Emergency response in the 21st century
Examining the challenges – political, moral and logistical – of delivering fast and efficient aid to people in emergency situations.
What’s the problem?
When there are disasters, the way governments respond can mean the difference between life and death. Compare the Chinese government’s quick response to the Sichuan earthquake with the official denial and neglect that sees a million people in Myanmar’s (Burma’s) Irrawaddy delta still without help many weeks after Cyclone Nargis.
Think differently
Disasters cause horrific loss of life. But sometimes they also create political aftershocks that can either benefit or harm populations in the future. The way governments treat their people in these worst of times can lead citizens to rise up and demand change. Governments that respond ineptly, steal aid money, or only help their elites come under scrutiny. And not just in developing countries – look at the response in the USA to the incompetent handling of Hurricane Katrina.
For governments and organisations that provide aid to countries hit by disaster, this raises important questions.
What needs to happen?
Aid needs to be delivered in ways that help promote equality and reduce poverty in the longer term. In the aftermath of the Asian tsunami in 2004, aid programmes that incorporated strengthening women’s rights into the equation have seen great progress on women’s ability to earn a living for themselves. But these decisions aren’t easy to take quickly, in the heat of the rush to provide much-needed aid to save lives immediately.
And aid organisations need to remain impartial so governments allow them to do their life-saving work. If they start promoting massive political change – they’ll be thrown out of the country. Working with partner organisations that campaign for people’s rights is possible, but aid providers walk a tricky tightrope between the need for impartiality and wanting to capitalise on the potential for post-disaster improvements to people’s lives.
More analysis and debate on this topic on FP2P.org
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