Natural disasters need a rapid
response unit - now
The Belfast Telegraph, March 30th,
2010
by John O'Shea
THROUGHOUT my 32 years activity
as a pro-active humanitarian, a perpetual source of frustration
to me has been the unnecessary extra suffering and loss of life
that invariably occurs in the aftermath of disasters – largely
because of the absence of a speedy, co-ordinated response from the
international community.
Haiti is a recent prime example, where it took more than a week
to get vital aid distribution and medical intervention organised
and underway, but it is far from the only one.
The same has been true to a greater or lesser extent of every major
catastrophe that I can remember.
From the genocides in Rwanda and Cambodia to the earthquake in Kashmir
and the south-east Asian tsunami, human suffering and the final
death toll were increased, often dramatically, by failure to intercede
early enough, and in a properly organised fashion.
It is essential that we address this.
A multi-national rapid response body must
be formed that is capable of despatching expert assistance immediately
to the scene of a humanitarian crisis.
Such a body, comprised for example of doctors, nurses, logicians,
engineers and search-and-rescue experts, would be trained specifically
in emergency response, and be ready at all times to travel swiftly
to any part of the world. It would in essence act as a world fire-bridge,
equipped to deal with any emergency, and augmented by military support
where necessary, such as in a war zone or a genocide situation.
If we are serious about relief, then needless bureaucracy, political
niceties, or aggressive posturing cannot be allowed stand in the
way of bringing aid and assistance to those who need it.
It seems ludicrous that we can despatch, under the auspices of the
United Nations, multi-national peace-keepers and peace enforcers
to any part of the world – at the drop of a hat, seemingly
– but cannot provide anything like that same organised emergency
response to the innocent victims of a catastrophe.
It is indeed disgraceful that no serious consideration has ever
been given to the formation of a body for that purpose.
The principle that applies to a UN peacekeeping force, whereby an
agreed number of military personnel are seconded to the UN by individual
nations for speedy despatch to wherever needed, could quite easily
be adopted, or slightly adapted if necessary, to create a world
“fire bridge” such as I have outlined.
As things stand at the moment, we are far
too reliant on voluntary intervention by individual governments,
NGOs and missionary groups.
All of these have of course a vital role
to play in emergency response, but on their own will always fall
well short of what is required.
Autonomous and semi-autonomous bodies should form part of a “second
wave” that follows quickly in the wake of initial intervention
by a dedicated body, which would already have assessed what was
needed, laid plans for its delivery, and allotted specific roles
to other actors.
In Haiti, it was not agencies on the ground that was lacking, but
organisation, planning and overall centralised control.
It was a distinct lack of cohesion that led
to the disgraceful situation that I alluded to above, where the
people of Port-au-Prince were left to fend for themselves for over
a week, until the international relief effort finally began to function
as it should.
The Haiti debacle, and those that have preceded it, will be repeated
time and again, wherever there is a humanitarian crisis, until the
international community finally decides to prepare properly for
these re-occurring human catastrophes.
Failure to form a multi-national rapid response body guarantees
that there will continue to be unnecessary suffering, and lives
lost that
© 2010 The Belfast Telegraph
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