Climate-related
displacement and food insecurity is not a future possibility, but it
is already happening and it’s only projected to worsen without
urgent action in coming years.
“UNHCR
and humanitarian partners fear that severe climatic conditions
combined with armed conflict and protracted displacement could push
the country into a far bigger humanitarian emergency,” said UNHCR
spokesperson Babar Baloch. “People who are already displaced
because of conflict and violence are also affected by the drought, at
times disproportionally,” Baloch added.
As
a result of below average rains and a worsening drought, an estimated
5.4 million people are likely to be food insecure by September in
many parts of the Horn of Africa nation. Of those, over two million
will be in severe conditions and in need of immediate emergency
assistance.
The
drought has also forced nearly 50,000 people to flee their homes in
search of food, water, and aid. More than 7,000 were displaced last
month alone.
According
to UNHCR, weather-related hazards such as storms, droughts, and
wildfires displaced 16.1 million people in 2018. Climate-related
crises are only expected to occur with greater frequency across the
world. UNHCR called on more
international action to prevent climate-related disasters, increase
efforts to strengthen resilience, and protect those already affected
by climate change.
The
world’s 10 most under reported displacement crises— which have
rendered millions of people homeless– have continued to worsen due
either to political neglect, a shortage of funds or lack of media
attention, according to a new report released by the Norwegian
Refugee Council (NRC).
NRC
Secretary-General Jan Egeland says humanitarian assistance should be
given based on needs– and needs alone. However, every day millions
of displaced people are neglected because they have been struck by
the wrong crisis and the dollars have dried up.
The
countries faced with displacement crises last year were largely in
Africa, with Cameroon heading the list, followed by the Democratic
Republic of Congo (DRC), the Central African Republic, Burundi, Mali,
Libya and Ethiopia. The remaining three, according to the NRC, were
Ukraine, Venezuela and Palestine.
Singling
out Cameroon, Egeland said the international community is asleep at
the wheel when it comes to the crisis in Cameroon. Brutal killings,
burned-down villages and massive displacement have been met with
deafening silence. He said conflict has so far uprooted half a
million people in South-West and North-West Cameroon. Hundreds of
villages have been set ablaze. Hospitals have been attacked. Health
workers fear being abducted or killed. Over 780,000 children have
seen their schools close and thousands of people, currently hiding in
the bushes, have received no humanitarian relief. Still there has
been no major mediation efforts, no large relief programmes, minimal
media interest and too little pressure on parties to stop attacking
civilians. According to NRC, the crisis in Cameroon has its root in
the country’s troubled colonial history. After World War One, the
former German colony was split between a French and British mandate.
The country has now both English and French as official languages,
but people in the English-speaking parts have been feeling
increasingly marginalized, NRC said. And in 2016, civilians took to
the streets, and a heavy crackdown by security forces led to
widespread violence and the formation of armed opposition groups.
“This
culture of paralysis by the international community has to end. Every
day the conflict is allowed to continue, bitterness is building and
the region edges closer towards full-blown war,” said Egeland, who
recently visited the central African country. “This
depressing list must serve as a wake-up call for all of us. Only by
drawing attention to these crises, learning about them and placing
them high on the international agenda, can we achieve much needed
change,” Egeland said.
NRC’s
Tiril Skarstein told IPS: “We believe that the international
community is not doing enough to solve these crises. The lack of
political will to find solutions to these crises is often a result of
lack of geopolitical interests in the area.”
However,
he pointed out, there are also some countries on the list where
several world powers have competing interests, leading to a deadlock
and a lack of political solutions for people on the ground,–like
for example in Palestine and Ukraine. Asked if the shortfall in
funding is due to neglect on the part of Western donors or domestic
economic and financial constraints within donor nations, he said
humanitarian assistance should be given based on needs alone. Still,
it is easier to attract humanitarian funding to some crises than
others. Often, “ we see a close link between the amount of media
attention a crisis receives and the amount of humanitarian funding.
Some of the crises at the neglected crises list were less than 40
percent funded last year.”
Last year, only about 60 percent of the total humanitarian appeals by
UN and partner organizations were funded.
“This
means that we need all donors to increase their humanitarian support
so that we can meet the actual humanitarian needs, and we also need
new donors, including several emerging economies, to step up.”
Asked
why these crises were affecting mostly African nations, compared to
Asian and Latin American nations, Skarstein told IPS “unfortunately,
the crises on the African continent seldom make media headlines or
reach foreign policy agendas before it is too late.” The lack of
funding and political attention has devastating consequences for the
civilians who receive neither protection against attacks, nor the
necessary relief when they have had to flee their homes in search of
safety, he argued. Most of those who flee head towards neighboring
countries or are displaced within their own country. “However, the
fact that most of these people do not turn up at our doorsteps here
in Europe, for example, does not remove our responsibility to act,”
he noted.
Dr
Martin Scott, from the University of East Anglia, UK, and lead author
of a recent report into The
State of Humanitarian Journalism, told IPS although reports like
this are an important first step in raising the profile of these
crises – but it is not enough to simply lament the lack of
coverage.
“What’s
needed is a clear-headed assessment of why these displacement crises
receive so little coverage. Partly, it’s a reflection of the broken
business models of most international journalism – which means news
outlets often struggle to provide consistent coverage of real public
value,” he argued. But it is also a reflection of the political
priorities of powerful countries – which news outlets often
reflect, Dr Scott added. These reports, he pointed out, also draw
attention to what’s not working, in general, within international
journalism.
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