World-wide, an estimated 274 million people will need some form of emergency assistance next year.
“The geography of poverty and suffering is shifting to places characterized by violent conflict,” said USAID Administrator Samantha Power at the virtual United Global Humanitarian Overview for 2022.
“So, we have to shift our focus, not just in terms of where we work but with whom we partner.”
“This means strengthening and scaling partnerships with local actors, whether it is local chapters of the Red Cross or Red Crescent or other international institutions, recipient governments, or community and faith-based organizations rooted in the societies in which we work.”
“That is especially true of women-led organizations whose perspectives from the front lines of the world’s most harrowing crises are too often left out.”
“It is most often women who lead efforts to identify those most in need, and women who direct resources most effectively. But when it comes to designing how humanitarian aid is distributed and who benefits, more often than not they don’t get a seat at the table. Local organizations, especially women-led organizations, must be involved from the start, must be central in the design and implementation of humanitarian programming."
“The same is true for work aimed at building climate resilience and adaptation,” said Administrator Power.
“ As we work with local communities globally to build resilience to climate shocks, we have to think strategically about who ought to be designing and implementing programming for disaster risk reduction.”
The results of such thoughtful planning speak for themselves. For example, back in 1998, Hurricane Mitch rolled over Honduras and Nicaragua, charting a path over an area that was home to 6 million people. More than 10,000 people died.
Subsequently, USAID invested in local management, early warning, evacuation and communication systems, as well as climate smart infrastructure that would better protect lives and livelihoods. And when Eta and Iota, two hurricanes of similar strength to Mitch, , took a nearly identical path in 2020, just 205 people died.
Clearly, involving local populations in designing disaster risk reduction works.
Therefore, said USAID Administrator Power, “We must … change the ways we deliver humanitarian assistance to include full participation, design, and leadership from local populations and organizations; from women and marginalized peoples who can help develop truly sustainable solutions to the risks they face in their own communities.”
