Oxfam Report on Neglected Conflicts
| | News | 18 September 2003 |
|
|
|
International humanitarian agency Oxfam has released a report highlighting the world’s forgotten wars, arguing that while international attention focuses on the eradication of terrorist threats and the occupation of Iraq, millions are suffering every day in more than 40 violent, neglected conflicts worldwide.
Findings
Oxfam distinguishes four trends since 2001, which may have made civilians even more vulnerable than before:
1. Warring parties targeting civilians. Direct attacks on civilians are part of the harsh reality of most conflicts across the globe. From Liberia to Uganda, Chechnya to Colombia, international humanitarian law is not adequately upheld or enforced by the international community, and the suffering of civilians continues unabated. The attention given to the ‘war on terror’ threatens to eclipse this suffering still further, as warring parties carry out their fighting with impunity. And while recent US and UK-led military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan have attempted to minimize the negative impact of their actions on civilians, they have, in Oxfam’s view, failed to uphold the highest standards of international law designed to protect non-combatants.
2. Substantial humanitarian aid for ‘priority’ cases, very little for the rest. Donor governments rapidly donated some US $2bn to postwar Iraq. This represents about $74 per person in need. By contrast, donors only gave $17 per person to the Democratic Republic of Congo, and $7 per person to Indonesia. Looking at the totals donated to emergencies, the difference is striking. The same donors that rapidly came up with the billions for Iraq claim a shortage of funds when failing to respond to the humanitarian appeals for Burundi, Guinea, and the majority of other countries in crisis, although these appeals are looking for just one per cent of the amount of money.
3. Human rights considerations being overridden in the fight against terror. In the year following September 11th 2001, the US government requested some US$ 3.8bn in military aid from Congress to 67 governments to support counter-terrorism, although half of those governments were criticized by the US State Department for their poor human rights records.
4. The independence and impartiality of humanitarian aid under threat. A dangerous precedent is being set by moves by coalition forces to use the military to distribute humanitarian relief in parts of Iraq and Afghanistan. In addition, the draft EU constitution dangerously entangles humanitarian aid with a counter-terrorism agenda. In wars across the world, this infringement of the space for impartial humanitarian action could inhibit the distribution of humanitarian aid on the basis of need. It could even result in aid agencies or the people they assist being targeted for attack.
Recommendations
Oxfam is calling for the UN Security Council and global leaders to galvanize the entire international community to take action more consistently, both to protect civilians and to ensure the impartial delivery of humanitarian aid on the basis of need, rather than political priority.
In particular, Oxfam calls for the following actions:
• The international community - led by the UN Security Council - must develop strategies to engage more consistently with seemingly intractable conflicts to help protect civilians in neglected crises. All possible tools must be made available, including intense diplomacy, support for the negotiation of access for humanitarian aid, and in extreme cases, the contribution of troops to UN-led peacekeeping missions with strong mandates to protect civilians. In addition, governments and the UN should implement new systematic procedures to ensure that they assess how to best protect vulnerable civilians in all crises.
• Governments and warring parties must plan their military tactics to safeguard civilians. Any military action must distinguish between military targets and civilians, and only direct attacks against the former. In any event, all precautions must be taken to minimize harm to civilians, and force used must be proportionate to the military gains anticipated. All warring parties must ensure that free passage is given to humanitarian aid throughout the conflict. All signatories to the Geneva Conventions have an obligation to press others around the world to do the same. They must absolutely refrain from encouraging, tolerating, or arming allies who are committing abuses.
• Donor governments must demonstrate that they are giving humanitarian aid based on need, not on political priority. They must commit to consistent and adequate funding for all emergencies, with a particular emphasis on effectively funding neglected crises. In particular, they must take concrete steps to implement the plan of action from the June 2003 Good Donorship conference, including support for the proposal to develop a system-wide analysis of risk and need as proposed by the UK Overseas Development Institute.
• Governments must at all times recognize and preserve the independent, impartial and civilian character of humanitarian aid. In light of the changing political landscape brought on by the struggle against terrorism, this is critically important as the lines of responsibility between civilian humanitarian actors and those of the military are becoming blurred. In many cases the protection of civilians, the access of communities to humanitarian aid, and the safety of humanitarian aid workers depend upon preserving this distinction between civilians and the military.
• Governments must make increased, sustained, and equitable investment in addressing the causes of forced migration and supporting durable solutions for refugees and asylum seekers. The EU must ensure that these efforts are not reserved for only those countries and regions that are currently the sources of large numbers of asylum seekers. The efforts of Western governments must focus on finding durable solutions for asylum seeking and refugee populations, rather than trying to shrug off their existing commitments.
• Humanitarian agencies - NGOs, the ICRC, and the UN - must constantly strive for quality, accountability, and efficiency in their actions to protect and assist civilians. Building on initiatives such as Sphere and the Humanitarian Accountability Project (HAP), agencies must make concrete steps to ensure impartial delivery of humanitarian assistance, and increased accountability towards the people they seek to assist.
 Source: Oxfam
 Full Report
Press Release
Published on 18 September 2003 by RISQ
© RISQ | www.risq.org
All rights reserved.
4147 reads |
| |
|
| |
|
|
My Headlines | Newsfeeds in your mailbox!
