Many parts of the Horn of Africa remain inaccessible for humanitarian support. The reasons for this are: rising insecurity, bureaucratic obstacles, logistical hurdles, and high operational costs. These reduce the ability of people to access assistance. Also violence against aid workers in the region is beyond imagination. Restrictions on the mobility of workers interfere with implementation and administration activities of aid. Such restriction will remain a challenge for a long time to come. Securing work permits and visas has become an impediment. Governments in the Horn impose arbitrary fees on aid workers. They interfere with staffing of aid agencies. Restriction and control of aid partners is on the rise. Reduced operational capacity has impact on organizational ability to operate smoothly; it affects the quality of service delivery on time. Such hindrance is expected to continue in the future.
In his paper “Conflict and State Security in the Horn of Africa: Militarization of Civilian Groups,” Samson S. Wasara presented the horrible situations to which the people of the region are subjected. He explained that “conflicts that set states against states and communities against communities resulting in political turbulence and human tragedy.” This is caused by the inability of states to maintain social cohesion. Governments and opposition forces induced civilians to take sides for or against them. This led to conversion of civilian population into military and paramilitary groups. This became the common feature of the Horn. Modern weapons proliferated the region and some communities took advantage of the situation to arm themselves. They used it for cattle poaching, plundering, robbing and pilfering and for taking revenge. Civilians participated in different kinds of military activities in areas affected by armed violence. Concerted pressures are applied by civil societies and the international community on governments and armed opposition to seek peaceful settlement of disputes.
Wasara argued that parties to conflict situations should be persuaded to engage in dialogues that lead to agreements. These agreements should lead to demobilization of ex-combatants and to disarmament of civilian groups. The prospect for social stability depends on how communities and governments believe that their security is fully secured and guaranteed. He also pointed out that the Horn is a region of dissidence and conflicts. Africa’s longest civil war occurred in this region. The States of the Horn have disintegrated as a result of wars. States affected by conflicts strengthen their security and weaken other states believed to undermine their sovereignty.
It is also pointed out that the failure of states to dialogue with each other or with their internal opposition forces results in armed violence. Armed violence involves civilians in civil wars. Wassara pointed out that “perception, attitudes and actions of parties to the various conflicts shape the process of militarization in the region.” The Horn states refuse to admit the existence of real problems. Victims of injustice fight for their survival. As conflict extends into armed struggle its cause could be linked to a neighboring country or an external power. Such conflict might go beyond the control of the initial warriors. Opposition groups try to recruit dissatisfied groups, and governments engage in forced conscription. In both cases civilians are becoming involved voluntarily or involuntarily. This makes the size of the national armies or rebel fighters increase with units of irregular forces such as militia and self-defense forces.
In this short article, effort is made to present some conflicts, involvement of civilians in these conflicts, and problems faced by civilians in accessing support from international organizations and aid agencies. The major constraints to accessibility of humanitarian assistance are presented as follows:
1. Bureaucratic constraints: NGOs operating in the Horn cite bureaucratic constraints on personnel and humanitarian supplies as impeding factors. These constraints are two types. One is systematic and structural State impediment; the other is inconsistent and incoherent State bureaucracy.
1.1 Systematic and Structural State Impediment: The State controlled access to support through effective bureaucratic hurdles. Access is fully denied in conflict areas. As fighting intensifies, conflict zones have not been accessible at all. Government restrictions have been stringent where new military campaign against opposition groups began. Humanitarian staff faced grave difficulties in helping internally displaced persons (IDPs) suffering from conflicts. Some requests for access have been rejected due to conflicts. Authorities cited insecurity for the rejection of requests for access. They claimed the situation is under control and denied the need for intervention in the process. Sensitivity of governments regarding humanitarian reports is a big challenge. Lack of agreement between governments and aid agencies on the number of affected people and their needs impeded proper planning, fundraising, and program management. This seriously limits humanitarian response to the needs of affected people.
Humanitarian mission escorts have been affected by restrictions and delays in permits, communications and staff placement. The environment of operation is so difficult that some NGOs could not operate. Their operations are controlled through “technical agreements” and their staff is under surveillance for the purpose of eviction. NGOs have their programs halted, offices closed and assets confiscated. Without giving clear reason, the stay-permits of country directors and other staff could be cancelled; thus, they are asked to leave the Horn country without any convincing reason.
1.2 Inconsistent and Incoherent State Bureaucracy: Here we will try to see the effects on fragile states of inconsistent and incoherent State bureaucracy. Challenges of access to support stem from dealing with weak and often incoherent bureaucracies. They impose irregular and conflicting regulations. Added to these problems are limited infrastructure, surging insecurity, violence against humanitarian staff and assets. These limit the capacity of donor agencies. Administrative regions within a country impose their own rules on NGO that hamper effective and timely delivery of aid. Slow implementation on the side of governments of the Horn is also an additional bureaucratic burden to the process of aid delivery. Administrative impediments continue to rise and result in delays and interruption in the programming of aid.
2. Insecurity and Attacks on Humanitarian Staff, Goods and Facilities: Attacks on humanitarian personnel, goods and facilities in countries with active conflicts are exacerbated by insecure environment. Violence against staff and assets is the main constraint against humanitarian operation. Workers and contractors are killed and wounded in the area of operation. Robberies and burglaries also impede operations. Another factor for intensifying insecurity is slow implementation of peace agreements in the Horn. Some areas are inaccessible due to insecurity, disrupting humanitarian assistance and protection. Check points are active, operating mostly in isolation from the central governments of the Horn. These check points are more active during the dry season when accessibility of roads are increasing, leading to delays and increasing cost of humanitarian aid. Also, the attempt by armed opposition groups to control the delivery of aid causes delay.
Beneficiary communities are subject to intimidation and threats. These lead to violence that forces them into rejecting humanitarian assistance. This causes further delay in humanitarian aid. Governments of the Horn use indirect methods of impeding humanitarian actions. These methods include: increasing the number of check points, reducing security to humanitarian personnel, and threatening media and civil society actors. All these actions deter access of people to humanitarian assistance. Where there is political stalemate and insecurity the process of aid delivery become worse.
3. Humanitarian Financing: Humanitarian response to Horn countries is severely affected by funding shortages. Globally speaking, the Horn is one of the most under-funded regions. As global funding increases, the funding requirement of the Horn also increases. This is due to increase in humanitarian need caused by a number of factors such as severe environmental crises, on-set of protracted conflicts. Closer cooperation with development partners, other donors including the private sector is required.
Funding needs are only partly covered due to shortage of resources. Shortfalls in funding have a severe impact on programming of assistance in the Horn. It is particularly devastating for health, water and agriculture sectors. Environmental devastation, in particular drought conditions affecting a significant part of the region required immense funding. The Horn countries made preparedness and response plans for appealing and seeking funds from donors. Humanitarian partners also developed a “Call for Aid,” program for raising funds to save lives and build resilience for millions of people in critical need. The fund is designed to support humanitarian partners to reach those in need of support as well as refugees and host communities.
To save lives and build resilience of communities to shocks caused by disasters, closer cooperation with development partners is required. This can be done with the support of international donors such as the European Union (EU), the World Bank (WB) and the Humanitarian Private Sector Platform (UPSP). The UPSP enables systematic long-term private sector, community, governments, UN, and NGO partnership to get prepared for and address impacts of natural disasters, emergencies, conflicts and displacements. These measures create opportunities and create better resilience through sustainable self-reliance.
4. Vulnerability Hotspots: The Horn of Africa has a number of vulnerable hotspots. These are areas that need humanitarian assistance, including access to basic services and livelihoods. These areas are severely affected by political crisis and conflicts. The political crisis is most severe on those countries that are most fragile. These countries have low life expectancy and high child mortality rates. They suffer from violence and intimidation. Adults are killed or injured and children are arbitrarily detained. Rapes and sexual assault against women and girls are rampant. Men are subjected to arbitrary executions. Most of these people cross borders seeking asylum, while others are internally displaced. The internal flows of displaced persons increase the burden on host communities whose resources and access to basic services are limited. These communities face problems of food security, nutrition and livelihood. As a result, they suffer from malnutrition.
These have impacts on the slow and stagnant economy. They generate shortage of food and higher prices in the markets. They interrupt basic services such as health and education in many parts of the fragile countries of the Horn. The budget for these services and for agriculture is dramatically reduced. In areas that are prone to natural disasters women and children are the most vulnerable segments of population. They are forced to adopt unfavorable coping mechanisms. Governments do not give them proper support. Moreover, donors limit their direct contributions to government budget further aggravating the situation.
In a situation where there is war between armed groups, civilians fall victims to remnants of explosives. Population movements both from outside and inside affected countries increase the vulnerability of host communities. Without help from governments, these communities exhaust their resources helping refugees and asylum seekers.
The location of the Horn along the world trade route made it suffer from illegal fishing and damping of toxic waste. This reduced its potential for fisheries development. Also, the corruption of governments and embezzlement of financial aid for the fisheries development hampered economic development of the region. As a result, the inhabitants of the coastal area are impoverished. Because of rising insecurity cost of shipping is exorbitant. There is a need for military escort; insurance charges are also very high. Piracy impedes the delivery of food aid, leading to starvation of people in the area. Also, lack of strong government exacerbates insecurity.
Pirates hijacked ships; they attacked fishing boats, cargo ships and private yachts. This led to crisis in shipping business. Consequently, the international community condemned piracy along the coastal areas of the Horn. It supported anti-piracy programs that led to confiscation of weapons and equipment used by pirates. Developed countries contributed warships to reduce and destroy piracy. They created an effective military presence to discourage piracy. However, the people of the Horn residing along the coasts still suffered from the impacts of piracy and from problems created by the Horn States.
Finally, taking the realities of the Horn of Africa into account, it is possible to come to the conclusion that its people are truly the “Wretched of the Earth.” The political leaders in this region are the real cause of the poverty of the people. They generally believe that “to eliminate any resistance, it is necessary to weaken the people they rule.” The Horn leaders employ the instrument of pauperization. They keep people starved, sick, homeless and dejected, making them absolutely dependent on aid. The Horn States imped the flow of aid to people they dehumanized. The single purpose of these leaders is to stay in political power. This power is instrumental only for amassing wealth for the ruling party at the cost of the starving people it claims to lead. The only way out of this trauma of the people is to start the process of democratization. This ensures that power is truly in the hands of the people of the Horn. But, this takes time and prolongs the agony of the people. This is unfortunately the cost of building democracy in the region. What is the choice?
Thank you.
The Ethiopian Herald June 23, 2019
BY GETACHEW MINAS
