MP: The mission of the UN Department of Humanitarian Affairs (DHA) led by the Emergency Relief Coordinator is to mobilize and coordinate the collective efforts of the international community, in particular those of the UN system, to meet the needs of those exposed to human suffering and material destruction in disasters and emergencies in a coherent and timely manner. It also includes a reduction of vulnerability, the promotion of solutions to root causes, and the facilitation of the smooth transition from relief to rehabilitation and development. I'm Marilyn Perry at the UN bringing you today Yasushi Akashi, Under Secretary-General (USG) for Humanitarian Affairs. Mr. USG, it's so nice having you on International Byline. Mr. Akashi, could you offer a perspective on humanitarian assistance generally, and specifically in the context of the Department that was established only four years ago?
YA: Yes, the DHA was created four years ago in response to an upsurge of all kinds of crises and emergencies on the heels of the Gulf War. As you know, there was a major tragedy involving Kurdish population in the north of Iraq and there were hosts of other crises which were a result of the end of the Cold War. Many UN member states came to feel that this is one new area in which UN has to put more emphasis, more attention to and, as a result, this Department was created. Indeed while much attention is paid to UN peacekeeping operations, there are even larger numbers of humanitarian crises, both man-made and natural disasters, which UN has to deal with yearly, and even on a monthly or daily basis. We are beset with these crises in Africa most of all, in the Middle East, in Asia, in Latin America and in the CIS countries.
MP: How do you describe the humanitarian role of the Emergency Relief Coordinator, which you are?
YA: My role is, you may say, comparable to that of the conductor of an orchestra. I deal with many humanitarian organizations within the UN system as well as outside the UN. I work with many major non-governmental organizations, such as Care, such as Doctors without Borders, OXFAM, Caritas, and other organizations such as the International Committee of the Red Cross and the World Federation of the Red Cross. My role is to ensure good coordination, good harmonization of their activities so that we all work with a single-minded spirit.
MP: Like we say in one package.
YA: Yes, right, coordination is not easy.
NW: What progress has been made towards achieving a total ban on the production and use and exports of antipersonnel mines? These are landmines, aren't they?
YA: Yes, the world is full of these landmines, the estimated number is 110 million landmines and every year there will be additional 1 to 2 million landmines added to that. Our efforts are directed towards ridding the land of these landmines so that the land will become safe for habitation, as well as for cultivation for agricultural purposes. We are zeroing in on a number of countries in the world to help them in getting rid of landmines so that farmers can go back to cultivate their land.
MP: Which countries are you zeroing in on?
YA: Afghanistan for instance, Angola, Mozambique and now Bosnia and Slovenia. So, you know, at the end of their intensive civil war the legacy we get is a huge number of landmines which continue to kill and maim innocent civilians.
MP: Children.
YA: Children.
MP: A lot of children get it right here. Because they go out in the fields to play and they think they are playing with something and then it's boom.
YA: Right, and many of the mines are very small and shaped like toys and often there are undetectable because they are not made of metal, but made of plastics or wood sometimes.
MP: What is DHA doing to support efforts to raise public awareness of this problem regarding landmines?
YA: DHA's efforts in this regard include television programmes, radio programmes, as well as publish pamphlets. We work with NGOs so that public will be made better aware of the danger of landmines and the urgency of finding solutions to it. Very recently we had a major conference with the government of Denmark in which we brought together scientists, businessman, scholars, as well as practitioners of mine clearance. I hope that the result of that Conference will be reflected in the forthcoming debate of the UN General Assembly.
MP: What means does DHA employ to coordinate the efforts of the international community to respond rapidly to the needs of victims of natural disasters in all these emergencies that you have?
YA: As means for better coordination and better harmonization of actions of these humanitarian agencies, we get together in the Inter-Agency Standing Committee, which includes the executive heads of major UN organizations, ICRC, IOM as well as umbrella NGOS, to agree on common approaches. In the field, in the countries where these tragedies are taking place, we create a mechanism for coordination. Through the Consolidated Appeal Process, we appeal for funds on behalf of the Agencies rather than each organization going in a separate way for the raising of these funds. We try to do it in a coordinated and comprehensive manner. For instance, recently we appealed for funds for North Korea where last year major floods took place destroyed agricultural lands. The amount of the appeal was for 63 million dollars. The US contributed 6.2 million dollars, Japan 6 million dollars and the Republic of Korea, that is South Korea, contributed 3 million dollars. World Food Programme (WFP) is sending ships loaded with these food stuffs, medicines and other commodities which are badly needed.
MP: Do you think that they will survive the winter, that they have enough money now, enough food?
YA: WFP is doing its best in dispatching the necessary foodstuffs to North Korea, and if the North Korean government cooperates with these international bodies for the rapid delivery of food and other humanitarian goods, we might be able to weather the forthcoming winter.
MP: How do you track potential crises and provide adequate early-warning, and this will be very important, to warn the people?
YA: We have a well developed Humanitarian Early-Warning System (HEWS) at the UN and a number of departments cooperate together to feed the latest information into the early-warning system. The Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) and WFP, for instance, provide information on crop assessment and trends in food production so that one could anticipate a possible agricultural crisis. Our HEWS data base has information on about 100 countries in various kinds of difficulties but we concentrate particularly on about 20 countries where these difficulties may become actual crises, and even fighting among various factions.
MP: Could you describe some of DHA's current operations in the field where like in reference to the Great Lakes region of Africa, Afghanistan, (we've already discussed North Korea) could you talk about this?
YA: In Afghanistan, we coordinate the overall humanitarian programme for the population affected by a 16 year old war; this includes a major programme for demining, caring of refugee camps in Jalalabad, providing communication facility for all humanitarian actors, transport links etc. within the framework of a humanitarian programme for which we are also helping mobilize resources. These activities cover relief activities in Kabul where incessant fighting goes on, but also outside of the capital, where there are refugees and displaced persons who have to be cared for.
MP: How do you help those people, what do you do exactly?
YA: First of all we insist of absolute neutrality and impartiality of these humanitarian programmes vis a vis all fighting factions and we negotiate and secure access to populations who might be trapped in certain areas of a country. We negotiate with all parties so that our convoys can get through to reach these people with food, medicines and other assistance.
MP: But that's not always possible, that the UN trucks can get through, so what do you do then?
YA: In the Sudan, for instance, we have difficulties from the Government in the North which does not like us to deliver humanitarian assistance to the South where people are fighting the Government in the North. So we have difficulties in getting cooperation from one side or the other, but we are totally transparent in our operations and even-handed in our approaches. Our sole criteria is whether innocent civilians are suffering or not. And I tell you in the First World War only 5 % of the victims were civilians, the rest were soldiers, nowadays, in conjunction with the latest crisis in Rwanda and Burundi, 95 % of the victims are civilians. So we have to establish this principle that, with regard to assistance to civilians all factions must cooperate with the delivery of humanitarian assistance.
MP: I mean it's great to tell them, but how do you do it?
YA: If they do not cooperate, the matter could be brought before the UN Security Council. The non-cooperating governments or parties could also be exposed to the world media and in that way, we tell the Governments and the other parties that they must cooperate with humanitarian activities. Of course, some are very recalcitrant and difficult, for instance in the Sudan, the SG had to go public and so did Ms. Catherine Bertini, who is the head of the WFP in Rome, denouncing acts of non-cooperation.
MP: What's DHA's role with Iraq following the Security Council resolution 986, which, I tell our audience, 986 is Oil for Food.
YA: Indeed, over a 6 months period Iraq will be permitted to sell $ 2 billion of petroleum and petroleum products. About half of this will be available for purchasing humanitarian goods. The export of oil and the import of humanitarian supplies will be carried out under the very close supervision of the UN. The UN will buy humanitarian goods for northern Iraq, where the Kurdish population is suffering and we will also be responsible for delivering these supplies. For the civilian population of the central and the southern parts of Iraq, the humanitarian goods will be purchased and distributed by the Government of Iraq but under our very stringent observation and monitoring. In that way I hope some of the suffering of the innocent civilians can be alleviated within the framework of UN sanctions.
MP: This is Marilyn Perry with International Byline from the UN radio studios in New York, with Mr. Yasushi Akashi, USG for Humanitarian Affairs. Mr. Akashi, what challenges do humanitarian workers face in providing assistance in difficult security situations?
YA: As I have said, humanitarian goods have to be delivered under difficult even dangerous conditions. In Bosnia and Herzegovina, the UNHCR has done a heroic job of delivering food to people in the safe-areas which were enclaves often times encircled by Serbs soldiers.
MP: Yes, but then they get blown up, the trucks have been blown up, and these workers have gotten shot.
YA: Yes. A few times, a few times, but then we negotiate patiently with all factions to respect our neutrality, even more our responsibility to deliver food to innocent populations. But often times, in these areas there are also soldiers who may take away some of the humanitarian goods and use them for themselves. So military use cannot always be completely eliminated. But we try, as much as possible, to insulate and isolate humanitarian activities from military activities and we ask all factions to sign cooperation agreements to let us do our work.
MP: As you mentioned now, regarding humanitarian assistance, perhaps you can shed some light on the present-day realities based on the things that you've done before in Cambodia, and in Yugoslavia, and how are they going to work? Are we really going to be able to work with this?
YA: I think these days it is very important to understand that just a cease-fire is not enough. And it is not enough to engage in peace-keeping alone; you have to provide assistance for a sustained period in order to make the people focused on becoming self sufficient and help create better environment.
MP: What kind of assistance?
YA: Assistance for agriculture, with all kinds of agricultural equipment, fertilizers, seeds, so that this people will not be dependent on international handouts. In other words, assistance to create local or national capacities, not dependency, is our major objective.
MP: Who is going to pay for that stuff, it's so expensive.
YA: Expensive, yes, sometimes it costs hundreds of millions of dollars, but I think it is important to know that these actions will contribute to the self-sustaining growth of these people. So you have to start with humanitarian relief, to safe lives, but later on you move to rehabilitation and then to reconstruction so these people can stand on their own feet and become totally independent of external assistance. I think that in the world, the developed countries, major donor countries, are getting a little bit tired of constantly being asked for humanitarian assistance. They are impatient to see the results of the assistance. We fully understand this and therefore, we try to use assistance to generate internal growth, the ability of people to sustain themselves. And I think that we have done a fairly credible job in with the cooperation of many governments and with the cooperation of NGOs who have a lot of experience, and skills in working in these countries.
MP: To what do you attribute the increase in the internal conflicts and ethnic warfare all over the world in the last few years?
YA: I think, with the end of the Cold War, we have passed the era of gigantic confrontations between the United States and the former Soviet Union. That's the good side. But the bad side is that we have been seeing upsurge of all kinds of national, ethnic, tribal, and other conflicts. I think this is due to the disappearance of the "discipline" of the Cold War.
MP: There has been much criticism of the role of the UN in the former Yugoslavia but there are other aspects of the UN's involvement that are less recognized. What are your thoughts on this criticism, and on the activities of the UN which have not received any media coverage?
YA: You see, UN can be successful in peace-keeping, only if the parties to a conflict agree to a certain framework for peace. The other condition for real peace is for major players, like the US and other member states of the Security Council, to agree on a common line. But in the former Yugoslavia, neither of these factors was present. The UN was made responsible for peace-keeping without a peace agreement and with very lightly armed few soldiers, while the actual negotiations for peace treaties were entrusted to the so-called Contact Group of five major powers. But I must say that UN did the most incredible job of keeping almost 3 million innocent civilians supplied with food, medicine, water, electricity, gas, etc. and supplying them with blankets, shelter and other necessities throughout this period. You have to recognize that, in the humanitarian domain, without the UN, these hundreds and thousands of people would have either died or may have been crippled. So, under very, difficult conditions where there were no elements for building permanent comprehensive peace, at least the UN did what it could to save human lives.
MP: Do you feel that the UN should be the policemen, or should it be something else for all these crises that we have around the world?
YA: I think that nobody can claim to be the world's policeman or global policeman, but the UN can do what its Members States agree that it should do. And member nations also have to pay the bills, their membership fees to the United Nations. That is regrettably not being done by certain key countries, including the United States.
MP: In what ways does the provision of humanitarian assistance dove-tail with other efforts to contribute towards the eventual rehabilitation of a country that has become weakened by conflicts or natural disasters? How do you help them?
YA: Our first priority, of course, is to save lives. That's humanitarian relief. But that's not enough. 1 think you have to create conditions under which people can become independent, self-sustaining. And you have to tackle root causes of all these incessant natural disasters and other emergencies. You can do it by making people better aware as to how they become self-sufficient.
MP: You really believe in that, don't you?
YA: Yes. You have to move from humanitarian assistance. You have to rehabilitate the communities; you have to build bridges and highways. Then you let the assistance from the private sector and other sectors to come in. You have to create real incentives for people to work harder so that their lives can be made safer and more predictable, more profitable. Education is one very important element.
MP: Isn't it difficult when a whole city has been completely demolished and then they don't have water and they don't have electricity, and you are on a terrible basis there. What do you think of that?
YA: In the first initial stage, you have to help people. These people, who are in despair deserve a minimum of medical support and assistance with food and other essential items. But after that, they should make efforts to become self sufficient, self-sustained. Everybody has to work hard to stand on his or her own feet.
MP: What partnerships has DHA developed with humanitarian actors outside of the UN system? You did mention the Red Cross and Care, Save the Children.
YA: We work very closely with these humanitarian bodies like the Red Cross, like Catholic and other relief bodies. There are all kinds of relief and humanitarian bodies like Care, which have done a great job. We work with them as partners and we get together at least once a month to exchange information and ideas. In many crisis situations in Africa, these organizations are working hand in hand with the UN to make life better, and more decent.
MP: I'm going to ask you one more thing. What is the most difficult challenge now facing the DHA?
YA: I think attracting genuine public interest in our work and support for all these global humanitarian efforts in which we are engaged, to support them generously, politically, as well as financially. I have to appeal constantly for more understanding and more support for these worthwhile activities. And, as members of the human family of this earth, I think it is the obligation and challenge for everybody to participate in this effort to make life more decent for everyone.
MP: Thank you, Mr. Yasushi Akashi, for joining us on International Byline. I'm Marilyn Perry, this program was produced in the
UN radio studios in New York.