After twenty years do you think there are better systems in place for aid?
Absolutely. A lot of work has gone to improving systems and how aid
agencies operate. Various codes and best practice guidelines, such as
the International Red Cross Code of Conduct, SPHERE, People In Aid have
been developed over the years to assist, guide and regulate how
international aid agencies work. Within Concern itself we have developed
a Rapid Deployment Unit of skilled professionals that can be called
upon with 24 hours notice to respond to any new emergency. This team
is backed up with a wide range of prepositioned supplies to ensure
effective and immediate delivery of essential aid. Our work is not just
emergency response but is increasingly is focused on emergency
preparedness, in other words working with local communities who live in
high risk environments to develop their capacity to cope with
natural disasters, be they local farmers in Bangladesh faced with
annual flooding or villages in Central America exposed to frequent
hurricanes or earthquakes.
It's also true there is a lot more accountability amongst organizations and
that is a good strength. It is, in fact, an area that Concern has always
adhered to, in ensuring value for money and effectiveness. Through the
application of professional accounting standards and practices in our
management of funds, Concern demonstrates clearly its financial
accountability to both its donors and project beneficiaries.
There is a lot of co-operation between agencies, UN and non-governmental
agencies in times of emergencies.
We can always improve even more in the distribution of aid. And we don't just do it alone, but Concern actively coordinates with
other international aid agencies, the donors and the United Nations in
developing and enhancing the effectiveness of our work overseas. We must
never stop asking ourselves after each emergency response, "Did we
learn anything new, was there anything we could do better next time?"
How long have you been working in Afghanistan?
Concern has been working in Afghanistan since 1998 following two
earthquakes that devastated the country. Ironically, I was handed the
Afghanistan brief on September 9th, assuming that it would not be too
demanding on my time. I flew out shortly after September 11th and
joined our international team in Islamabad (we had evacuated them from
Afghanistan on September 12). I was in Pakistan/Afghanistan for seven weeks,
returning with the international team to join our national Afghan staff in
Afghanistan the day after the International Coalition bombing campaign
began.
Do the people in the camps still have hope for the future - after all the
years of devastation?
Yes...most do. The Afghanis are an amazingly resilient people. Many
have been in camps for decades — and over 300,000 have returned home
in the past few months. Many of those are returning to areas where
they feel that security and food availability is not a problem.
However, many others are choosing to stay in the camps until the
situation back in their home villages has improved and this may take
some time. Lack of security and lack of food in many parts of Afghanistan are
still driving people out of the country and many thousands have
headed for the camps in Pakistan in the past few weeks.
The emergency is not over. In Khost province Concern
conducted a nutrition survey where in some villages over 25% of women
surveyed were malnourished. These villages are difficult to access.
It's still snowing and we have had to hire 100 donkeys to carry food
supplies to these women. The crisis for many continues.
What are the most important qualities for an aid worker to have?
It's not just enough to have a skill such as an engineer, nurse,
agriculturist. Equally important are personal and social skills.
Concern is a people to people organization. Much of our success at field level is based on the relationships we build up at local level
with our staff, other agencies, local authorities, local militia/commanders to gain access to populations in need.
Especially in highly charged, political and often insecure
environments you need to have patience, compassion, sincerity, and
above all, a sense of humour.
What can people at home do to help?
There are many ways that people can help. Not everyone can join up
and go and work in Afghanistan tomorrow, but everyone can support
financially the essential work that we are doing...providing food and
blankets to over 350,000 people to see them though the winter, building
schools, roads, providing seeds and tools to ensure a better harvest. We often need volunteers in the US, when we are organizing events or
sometimes we need very specialized skills, e.g writing, design,
fundraisers, etc. So there are many ways to help.
You can find out more about Concern Worldwide by logging on to
www.concernusa.org or by calling Aileen McCloskey at 212-557-8000.
View photographer Siobhan Lynam's Photo
Essay about her journey with Dominic and Concern to Afghanistan.
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