Aung Kyaw Moe / Task

Task 4 - Humanitarian Aid and Supply Chain

Memo

To: Francois Damba

From
rom: Aung
Aung Kyaw
Kyaw Moe
Moe
Date: 28 May 2013

RE:
RE: TASK
TASK 4 – HUMA
HUMANI
NITA
TARI
RIAN
AN AID
AID SUP
SUPPL
PLY
Y CHA
CHAIN
IN

There are various humanitarian actors working in Betaland. All of them are
scrutinized here very briefly and also reflecting what are the opportunities with them
for SCILaid Betaland.

Government in Betaland

To provide humanitarian aid in the emergency situation is the major responsibility of 
any government, whether it may be a local, district or national government. In this
case, a government may play different roles as follows:

• As the sole provider of humanitarian aid

• As the decision-maker deciding to call for outside international organizations
for help or to help with sufficient available resources locally obtained
• As the host-country to all external humanitarian organizations
• As the co-ordinator of programmes in different sectors
• As the main supporter of military infrastructures such as vehicles and
telecommunication network 

UN Agencies in Betaland

UN Agencies are the international bodies operating according to a mandate that is

given by the UN General Assembly.

The following is taken from the UN website www.un.org :‘Since it first coordinated
humanitarian relief operations in Europe following the devastation and
massive displacement of people in the Second World War, the United Nations has
 been relied on by the international community to respond to natural and man made
disasters that are beyond the capacity of national authorities alone. Today the
Organisation is a major provider of emergency relief and longer-term assistance, a
 catalyst for action by governments and relief agencies, and an advocate on behalf of 
 people struck by emergencies.

The United Nations has been engaged on two fronts. On one hand it has sought to
 bring immediate relief to the victims, primarily through its operational agencies, on
the other hand it has sought more effective strategies to prevent emergencies from
arising in the first place’. There are a number of specific UN agencies that have
specific mandates to work in humanitarian action.

UNIRP

UNIRP’s chief mandate is to lead and coordinate international action for the world-
wide protection of refugees and the resolution of refugee problems. UNIRP tries to
make sure that everyone has the right to seek asylum and find safe refuge in another 
state, and to return one’s home country voluntarily.

UNIRP involved with the other groups of Humanitarian Organizations which is fully
authorized by its Executive Committee and the UN General Assembly. IDPs
(internally displaced persons) and the people who are stateless or whose nationality is
disputed, are included in the program of relief aid by UNIRP.

UNIRP encourages states and other institutions to reduce the forced displacement of 
the people, to create conditions which are conducive to the protection of human rights
and to consolidate the reintegration of returning refugees in their country of origin.

UNIRP’s core value is Impartiality since it protects and assists to refugees and others
in an impartial manner, on the basis of their need alone. It pays particular attention to
the needs of children and promotes the equal rights of women and girls. UNIRP fully
implies the principle of participation by helping refugees on decisions that affect their 
lives.

Opportunities for SCILaid

UNIRP provides money and goods to SCILaid and SCILaid is implementing relief 
 program in accordance with the principle of Impartiality and involvement of targeted
 beneficiaries.

United Nations Food Aid (UNFA)

Another international Humanitarian Organizations that is helping SCILaid is The

United Nations Food Aid (UNFA) which is the food aid arm of the United Nations
system. Eradicating hunger and poverty is the main objectives of UNFA. It seeks to
help to improve the lives of the poorest people - people who, either permanently or 
during crisis periods, are unable to produce enough food or do not have the resources
to otherwise obtain the food that they and their households require for active and
healthy lives.
In the light of the principle of  Universality, UNFA will apply food aid to support
economic and social development. Moreover, it seeks to response refugee and other 
emergency food needs and the associated logistics support

The core policies and strategies that govern UNFA activities are to provide food aid:

• To save lives in refugee and other emergency situations;

• To improve the nutrition and quality of life of the most vulnerable people at
critical times in their lives; and
• To help build assets and promote the self-reliance of poor people and
communities, particularly through labour-intensive works programmes.

UNFA’s view is that food aid is essential for all humanitarian relief activities. It is
inherently linked up with the development activities. Therefore, the provision of relief 
food aid will be coordinated with the relief assistance provided by other humanitarian
organisations. Another thing is that food aid is a fundamental investment in the
development human resources. Food can be utilized to use poor labour in order to
create employment and income and to build the infrastructure essential for sustainable
development.

UNFA mainly concentrate on utilizing the available resources what it is best suited to
implement its mandates in a cost-effective way. UNFA also manages to avoid
negative effects on local food production, consumption patterns and dependency on
food aid. Not only food but transport and logistics expertise were provided by UNFA
and assistance to ensure rapid and efficient delivery of humanitarian aid.

UNFA is keeping the principle of  Neutrality in aid assistance since it take advantage
of its capability to operate almost everywhere in the developing world, regardless of 
the political orientations of governments, and to maintain a neutral stance for 
assistance in situations where many donor countries could not directly provide
assistance.

Opportunities for SCILaid

UNFA is the main provider of food items to SCILaid Betaland .

United Nations Protection Fund (UNPF)

United Nations Protection Fund (UNPF) is working for the protection of children's
rights their basic needs and helping to actualize their opportunities to reach their full
 potential.

Under the guidance of the Convention on the Rights of the Child UNPF strives to
establish children's rights as enduring ethical principles and international standards of 
 behaviour towards children.

UNPF based such value as the survival, protection and development of children for 
the sake of universal development imperatives that are integral to human progress.
UNPF is providing special protection for the most disadvantaged children - victims of 
war, disasters, extreme poverty, all forms of violence and exploitation and those with
disabilities. Coordinating with the other United Nations partners and humanitarian
agencies, UNPF initiates rapid response available to its partners to relieve the
suffering of children and those who provide their care.
UNPF gives priority to the most disadvantaged children and the countries in greatest
need because its approach is non-partisan and its cooperation is based on the principle
of discrimination.

The major aim of UNPF is to promote the equal rights of women and girls and to
support their full participation in such different sectors of life as the political, social,
and economic development of their communities.

Opportunities for SCILaid

UNPF can be a potential implementing partner for SCILaid Betaland because in the
refugee camps at the border areas, there can be some issues of child right abuse and
oppression of women. UNPF is a major player and a flagship that is fighting for the
right and protection of women and children.

The International Committee of Humanitarian relief (ICHR)

The International Committee of Humanitarian relief (ICHR) is an international

organization based on the principles of impartiality, neutrality and independence. Its
major contribution to the field of humanitarian aids is to protect the lives and dignity
of victims of war and internal violence and to provide them with assistance.

The ICHR ensure the enforcement and respect for international humanitarian law by
means of minimizing the dangers to which people are exposed, preventing or putting a
stop to violations committed against them, upholding their rights, making their voices
heard and providing them with support. The ICHR mainly works for the protection of 
civilians and prisoners/detainees (detention).

ICHR’s main programs comprise the following sectors: Health and Nutrition,
economic security, water and sanitation, access to food (food security) and hygiene
education. It also promote the international humanitarian law for enforcement of using
force with restraints and it trains and lobbies the armed forces. There is an essential
 part of the ICHR's preventive work which is a mine and Explosive Remnants of War 
(ERW) awareness programme. This programme can help to reduce casualties caused
 by mines and explosive remnants of war (ERW).

Opportunities for SCILaid

ICHR can be a strong partner of SCILaid for the following areas of humanitarian aids
activities:

• Health Care and Hygiene Education

• Food Security

• Education for children

 • Raising awareness of Mine and Explosives

NGOs in Betaland

There are two main types of NGOs. They are:

• International NGOs working in the international field.
• Local NGOs working in their own country.

 NGO have their own rules, their own charter, code of conduct, ethics etc., but they are
not mandated by any officially recognised body to act in particular aid situations or 
activities.

Poverty Relief International (PRI)

Poverty Relief International (PRI) is working for both long-term development, and
emergency work. Its other activities include research and campaigning for a fairer 
world. PRI works on a broad range of issues, including trade, conflict, debt and aid,
and education.

This organization is working for humanitarian aids project for over 60 years. In the
domain of water and sanitation programs, PRI’s water engineers are very professional
for providing large scale water supplies in the most difficult areas.

PRI is also very active in lobbying to change the international policies and practices
and it takes a leading role for ensuring the poor to have their rights and opportunities.

PRI is famous for its campaign and building of alliance with the other humanitarian
actors. For the sake of raising public awareness, it strongly designs and utilizes the
Media available.

PRI’s right based approach consists of the 5 main basic rights

• Right to sustainable livelihood

• Right to basic social services

• Right to life and security

• Right to be heard

• Right to have an identity

Opportunities for SCILaid

The common area of interest between PRI and SCILaid is that of water and sanitation
supply. There are able water and sanitation experts working with PRI and they can
 provide a very strong technical assistance and transfer of technical know-how for the
implementing programme of SCILaid in Betaland .

Emergency Health Relief (EHR)

Emergency Health Relief (EHR) is an international NGO which is an independent

medical humanitarian organisation that delivers emergency aid to people affected by
armed conflict, epidemics, natural or man-made disasters, or exclusion from health
care in more than 70 countries.

In its more than 3000 missions, EHR can employ volunteer doctors, nurses,
logisticians, water-and-sanitation experts, administrators, and other medical and non-
medical professionals. More than 20,000 locally hired staff are helping these
 professionals to provide medical care.

EHR provides a variety of health related services such as rehabilitation and running of 
hospitals and clinics, performing surgery, battles epidemics, and implementation of 
vaccination campaigns. It also operates feeding centers for malnourished children, and
offers mental health care. EHR treats patients with infectious diseases such as
tuberculosis, sleeping sickness, and HIV/AIDS, and provides medical and
 psychological care to marginalised groups such as street children.
In the area of water supply, EHR also constructs wells and dispenses clean drinking
water, and provides shelter materials like blankets and plastic sheeting.

EHR can mobilize both volunteers and professionals based on independent

assessments of need and volunteer systems and 80% of its funding sources come from
the general public whereas other 20% comes from the various institutional donors.

Opportunities for SCILaid

EHR can help SCILaid in the following sectors:

• Malnutrition treatment for children

• Prevention and Care of infectious diseases

• Counselling and caring of Mental health

• Water Supply and Sanitation

Humanitarian Relief Society (HRS)

Humanitarian Relief Society (HRS) is a Betaland nongovernmental Organisation.

HRS's programmes address needs in the principal areas of food, security and
agriculture as well as health and HIV/AIDS.
HRS also supports water resource development, environmental management, basic
education, micro enterprise development and emergency humanitarian aid.

HRS is working in close collaboration with Betaland concerned authorities. For 

example the HIV/AIDS programme is done under the coordination of Betaland
Ministry of Health.

HRS's HIV/AIDS Initiative promotes prevention through basic HIV/AIDS

information and counselling; education on topics such as gender inequity, cross-
generational and transactional sex, life skills, and stigma reduction; and techniques
ranging from peer education to creative uses of drama.

Opportunities for SCILaid

HRS can be a future partner of SCILaid for the projects that alleviate the problems
generated by HIV/AIDS. It can be a main source of resources in terms of prevention
and treating HIV and Opportunistic Infections suffered by the AIDs patients.

Donors in Betaland

Without funding, the provision of humanitarian aid and all the activities associated
with it could not be actualized. Donors therefore play a key role in providing the
funds, or gifts in kind (goods or services donated free of charge). The organisations
involved in providing aid are relying on the money provided by these donors to
maintain the ongoing running costs. Donors also give money and gifts in kind needed
to provide development aid or to respond to a disaster situation and they also provide
funds for specific use or may leave it to the aid organisation to decide how to use the
funds.

There are 2 Institutional donors working in Betaland .

The Humanitarian Aid Agency's (HAA)

The only institutional donor that provides funding to SCILaid is The Humanitarian
Aid Agency's (HAA). HAA is a donor organization that ensure goods and services
including essential supplies, specific foodstuffs, medical equipment, medicines and
fuel to get to crisis zones fast. Services may include medical teams, water purification
teams and logistical support. Using the help of its partners, HAA is able to mobilize
Goods and services to the disaster areas.

More than 85 countries in the world received humanitarian aid funding from HAA. Its
grants cover emergency aid, food aid and aid to refugees and displaced persons, worth
a total of more than € 500 million per year.

HAA addresses the following issues more than just fund humanitarian aid:

• Feasibility studies for its humanitarian operations.

• Monitoring humanitarian projects and setting up coordination arrangements.
• Coordinates disaster prevention measures by training specialists, strengthening
institutions and running pilot micro-projects.
 • Provision of technical assistance to the partners.
• Raising public awareness about humanitarian issues through actions carried
out directly by HAA in order to promote the awareness of humanitarian aid.
• Provision of financial support for network and training study initiatives in the
humanitarian field.

HAA demands the absolute transparency so it has strict procedures to ensure that
 public money is used with efficiency. The Humanitarian Organizations which receive
HAA funding have to adhere strictly to these rules and are accountable for the
resources allocated to them by HAA.

Opportunities for SCILaid

SCILaid have had a 3 month contract with HAA, which is now being extended for 
another 6 months. So far, in term of operation, the donors are quite satisfied with the
operational reply, but again, they are still waiting for the last report from Homeland.

The Global Aid Agency (GAA)

Being a part of the Government, GAA manages aid to poor countries and works to get rid of extreme poverty.
GAA is headed by one of the senior ministers in the Government. This shows that the way the Government sees
reducing poverty around the world is much important.

GAA is participating in the process of fighting against hunger and poverty in a global
scale. One fifth of the whole mankind is very poor and it shows the worse effect in the
rate of U5 children mortality which is 10 millions annually. 113 millions children are
not learning in the schools. Poverty is also the main cause of war, political conflicts,
crimes, illegal drug trafficking and spread of the contagious diseases. GAA is working
for the global plan of reduction of poverty to its half at 2015.

The main values GAA enshrine are :

 ambition and determination to eliminate poverty

 diversity and the need to balance work and private life
 ability to work effectively with others
 desire to listen, learn and be creative
 professionalism and knowledge

Opportunities for SCILaid

GAA can provide funding and in kind donation to SCILaid for fighting against
hunger, disease and poverty in Betaland.

Best Regards,

Aung Kyaw Moe