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John O’Shea, EurAsia Bulletin, Vol 10, no 7&8, July-Aug 2006
The earthquake on 8th October in Kashmir, Pakistan which left 80,000 dead and nearly 4 million people without shelter, was the latest major disaster to have shone an unforgiving light on the failure of the international community to respond in the wake of humanitarian crisis.
As the international humanitarian aid agency – GOAL - wraps up operations in Kashmir Pakistan after 11 months of post-earthquake emergency relief, the need for improving the capacity of the international community to respond to major disasters in a coordinated way remains critical.
The year 2005 saw a succession of humanitarian disasters on a scale rarely witnessed – the Asian tsunami, the food crisis in Niger, and the floods in New Orleans. As each succession of humanitarian disasters unfolded, wounded and traumatised people went untreated and survivors often had no option but to wait agonising weeks for aid and shelter. In some cases delays in getting assistance to those in their time of need spelt the difference between life and death - the reality for the voiceless poor and vulnerable, and a fact which runs counter to the values professed by the United Nations, the agency established to protect the most vulnerable in our world.
It seems the international community has yet to learn and digest any lessons from man made and natural tragedies which have traumatised large sections of the world’s population over the past 30 years. That the current ad hoc nature of crisis response has failed the world’s vulnerable is beyond dispute. The complexity of today’s crises, and the growing magnitude of disasters, requires that humanitarian assistance remain one of the international community’s highest priorities.
While the establishment of the UN’s new funding arrangement, the Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF), is a step in the right direction in enabling the UN to respond more quickly and effectively, it falls far short of the requisite powerful coalition of rescue and evacuation professionals.
A standing fire brigade-style force to respond immediately to natural disasters, is needed to commence emergency strategies as soon as a crisis is identified, operating in an international environment and cooperating multilaterally. The purpose is to provide robust and credible high readiness capability who can deploy quickly and participate in the full spectrum of crisis missions wherever required. Had such a force been in place during the past thirty years, millions of lives could have been saved.
It goes without saying that the army are best placed to fill the roles of the Rapid Response Force on account of their training, skills, manpower, equipment: they’re highly prepared, technologically advanced and capable of being deployed quickly and whenever needed. These troops would be able to work in a coordinated way with, and alongside, NGOs on the ground, safeguarding and facilitating the delivery of humanitarian assistance, to minimise the suffering of an already traumatised people.
In the absence of such a force, NATO was forced to fill the void in the wake of the destruction wreaked by Kashmir’s earthquake. But the relief operation was slow to start; It was not until 18 days after the disaster occurred that NATO deployed 1,000 troops to the Pakistan earthquake theatre of operations.
Logistics is often the linchpin in disaster response, and managing the logistical
nightmares each crisis situation throws up– moving people, water, food, medical supplies and equipment to save lives and communities. Getting help to people in need is critical and for this a smooth supply chain is needed, which forms part of the army’s training, ideally placing them for such a job. Anecdotal evidence suggests that when such disasters occur, security systems typically break down and lawlessness erupts. The first effect of the earthquake in the Pakistani town of Muzaffarabad for example was widespread looting – just as in New Orleans in July 2005. Relief aid is undermined unless those who would help the victims can monopolise the use of force – requiring troops to effectively manage the situation.
While each new emergency evokes great governmental willingness to respond to crisis, each such effort starts from scratch, involving recurring problems of overlapping and duplication of national and international emergency aid and reconstruction.
Take the potential supply route from the Poonch district on the Indian side of Kashmir to one of the worst quake-affected locations on the opposite side of the Line of Control in Pakistan. Unlike the mountainous and difficult Pakistani routes that aid agencies were forced to use, this route was almost flat, blocked only by bureaucracy. Had an independent rapid response force with military capabilities and the power to override local government in times of emergency been in place from the beginning, aid could have been quickly sent across the Line of Control from the Indian side.
Consequently much needed emergency supplies and materials to shield survivors from the frozen elements of the winter were held up and delayed by bureaucracy. An established military-based rapid response force would have ironed out such problems and avoided the teething problems which typically plague the first few weeks of emergency operations, thereby ensuring the most needy get assistance immediately.
Kashmir was one of the most difficult challenges ever faced by the international community, and in the absence of a standing international brigade, once again the job fell to over-stretched and under-funded aid agencies, like GOAL. While the international community’s response mechcanism was found wanting, organisations like GOAL did their utmost to reach as many of those in greatest need.
Within days of the Kashmir earthquake, the GAOL emergency team was on the ground providing life-saving assistance for those in dire need, ensuring that basic shelter and food were provided in the Bagh region of Pakistan where 90% of infrastructure was completely destroyed. With the onset of the harsh Himalayan winter, the emergency shelter programme, with funding from the Irish Government, distributed thousands of winterised tents, blankets and sleeping bags, as well as multi-purpose materials used as insulation for shelters to over 10,000 families. Door-to-door assessments ensured that all vulnerable people in GOAL’s area of operations had emergency shelter.
Survivors were helped through a difficult winter with the provision of food (flour, wheat, pulses, oil, salt and high energy biscuits) and non food items (including hygiene kits, jerry cans, cooking pots, cups and quilts). Roads posed the biggest threat to getting the food to the vulnerable - the rain caused numerous landslides and road shoulders to fall away. Some 10,000 families received vouchers of $100 dollars each so that they could supplement their shelter kits with items of their choice.
Before the earthquake struck, few residents knew their homes sat on unsafe ground. They rarely included structural bracing for walls and roofs and often erected walls from round uncut stones packed with mud. These structures tumbled easily when the earth shook. With roofs supported by heavy timber beams, the 8,100 plus who died in Bagh district alone had little chance to escape as their walls – and lives – tumbled down around them.
As reconstruction continues, increasing awareness of earthquake-resistant building practices grows critical. To redress this need, GOAL organised several workshops to teach communities how to improve basic shelter, as they rebuild their communities from scratch. Hundreds of key groups from local communities (self-builders and contractors and master) have been trained to increase their awareness of earthquake-resistant techniques so that all programmes can continue after GOAL leaves.
Craftsmen learned the causes of earthquakes, how to select the proper site for a home and to safely align a structure on that site. The second day of the workshop was devoted to timber construction, the third to masonry and the fourth to reinforced concrete construction. This continuum ensured that workers developed a well-rounded understanding of safe practices. Host communities offered trainers a large, flat site with visibility from a main road so that earthquake-safe models erected during the workshops remained standing for others to study.
With funding from the U. S. Agency for International Development, the GOAL team also increased the production capacity of hundreds of carpenters by providing them with tools and training, so that they could go on to assist their communities with shelter construction and schools rehabilitation. These craftsmen who previously completed a GOAL training workshop in earthquake-resistant design, in turn trained others to build the structures.
An estimated 450,000 school children lost their schools in the earthquake. Since the arrival of spring, GOAL has been able to assist 180 schools in Bagh return to temporary school buildings and recommence education, so that 40,000 school children will be able to return to their education after a traumatic disruption.
As Pakistani Kashmir is traditionally a poor area, little machinery is available to clear rubble and several sites were not cleared until a couple of months had passed. GOAL helped the local authorities to rebuild the main towns by providing mechanical equipment, and cash-for-work programmes encouraged local communities to clear rubble from roads and drains, by paying them a wage. This gave survivors flexibility to address their own needs, while stimulating the local economy.
The establishment of a rapid response force would have undoubtedly made a serious difference to the logistics of the disaster clean-up. The onus is on European countries and other nations to significantly enhance and strengthen the UN’s emergency relief assistance, and facilitate improved coordination with the wider humanitarian aid community. This would see the UN for the first time in history offer a rapid, comprehensive, internationally legitimate response to crisis, enabling it to speed up the deployment of resources and stimulate post-disaster development, saving hundreds of thousands of lives and billions of dollars through early and often preventive action.
Until such a time as we have an international rapid-response force, capable of rushing into a beleaguered area at a moment's notice and delivering life-saving assistance, the fall-out of disasters such as the Kashmir earthquake will continue to wreak havoc and inflict further suffering on the distraught. When will the lessons be learnt?
John O’Shea is CEO of GOAL, a relief and development NGO, which is operational in 13 developing countries (Sudan, Uganda, DRC, Ethiopia, Kenya, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Malawi, Niger, Sierra Leone, Sri Lanka, India, and Honduras.
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