Yes, we should help. But too often incompetent, self-serving aid agencies make things worse

[Dedworth]

Good article - show's the deceitful nature of the Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC) and it's highly paid Chief Executive


The stories are heartbreaking. Families have been ripped apart, houses flattened and communities crushed. The images of towns and cities torn into tiny pieces by the fury of nature are terrible to behold.





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[Terpe]

I've read a number of these reports.
I certainly don't doubt that some organisations are not up to the job and I don't doubt that some others may not have the necessary experience, but what else can people do?
Who are they to give donations and support to?
Why doesn't this article name and shame those to avoid?
Why doesn't this article name those who can best support?
Although I do agree it mentions Medecins Sans Frontieres. But that organisation has a limited (albeit important) remit.

This article, like many others, is very critical of the past failings of aid agencies without giving any basic understanding of the specific problem areas typically encountered, or of the improvements learned and now being implemented.

There's a big big difference between initial emergency response systems, transitions from emergency relief to stabilisation and subsequent reconstruction programmes.
Those major reconstruction programmes can be even more challenging when you consider the oftentimes lack of agreemenmt and coordination between local leadership, central government and those aid agencies with the cash to spend.
Governments often have their own agendas that do not reflect the wishes of those people impacted and displaced.

Legal issues, ownership of land, number and ownership of houses and business becomes a major stumbling block that aid agencies are not equipped to manage.
That's exactly what happened after the tsunami and Haiti disasters.
Governments have a lot more to answer for than emergency aid agencies IMHO

At least the UN is taking the lead role. Yes, may not be perfect but at least it's a 'Hub Co-ordinator'

The biggest issue in the Philippines is distribution of aid to those in most need. That costs money and articles like the one above may cause damage to that.

No offence intended just my emotional reaction to a report of such negativity that contains only problems and no solutions.

[Jamesey]

Just another cynical and negative headline-grabbing half-story by the Daily Mail.

I notice that they don't have any suggestions for what we should actually do to help.

[Dedworth]

Just another cynical and negative headline-grabbing half-story by the Daily Mail.

I notice that they don't have any suggestions for what we should actually do to help.

To quote the article

But if you really want to help all those stricken families suffering such torment today — and I would urge you to do so — the best thing you can do is ensure that you eschew the false prophets who bedevil the aid industry and give your money to those who’ll genuinely pass it on to the victims.

[Jamesey]

To quote the article

But if you really want to help all those stricken families suffering such torment today — and I would urge you to do so — the best thing you can do is ensure that you eschew the false prophets who bedevil the aid industry and give your money to those who’ll genuinely pass it on to the victims.

That was the paragraph I was talking about. How do we ACTUALLY do this? Which organisations to they suggest?

If everyone had do hours of due diligence before making a donation, people just wouldn't bother.

[Dedworth]

That was the paragraph I was talking about. How do we ACTUALLY do this? Which organisations to they suggest?

If everyone had do hours of due diligence before making a donation, people just wouldn't bother.

I guess for balance they can't name names but I'd suggest Philippine Red Cross & Medecins Sans Frontieres

[Doc Alan]

This article is appropriately quoted in the “ Rant “ section.


Meteorologists will never know whether typhoon Haiyan was the strongest storm to make landfall, because reliable records only go back a few decades – but for sure it is one of them.


Our Filipino friends and loved ones have repeatedly thanked the international community for their generous donations .


It’s possible we could individually have sent money to contacts using Western Union ( who have temporarily waived transfer fees ) or other means. But expertise is needed in allocating the huge amounts of money and resources involved. This expertise does come at a cost ; and unfortunately with a degree of corruption.


Supposing the world had largely ignored this catastrophe in the Philippines ? We have a tiny sample of the “ rant “ which would have ensued, had other nations been as “ mean “ ( so far ) as China ! I hate to think how many more deaths there might have been, with epidemics to follow.


The Disaster Emergency Committee, countless other charities, United Nations, and World Health Organization are imperfect - what organization isn’t ? The “ endless chaos and confusion “ mentioned by the “ Mail “ journalist would have been dramatically and tragically worse without them !


He further recommends “ give money to any organization whose core activity is emergency work, which doesn’t spend huge sums on fund-raising, which doesn’t overpay its executives, and which is open about difficulties of delivery “. Then :- “ by using the internet, it is possible to donate directly to ( local organizations ) “. Finally :- “ give your money to those who’ll genuinely pass it on to the victims “. His evidence is lacking that these recommendations on their own would be more effective .


Haiyan’s victims have not ( yet ) received enough help. AFTER the need for food, clean water, and shelter ; poor sanitation, lack of medicines ( including antibiotics, vaccines, and surgical materials ), and stagnant water WILL pose further health threats.


The scale of this catastrophe WAS unusual, even in a country with high incidences of volcanic eruptions, earthquakes and less ferocious typhoons. Obviously responding to this disaster is essential – if flawed, mainly because of its rapid and huge scale of devastation.


Already ( more ) lessons have been learned, just as well because the Philippines and the rest of the world need to prepare for the NEXT. Worldwide, there is no certain trend in frequency or intensity of tropical storms. Thankfully given the rarity of storms like Haiyan, it will take a long time for any trend to become apparent. Let’s hope it WILL be a very long time, if ever.



For the future, it’s not just a question of direct emergency relief and how best to provide it, but also how to build the Philippines’ resistance, such as by economic growth ( Leyte and Samar are among the poorest provinces ) providing more robust housing ; less endemic corruption ; and better early warning systems with safety drills.


EVERY member has been affected one way or another by this disaster. The international and Philippines national response may have been unavoidably imperfect … but could have been a whole lot worse.


It’s vital, in my opinion, to stay positive. Keep the cynicism to a minimum. This issue must surely rank among the most important to unite every Forum member .

[Terpe]

‘Who’s in charge here?’

Where is the government?

Five days after Supertyphoon “Yolanda” flattened the central Philippines, thousands of victims were still crying out for food on Wednesday, their dead left rotting by the roadside, prompting CNN’s Anderson Cooper to declare that “there is no real evidence of organized recovery or relief.”

Even as an enormous global aid effort gathered momentum and relief supplies began trickling into the airport in Tacloban, capital of the worst-hit province of Leyte, officials did not have a full grasp of the magnitude of the devastation and could provide no guidance on when basic emergency needs could be met.

While President Aquino suggested in a CNN interview on Wednesday that estimates of 10,000 or more dead may turn out to be high, international relief officials said they were still assuming the worst and were worried that bottlenecks and delays could prevent them from reaching millions of victims for days.

Officials in Manila found themselves on the defensive, asserting that they were doing the best they could despite a storm that Valerie Amos, the top United Nations relief coordinator, who flew to Manila on Tuesday to help take charge of efforts, called the “most deadly and destructive” to hit the Philippines.

Amos pleaded for more than $300 million in emergency aid.

Malacañang admitted on Tuesday that it had asked the United States for help and that many survivors had not received relief.

“We’ve asked the US for aid and the secretary of defense says they are sending an aircraft carrier and a couple of other ships—those are en route,” said Ricky Carandang, a spokesman for the Palace.

“There are lots of remote areas that haven’t received aid,” Carandang said. “The priority is to supply food and water. With communications partially functioning, with ports and roads blocked, we need to get that clear first. We need to get the roads clear before you can get the aid to them.”

Yolanda (international name: Haiyan) slammed into the Samar-Leyte area on Friday with sustained winds of up to 215 kilometers per hour and gusts of up to 250 kph, then swept across the central Philippines, flattening entire towns, killing a still undetermined number of people, and knocking down power and communication lines.

The government blames its slow response to the lack of power and communications and questions the death toll estimate of 10,000, only to show the absence of organization in responding to the crisis.

The Aquino response

CNN’s chief international correspondent, Christiane Amanpour, on Wednesday put President Aquino on the spot, impressing on him that his administration’s response to the disaster would probably define his presidency.

“Mr. President you talked about a moral responsibility from the world,” she told Aquino in an exclusive interview.

“Let me ask you about your responsibility as President. Clearly, I don’t know whether you agree, but the way you respond and your government respond to this terrible devastation will probably define your presidency,” Amanpour said.

“Many have talked about how much effort has gone in, how much reform you have done, how much work you’ve done against corruption. But many people might end up judging you on how your government has responded. What do you say to that?” she asked.

The President did not answer the question and instead mentioned other areas in the Visayas, “with the exception” of Leyte and Eastern and Western Samar, where the number of casualties officials had said was “minimal.”

But Cabinet Secretary Jose Rene Almendras, asked in a news briefing on Wednesday about Amanpour’s observation, said: “I don’t think it is an acid test of this administration. This is an acid test of the Filipino people. How well we handle this crisis will matter a lot. Yes, there will be challenges, but we will move on.”

Asked by the Inquirer who was calling the shots, Almendras said, “The one calling the shots is actually the President and the Cabinet members.”

At the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC), reporters asked Executive Director Eduardo del Rosario who was in charge of the government’s response to Yolanda.

“Not me,” Del Rosario said. “It’s the Executive Secretary (Paquito Ochoa), ably assisted by Secretary (to the Cabinet Jose Rene) Almendras.”

Del Rosario last presided over a meeting of the national disaster council on Friday, hours before Yolanda slammed into the Samar-Leyte area.

President Aquino presided over the next meeting, on Saturday, and walked out of the meeting on Sunday after showing dissatisfaction with Del Rosario’s report.

Ochoa has since been presiding over meetings of the council.

Unretrieved corpses

Former Election Commissioner Gregorio Larrazabal, who grew up in Ormoc City, spoke on Wednesday about the magnitude of the devastation that he saw during a visit to his hometown and neighboring Tanauan, Palo, Tolosa, Dulag and Abuyog on Sunday.

“It’s not something you would want to happen to your worst enemy,” he told the Inquirer, recalling the sight of corpses stuffed into sacks and piled up on the streets.

“We went around in the evening in an air-conditioned car. We were wearing 3M masks, meaning the heavy duty one, but believe me, the stench was so bad,” Larrazabal said.

Amanpour cited CNN stories showing “the slowness, the bottleneck of trying to get vital aid to the people.”

Aquino said “the sheer number of people who were affected in these three provinces is quite daunting.”

“What hampers the effort is that the typhoon wrought havoc on the power lines and also the communication facilities, giving us immense difficulty in identifying needs and thereby dispatching the necessary relief supplies and vital equipment,” he added.

But with the world reaching out in the biggest relief effort yet for the Philippines, the government apparently remained unable to find an efficient way to ensure that food, medicines and shelter actually reached the survivors sooner, not later.

‘Master plan’

The President met with key Cabinet officials on Tuesday night on a “master plan” to deal with the disaster, Almendras said.

It was not clear, however, if the plan was drawn up only that night, meaning four days after Yolanda laid waste to the central Philippines.

Asked if the plan was working, Almendras said: “This is the first time we are going to try it at this magnitude. So far, things are moving. So far, goods are moving.”

Almendras acknowledged logistical difficulties, but blamed these on the breakdown of local response where local officials should be the first responders.

That “goods are not reaching some people” was “really a local issue that we are trying to address now,” he said, noting village officials knew who should receive relief and where.

But when reminded that local officials themselves were victims of the typhoon and that the President had already declared a state of national calamity, Almendras said government personnel were now being sent to disaster areas from other locations.

“If the local governments do not have the resources to handle that logistic process, the national government will step in,” Almendras said, reiterating that the government had powers to do so, which Palace officials had been talking about since the weekend.

Almendras admitted that the government was facing “not a small amount of work” and had distributed relief only at “a small level today.”

But he said officials had a “dream”—to reach all survivors—and they would fulfill that “challenging task” in the coming days.

He said the master plan involved accelerating the repacking of relief, expanding supply centers in such places as Cebu and Davao, speeding up the movement of relief and bringing in government workers from other regions to the typhoon-ravaged areas.

Almendras said the government was considering using many of its 1.6 million workers to help repack relief goods.

The government will deploy more law enforcement and security forces to restore peace and order in Leyte and Samar, he said.

Can’t say when

Asked how soon the survivors would actually receive relief, Almendras said: “I would like to give you a date and a time if possible, but that is not within the national government’s control how effectively we can hit the ground.”

“There are places that are very remote, which we need to know also so that we can reach them,” he added.

The systems breakdown in Eastern Visayas has prompted questions about local governments’ capability to handle disaster preparation and response and whether the national government should take over the job to ensure maximum safety.

Muntinlupa Rep. Rodolfo Biazon, head of the House national defense committee, on Wednesday said most local governments had so far been unable to cope with the responsibility of organizing mass evacuations and providing temporary shelters for typhoon survivors.

He said that at present, the national government’s role was only to provide information about the strength of coming storms, with local governments handling the preparations and response.

The setup worked well in the past, Biazon said, but local government capabilities now looked inadequate because of the increasing strength of typhoons.

The local governments in Samar and Leyte alerted residents to the size and power of Yolanda, but were unable to force the people to move to safer grounds.

“I believe the national government has the authority and resources to force evacuations and prepare for safe, temporary shelters before a supertyphoon,” Biazon said.

He said he had asked Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. to find out whether there really was a complete breakdown in local preparations so that the House could decide whether it should give the job to the national government.

Time for unity

Akbayan Rep. Walden Bello said he shared President Aquino’s frustration with his underlings who were quite slow in responding to the crisis.

But Bayan Muna Rep. Neri Colmenares said this was not the time for tossing blame.

“All of us have to unite to deliver relief to the victims of Yolanda. It is not the time to pinpoint whether the fault lies with Malacañang or with local officials,” Colmenares said.

He, however, acknowledged news reports that five days after Yolanda flattened the central Philippines, most survivors still had to receive any help from the government.

Yolanda has shown that private companies and individuals and civic organizations are more effective in delivering aid in times of calamities, Colmenares said

Source:-
http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/526877/whos-in-charge-here

[Terpe]

...CNN’s chief international correspondent, Christiane Amanpour, on Wednesday put President Aquino on the spot, impressing on him that his administration’s response to the disaster would probably define his presidency.

“Mr. President you talked about a moral responsibility from the world,” she told Aquino in an exclusive interview.

“Let me ask you about your responsibility as President. Clearly, I don’t know whether you agree, but the way you respond and your government respond to this terrible devastation will probably define your presidency,” Amanpour said.

“Many have talked about how much effort has gone in, how much reform you have done, how much work you’ve done against corruption. But many people might end up judging you on how your government has responded. What do you say to that?” she asked.

I think it may well end up defining his presidency. Especially following the Pork Barrel affair.
Just a personal opinion

[Terpe]

I realise it's not typhoon related, but it's an example of how challenges to aid agencies manifest themselves.
No wonder the UN wants to maintain as much control as possible.

Bohol mayor drives out Red Cross team

Red Cross, Bohol mayor in standoff

[Terpe]

Personally I'd trust The Philippine Red Cross
The Chairman, Dick Gordon, is a hard working and honourable guy and will not submit to threats