{"id":73870,"date":"2016-05-23T12:00:39","date_gmt":"2016-05-23T11:00:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/?p=73870"},"modified":"2016-05-20T17:03:46","modified_gmt":"2016-05-20T16:03:46","slug":"we-cannot-keep-jumping-from-crisis-to-crisis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/2016\/05\/we-cannot-keep-jumping-from-crisis-to-crisis\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018We Cannot Keep Jumping from Crisis to Crisis\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"baher-kamal\"<\/a>20 May 2016 <\/em>– \u201cWe cannot keep jumping from crisis to crisis. We have to invest in long-term development that helps people cope with shocks so that they can continue to grow enough food for their communities and not require emergency aid.\u201d<\/p>\n

With this clear warning, Josefina Stubbs, Chief Strategist of the UN\u2019s International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD)<\/a>, has just launched a strong message for leaders who will gather at the World Humanitarian Summit in Istanbul, Turkey next week.<\/p>\n

Recalling that more than 60 million people across the world are reeling from the drought caused by the weather phenomenon known as El Ni\u00f1o, Stubbs warns, \u201cThe demand for emergency assistance cannot keep up with the supply.\u201d<\/p>\n

Climate change is causing more extreme weather events and natural disasters resulting in an average displacement of 22.5 million people a year \u2013 equivalent to 62,000 people every day, says IFAD.<\/p>\n

\"Josefina<\/a>

Josefina Stubbs, IFAD’s Chief Development Strategist, visits an IFAD-funded program in Guatemala\u2019s Verapaces region, Arminda Cruz. The micro-irrigation project is improving the livelihoods and food security of thousands of smallholder farmers, especially women, in the country. Credit: IFAD<\/p><\/div>\n

This movement of people can lead to local and regional instability. And when people are pushed away from rural areas and farming, it can threaten the food security of entire countries, it adds.<\/p>\n

\u201cPoor people in developing countries are disproportionately affected by disasters because they do not have the resources to cope with the impacts and bounce back,\u201d says IFAD\u2019s Associate Vice-President and Chief Strategist.<\/p>\n

People Are Not waiting for Hand-Outs<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cThese people are not waiting for hand-outs. They are looking for opportunities to keep earning incomes even in the face of disasters. Our focus should be on creating these opportunities.\u201d<\/p>\n

The current El Ni\u00f1o drought has had a catastrophic effect on crops around the world causing almost 32 million people in southern Africa alone to go hungry.<\/p>\n

\"Credit:<\/a>

Credit: International Fund for Agricultural Development \u2013 IFAD<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cThis number is expected to rise to 49 million by the end of the year. The UN estimates that at least 3.6 billion dollars is required to meet emergency needs resulting from this drought. Less than half of this has been provided.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ethiopia is the worst hit in Africa, with 75 per cent of its harvests lost and emergency food assistance required for at least ten million people. IFAD has been working with small-scale farmers in the country for more than a decade to make them more resilient to the impacts of drought.<\/p>\n

With investments in irrigation, water-harvesting techniques and early warning systems, and training in sustainable water usage, none of these communities have required any food aid during the current drought, says this UN agency, which since 1978 has provided about 17.7 billion dollars in grants and low-interest loans to projects that have reached some 459 million people.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt IFAD we have seen that building resilience to disasters does work and saves communities from suffering,\u201d says Stubbs. \u201cBut there has to be a global commitment to invest in long-term development.\u201d<\/p>\n

Changing Climate, Scarcity of Natural Resources<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cThe changing climate and the increasing scarcity of natural resources are also impacting the already precarious situation of the estimated 60 million people who have been forcibly displaced by conflict.\u201d<\/p>\n

Long-term investments are urgently needed to stimulate the economies of the rural areas of host countries where the majority of refugees live.<\/p>\n

IFAD is an international financial institution and a specialised United Nations agency based in Rome \u2013 the UN\u2019s food and agriculture hub. It invests in rural people, empowering them to reduce poverty, increase food security, improve nutrition and strengthen resilience.<\/p>\n

The first-ever World Humanitarian Summit<\/a> takes place on 23 and 24 May and originates from a growing concern about the protracted nature of recent humanitarian crises and the limited capacity of the global community to respond to them.<\/p>\n

\"Credit:<\/a>

Credit: International Fund for Agricultural Development \u2013 IFAD<\/p><\/div>\n

Some 6,000 world leaders and humanitarian and development agencies will gather in Istanbul to make commitments to help countries better prepare for and respond to crises.<\/p>\n

\u201cHuman suffering from the impacts of armed conflicts and disasters has reached staggering levels,\u201d the United Nations Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon, portrayed the current humanitarian drama, explaining why the UN has decided to hold the WHS.<\/p>\n

For his part, in an interview<\/a> to IPS, the UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator (OCHA)<\/a>, Stephen O\u2019Brien, said \u201cEvery humanitarian crisis is inherently unique and context-specific.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHowever, taken together, there are 125 million people in need of aid in the world today as a result of conflicts and natural disasters and over 60 million people have been forcibly displaced. These are the highest numbers we have on record since WWII,\u201d O\u2019Brien told IPS.<\/p>\n

It is not about one humanitarian crisis, but multiple crises happening at the same time, from the crisis in Syria and the region to the impact of El Ni\u00f1o, which currently affects 60 million people in the world, O\u2019Brien said.<\/p>\n

Herve Verhoosel, WHS spokesperson, wrote<\/a> in an editorial for IPS \u201cWe are experiencing a human catastrophe on a titanic scale: 125 million in dire need of assistance, over 60 million people forcibly displaced, and 218 million people affected by disasters each year for the past two decades.\u201d<\/p>\n

More than 20 billion dollars is needed to aid the 37 countries currently affected by disasters and conflicts. Unless immediate action is taken, 62 percent of the global population\u2013 nearly two-thirds of all of us- could be living in what is classified as fragile situations by 2030,\u201d Verhoosel stressed.<\/p>\n

Time and time again we heard that our world is at a tipping point. Today these words are truer than ever before, he wrote, and added, \u201cThe situation has hit home. We are slowly understanding that none of us is immune to the ripple effects of armed conflicts and natural disasters.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re coming face to face with refugees from war-torn nations and witnessing first-hand the consequences of global warming in our own backyards. We see it, we live it, and we can no longer deny it.\u201d<\/p>\n

_____________________________________<\/p>\n

Baher Kamal, Egyptian-born, Spanish national secular journalist. He is founder and publisher of\u00a0<\/em>Human Wrongs Watch<\/a>. Kamal is a pro-peace, non-violence, human rights, harmonious coexistence defender among human beings and with Nature, with more than 43 years of professional experience. With these issues in sight, he covered practically all professional posts, from correspondent to chief editor of dailies and international news agencies.<\/em><\/p>\n

Go to Original \u2013 ipsnews.net<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

20 May 2016 – \u201cWe cannot keep jumping from crisis to crisis. We have to invest in long-term development that helps people cope with shocks so that they can continue to grow enough food for their communities and not require emergency aid.\u201d — Josefina Stubbs, Chief Strategist of the UN\u2019s International Fund for Agricultural Development message to the World Humanitarian Summit in Istanbul.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[203],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-73870","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-development"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/73870","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=73870"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/73870\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=73870"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=73870"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=73870"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}