million dollars that the Red Cross raised in the disaster. In fact, a tent city right across the road from the Red Cross headquarters has not received anything from them.

From the Miami Herald, Frances Robles summarized her story in the following video. Our snippet of the article is after the jump.

``I couldn't find the $106 million,'' said Sajous, a 29-year-old mechanical engineer who left Fort Lauderdale for Port-au-Prince after being laid off last year. ``I didn't see a single sticker or anything.''

More than three months since the American Red Cross raised hundreds of millions to aid Haiti in the aftermath of the 7.0 earthquake that killed an estimated 300,000 and left 1.3 million homeless, the organization says it has spent about a quarter of the money.

But after consuming $106 million in the first 60 days, the Red Cross in the past month has tapped just $5 million more and has come under fire for what critics call anemic spending.

Other aid groups, members of Congress, bloggers and even a former board member are among the growing chorus asking what the Red Cross is doing with such a massive amount of money raised in such a short time.

Red Cross records are not public, so Sajous settled on registering a watchdog organization called Kontrol Aid and making a video about his hunt for Red Cross relief supplies, which he posted on YouTube. American Red Cross President and CEO Gail J. McGovern last week countered with an Internet video of her own, responding to those who say the organization lacks visibility.

She also scheduled a conference call with members of Congress, underscoring the agency's sudden drive to explain how it funded 43 percent of the global Red Cross efforts that assisted 2 million people, gave tarps and other supplies to 450,000 and distributed almost 24 million gallons of water.

``Slapping our logo on people's temporary homes just didn't seem right,'' McGovern said in the video. ``I can assure you that our presence is being felt by the people of Haiti. We have to answer not just to our donors; we have to answer to the people of Haiti.''

The Red Cross said that expenses so far have included $55 million for emergency relief, such as food and supplies, including $30 million to the World Food Program; $43.6 million for shelter, including tarp; $5.5 million for water and sanitation, and $1.5 million for health costs.

Read more: http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/04/27/v-fullstory/1601420/spotlight-falls-on-red-cross-spending.html#ixzz0mOndzdrs

Gaza poverty level sees dramatic increase within a year

The International Committee of the Red Cross issued a statement about conditions in the Gaza strip yesterday. The Red Cross says that there has been a "dramatic increase in poverty" in the Gaza strip since the collapse of the Gaza economy last year. Conditions were only worsened by the Israeli offensive back in January.

The Red Cross says that 70 percent of Gaza Palestinians are in poverty, which is especially troubling because half of the population is children. The Red Cross also warns that the water and sanitation system in the area could collapse soon.

From Reuters, writer Stephanie Nebehay gives us more details.

Stringent import restrictions imposed by Israel are crippling reconstruction efforts by donors who have pledged $4.5 billion, it said. Basic medicines are in short supply and the water and sanitation system is on the brink of collapse.

The humanitarian agency called on Israeli authorities to lift the restrictions and allow spare parts, water pipes and building materials into the Hamas-ruled coastal territory devastated by the Dec. 27-Jan. 18 offensive.

"Gaza neighbourhoods particularly hard hit by the Israeli strikes will continue to look like the epicentre of a massive earthquake unless vast quantities of cement, steel and other building materials are allowed into the territory for reconstruction," the ICRC said in a report.

Israeli forces bombed and then invaded Gaza to root out militants firing rockets into southern Israel. According to a Palestinian rights group, 1,417 people including 926 civilians were killed, along with 10 Israeli soldiers and 3 civilians.

Many Gazans are "sliding ever deeper into despair", with thousands whose homes and belongings were destroyed still lacking adequate shelter, the Geneva-based ICRC said.

Hospitals are run down, with much of their equipment unreliable and in need of repair after daily power cuts.

The Red Cross is feeding Zimbabwe's prisoners

The International Red Cross is now feeding Zimbabwe's prisoners to keep them from starving to death. The Red Cross is feeding over 6,300 prisoners and the numbers are expected to rise as the Red Cross expands the aid to more cities in Zimbabwe.

Before the recent harvest, some seven million people in Zimbabwe were receiving some sort of food assistance. The huge amount was caused by the collapse of the nation's economy and the cholera outbreak that killed thousands.

From the IRIN, we learn more about the Red Cross' operation in Zimbabwe and a documentary that may have helped to coax it.

Askar Umarbekov, ICRC head of operations in Zimbabwe, told IRIN that the prisons in most provinces had been surveyed, but declined to divulge the prisoners' state of health as all findings were confidential.

Prisons in the second city, Bulawayo, and most other provinces had been seen by the ICRC teams, but those in and around the capital, Harare, have yet to be visited.

A report by Zimbabwe's Association for Crime Prevention and Rehabilitation of the Offender, an NGO advocating the rights of prisoners, said at least 20 inmates were dying daily in the country's jails.

In March 2009 the South African investigative television documentary programme, Special Assignment, secretly filmed conditions in two of Zimbabwe's 55 prisons and revealed emaciated inmates surviving on a daily handful of prison rations of sadza, or maize-meal porridge, the staple food.

Justice and Legal Affairs Minister Patrick Chinamasa told local media a few days before the documentary was broadcast: "As I speak, the [overall] prison population is at its lowest - 14,000; we have never been that low." He admitted to poor nutritional levels, but dismissed reports that cholera was afflicting inmates.

Umarbekov said the documentary programme, Hell Hole, had had an impact but "was not directly linked" to the ICRC's "offer of services made in December 2008" to the prison authorities to assist in providing adequate nutrition to prisoners. Food assistance to prisons started in April 2009, he said.

International Red Cross annual report shows increased needs throughout the world

Living amidst a war is unimaginably difficult, but the International Red Cross says that many people living in wars also suffer from natural disasters and high food prices, while the combat is around them.

The International Red Cross released their annual report today. The report says that in 2008 the Red Cross gave out double the amount of food of 2007. Also, the number of refugees that they have helped has increased by six percent.

From the International Red Cross press release that we found at Reuters Alert Net, the Red Cross president makes his point about the effects of war.

Presenting the ICRC's annual report for 2008, the organization's president, Jakob Kellenberger, said: "Afghanistan, Somalia and Pakistan are three examples of countries where natural disasters and high food prices have made life even harder for poor people already struggling to cope with the effects of war." The report shows that ICRC spending hit an all-time high in 2008, rising to over 1 billion Swiss francs.

Africa accounted for 47% of field expenditure, while 20% went to the Middle East.

The increase in expenditure is due to the deteriorating humanitarian situation in many countries, such as Sri Lanka, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Pakistan, but it also reflects improved ICRC access to people affected by wars.

"2008 clearly showed that the ICRC's neutral and independent humanitarian action does bring significant benefits for victims of armed conflicts," said Mr Kellenberger.

"It allows the ICRC to have access to and help people in places others often can't reach.

Notable examples include Iraq, the Sahel region, Somalia and Georgia." The ICRC president deplored the fact that in 2008 untold numbers of civilians continued to suffer either because they were deliberately targeted or because conflict parties failed to distinguish sufficiently between civilians and civilian objects on the one hand, and combatants and military objectives on the other: "Much of this suffering could have been avoided if conflict parties had improved their compliance with international humanitarian law." Looking ahead, the ICRC president said it was hard to predict the exact impact of the global economic crisis on people already made vulnerable by war.

However, he expressed concern that the increase in the number of people living in extreme poverty, rising unemployment worldwide and a significant drop in remittances from migrant workers to their families in conflict areas could have a particularly severe effect on the poorest victims of armed conflicts.

International Red Cross asks for $420 million

Making it's annual appeal for money in South Africa today, the International Red Cross says it must raise $420 million dollars.

But just like many other organizations, they worry that the credit crisis effecting money supplies thought the world will get in the way of meeting that goal.

From this Associated Press article that we found in the International Herald Tribune, the Red Cross says the money is needed to better prepare for it's disaster work.

"We must not allow the looming financial and economic crisis to dampen our resolve to address the humanitarian needs of those who do not make the international headlines," Bekele Geleta, secretary-general of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, said in a statement.

The agency's southern African operations director, Francoise Le Goff, said a special effort had been made to limit the request to the most essential projects.

Kelly David, head of U.N. aid efforts in southern Africa, joined Le Goff Tuesday to underline humanitarian workers' fears.

"We are probably going to have to do more with less," David said. Budgets for 2009 were likely safe, she said, but "we will begin to feel the crunch" in 2010.

Le Goff said Western leaders were quick to devise bailout plans for their economies, but said humanitarian needs rarely got such attention.

"It's an enormous frustration," she said. "It's revolting."

Le Goff said southern Africa is particularly vulnerable because AIDS, poverty and weak governance have combined to create an ongoing emergency, with malnutrition and diseases like cholera chronically at levels seen elsewhere only when disaster strikes.

Ethiopia Parliament Drafts Proposal to make NGO Activities Illegal

This sort of thing happens in volatile countries: An NGO gives aid to poor people who may or may not be associated with a rebel force. Then the government kicks the NGO out for aiding the enemy.

Last Year, the International Red Cross was kicked out of Ethiopia for allegedly giving aid to rebel forces in the country.

Now, the parliament is about to vote on a law that will make many NGO activities illegal.

Peter Heinlein from theVoice of America details the proposal and reaction from Human Rights Watch.

Ethiopian officials have told western diplomats that parliament will approve a proposed Charities and Societies Proclamation within weeks. The bill would give the government supervisory powers over non-governmental organizations that receive at least 10 percent foreign funding, including money from Ethiopians living abroad.

The text before lawmakers prohibits such NGOs from promoting democratic or human rights, the rights of children and the disabled, and equality of gender or religion. Violators could face up to 15 years in prison and fines up to $10,000.

Foreign NGOs have reacted with alarm to the bill, saying it could make it impossible for them to operate in Ethiopia. A group of ambassadors in Addis Ababa recently warned Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi that passage of the Charities and Societies Proclamation could mean the loss of untold millions of dollars in desperately needed aid.

The organization Human Rights Watch issued a statement urging Ethiopia's lawmakers to reject the bill, calling it 'repressive'. But the leader of an opposition parliament faction, Bulcha Demeksa, said he and like-minded lawmakers are powerless to stop it in the face of an overwhelming ruling-party majority. "The government is going to silence the NGOs and their leadership when they speak about human rights, when they spoke about democratic rights, when they spoke about giving democratic education to the citizens."

He continued, "The government does not like it, that is why the government wants to silence them, and I am very sorry about it, I am very hurt about it. I wish I could do something about it, because practically all the NGOs are doing something good for this country."

Opposition parties in the Ethiopia government are a small minority and will not be able to stop this from being a law.

Aid group: Somalia in worst crisis in 10 years

from Oregon Live

By MALKHADIR M. MUHUMED

NAIROBI, Kenya — Somalia is facing its worst humanitarian crisis in a decade, and the situation is deteriorating, an international aid agency said Wednesday.

Worsening armed conflict, rising global prices of food and fuel, and severe drought in central Somalia are the main factors contributing to the humanitarian crisis in the Horn of Africa nation, said Pascal Hundt, head of the International Red Cross' delegation for Somalia.

"When you put all these factors together this is explaining why we are in front of an acute humanitarian crisis in Somalia," Hundt told journalists in the capital of neighboring Kenya, where the ICRC bases the operation because of insecurity in Somalia. "We have no reason to be optimistic in the short term."

Hundt said Somalia is experiencing its "worst tragedy of the past decade."

The ICRC will triple its budget this year due to the worsening humanitarian situation in Somalia, Hundt said, declining to give the figure because of concern for staff safety. He said that in the past when the aid agency has made public the financial details of its Somalia operation, its staff there have been threatened with robbery.

The most severely affected areas are in central Somalia, which has suffered from poor rainfall and harvests for more than two years, the statement said. It said food shortages in central Somalia are severe and livestock, a major source of sustenance, are weakening as pasture land dries up.

On Tuesday, a group representing a range of Somali organizations warned members from the U.N. Security Council of a worsening humanitarian crisis in Somalia.

The group also called for the withdrawal of Ethiopian troops who have been in the country since 2006 to back up Somali forces fighting an Islamic insurgency, saying their departure would accelerate a political settlement of the country's 18-year conflict.

The Security Council members were in Djibouti on Tuesday to encourage direct talks between Somalia's transitional government and an opposition alliance.

"The presence of Ethiopian troops is exacerbating the crisis, and their withdrawal will accelerate all-inclusive political settlement," the Somalis said in a joint statement.

Hundt, however, said that neither Somalia's fragile transitional government nor the presence of Ethiopian troops has much impact on the ICRC's operation in Somalia. He urged all parties to the conflict "to respect rules."

He said there is no safe place in Somalia, either for Somalis or foreign aid workers.

"The best place, as I'm speaking now, can be the worst place tomorrow," he said.

Somalia, a poverty-stricken nation of 7 million people, has been in anarchy since warlords overthrew dictator Mohamed Siad Barre in 1991 and then turned on one another. A transitional government was formed in 2004 but remains fragile.