WORLD BRIDGE BLOG

August 18, 2010 | Alice Thomas | Tagged as: Climate Displacement, Pakistan, Asia
This blog was originally posted in The Hill's Congress Blog on Wednesday, August 18.

The devastating floods in Pakistan have claimed the lives of at least 1,500 people and rendered millions more homeless and displaced.  According to the United Nations, the deluge’s human toll, which has reportedly affected 14 million Pakistanis, is worse than the 2004 tsunami, the January earthquake in Haiti, and the 2005 earthquake in Pakistan combined.  The record-breaking floods – along with other recent unprecedented climate-related catastrophes such as the heat wave in Russia and torrential rains and subsequent mudslides in China – are in line with the predictions of climate scientists that global warming will cause an increase in the frequency and intensity of extreme weather events.
August 18, 2010 | Refugees Intern... | Tagged as: About RI

Friends of Refugees International came together last Wednesday, in the beautiful beach-side setting of Nantucket. Around eighty people joined together that night, to learn more about refugee crises around the world, with a particular focus on the current situation in Sudan, and RIs advocacy efforts.

August 16, 2010 | Matt Pennington | Tagged as: DR Congo, Unfiltered

When was the last time you heard someone refer to the “voiceless,” either in the context of their work, (e.g., “I am an advocate for the “voiceless”) or in reference to the plight of a specific group of people, likely in a developing country?

I remember hearing the “voiceless” narrative as a kid and thinking (if I’m being honest here) of African refugees, sitting in camps, waiting around silently and helplessly for someone to rescue them, without capacity to speak up for themselves.

And in my time working in the policy and advocacy fields in Washington, I have heard this portrayal repeatedly. Certainly not from ill-intentioned people. Heck, I’m sure I myself have been guilty of this sort of talk before. But I think it’s time that we – particularly those of us working to influence humanitarian policy issues in Washington –disassociate ourselves from this type of language and way of thinking.

Why, you ask?

August 12, 2010 | Erin Weir | Tagged as: Africa, DR Congo, Unfiltered
When people think of violence, chaos and suffering, there is a tendency to oversimplify, to make firm distinctions between “perpetrators,” “victims” and “heroes”. But reality is never that cut and dry.  Conflict is messy, and the people involved often defy easy categorization.  

On Saturday, Matt and I set out to visit a community of displaced people south of Bunia town in Oriental province (eastern DR Congo).  It is a community that muddies each of these categorizes.

To the naked eye these people – currently numbering about 475 in all – fit the popular definition of “victim”.  After years spent surviving in brutal forest conditions they took advantage of a humanitarian corridor created by the Congolese military to come out of the woods and seek assistance.  Most of the new arrivals at the makeshift displacement camp are suffering from ailments like malaria, parasites and diarrhea.  Almost all of the new arrivals are malnourished and while they have received pots and utensils, as well as some blankets, plastic sheeting, and other “non-food items” from an international aid organization, they have not yet received food.  Even the emergency rations – delivered to the weakest among them - have already run out.
August 10, 2010 | Matt Pennington | Tagged as: Africa, DR Congo, Unfiltered

Hi folks, sorry for the delay in posts. We’ve been running all around the eastern Congo for the last several days and haven’t really had access to reliable internet. We’re now in Goma, where we’ll be staying for the next 6 days, so I’ll be posting with a bit more regularity.

Much has transpired since I last wrote you from Kinshasa. We finally made it out on the UN flight to Kisangani, and arrived there in the early afternoon on Wednesday. In Kisangani, we met with representatives from MONUSCO, the UN peacekeeping mission, UN agencies (UNICEF, OCHA, and UNDP), and an NGO to discuss the latest changes to MONUSCO’s mandate and the future of the mission in DR Congo, and also to get a read on the current humanitarian and security conditions facing civilians in the area.