Finn Church Aid (FCA) has allocated 50,000 euros from its disaster fund to support the victims of cyclone Idai in Mozambique and Zimbabwe. At least 500,000 people have lost their homes and harvests.
The 50 000 euros will be directed to affected areas through ACT Alliance and local partners.
“We have started to provide aid with our local partners. The storm has caused widespread damage and people are in immediate need of water, food, sanitary products and kitchen utensils”, says Eija Alajarva, Head of Humanitarian Assistance at FCA.
“People living in the affected areas have lost everything; their homes, harvests and cattle.”
Aid will be allocated to 5000 households in Mozambique; to women, children, sick and elderly in particular, as well as to families in Zimbabwe.
The members of ACT Alliance, the world’s largest humanitarian and development movement of faith-based organisations, gathered this week for its General Assembly in Uppsala, Sweden.
The members approved ACT Alliance’s new strategy for the years 2019–2026: Putting People First, focusing on a holistic and integrated response in humanitarian, development and advocacy work.
“ACT Alliance and its members included for the first time gender justice as a programme area in the Global Strategy. This makes ACT’s commitment to gender justice and equity even stronger than before,” says Jouni Hemberg, Executive Director of Finn Church Aid (FCA).
The Governing Board approved the ACT Alliance Gender Justice Policy already in 2017.
With 150 members and operations in 125 countries, ACT Alliance’s members stress that ACT plays a major role in tackling challenges around issues like climate change, conflicts, refugees, migration, extreme poverty and more.
“On a grassroots level, ACT members often have the best access, chances for cooperation and implementation of projects. However, without the coordination of our actions, the impact of our work would be more limited”, Hemberg says.
Youth participation took a leap forward
The General Assembly also invited its member organisations’ youth representatives for a two-day pre-assembly meeting. Sophon Chau from the youth network Changemaker Cambodia and FCA thought this was a great opportunity to meet face to face with youth from around the globe.
“It was also inspiring to see their commitment to making change in their communities and to exchange ideas with them on youth participation in varying contexts”, says Chau.
“We feel that the General Assembly took us very seriously and was committed to include youth in decision-making processes. There were some bureaucratic hurdles but the spirit of the assembly was unanimously supportive for our cause and we felt welcomed, listened to and wholeheartedly supported by the Alliance,” say both Chau and Jaro Karkinen, Chair of Changemaker Finland.
The most important message of the youth delegates was asking for two chairs for the youth in the governing board of the ACT Alliance to ensure access to decision-making.
“It is said that the youth are the future, but we also want to be part of today,” say Chau and Karkinen.
According to FCA’s report Youth on the Move, youth represent 1.8 billion opportunities.
“Young people have the energy and the ideas. To include us is a very easy thing to do: just allow us to participate and listen what we have to say. We want to be the Changemakers of our world.”
ACT Youth Community of Practice Pre-Assembly meeting in Uppsala, Sweden on October 26-27 2018. Photo: Simon Chambers/ACT.
Text: Minna Elo
Donors’ and international investors’ trust in FCA remained strong in 2017.
Finn Church Aid (FCA) spent 38.6 million euros on aid work last year, an increase of 7.5 million from the previous year. The growth in operations was enabled by the increase in international funding and private donations. The effects of the cuts to development cooperation funding by the Finnish government were still felt in 2017, and operations in Haiti had to be discontinued.
Last year, FCA spent 5.7 million euros on domestic operations and general administrative expenses. Therefore, of one euro, over 87 cents were spent on aid work, and under 13 cents were used for lobbying, fundraising, communications, training, and general administration.
In 2017, Finn Church Aid’s fundraising yielded 41.8 million euros. The support of private donors to the work of FCA is still the single most important source of funding. The funding received from private and business donations in 2017 was 12.7 million euros. In addition, international funding continued its rapid growth, amounting to 12 million euros last year. Parishes were responsible for 7.7 million of the proceeds, and the Ministry for Foreign Affairs for about 9 million euros.
The work of the 70 -year old Finn Church Aid still concentrated on the most fragile and challenging operative environments in the world. Despite difficult circumstances, the work bore fruit, and hundreds of thousands of people around the world received aid. In Finland, work with immigrants continued to grow.
”In addition to our traditional aid work, occupational training, creating jobs, and improving subsistence are becoming important focal points for FCA. Cooperation with Finnish education operators, such as Omnia Education Partnership Oy and universities, is rapidly yielding results,” says executive director of FCA, Jouni Hemberg.
The high number of prolonged crises around the world in 2017 could be seen in FCA’s humanitarian work. Almost all humanitarian aid focused on supporting refugees in South Sudan, Myanmar, Jordan, Greece, Syria, and the Central African Republic.
Based on funds used for delivering aid, Finn Church Aid is the biggest organisation providing international aid in Finland. As in previous years, most of the work focused on Africa, representing 40 percent and over 18 million euros of all FCA’s work.
Inquiries: Executive Director of Finn Church Aid Jouni Hemberg, tel. 050 325 9579
Finn Church Aid handed over the completed structures to the beneficiaries and local government in Bidibidi and Omugo refugee settlements.
A major improvement in the education of children and youth began with the opening of 34 newly constructed school blocks in Bidibidi and Omugo refugee settlements in Northern Uganda.
FCA built 102 classrooms, 28 latrine blocks and 65 teacher houses with EU humanitarian funding to provide a conducive and safe learning environment to the vast number of children in the settlements.
The children celebrated the handover in separate ceremonies in the presence of government officials, UNHCR, refugee community representatives and parents.
Over 60 percent of the South Sudanese refugees are under 18 years old. Many have thus far struggled in temporary structures like tents that heat up quickly during sunny days, and are vulnerable to extreme weather conditions. The newly finished buildings are semi-permanent and safe.
In addition to the structures, FCA has trained 108 teachers in dealing with children in a crisis context. A total of 400 teachers are to be trained during the project. The teachers and child protection committees also received bicycles to support them in their roles in ensuring child protection in both schools and communities.
Read more about Finn Church Aid’s work in Uganda here.
The completed classrooms provide students with a safe environment for learning.
To address the high demand for teacher accommodation, FCA recently constructed an additional 25 tukuls for teacher accommodation across 5 schools in Bidibidi.
There are anniversaries for humanitarian workers that are sad reminders of evil in the world. This week marks the seventh year of the Syrian war, and this is no cause for celebration. There is just a cruel war in which all parties have lost a long time ago.
Last week, I was in Syria for a project monitoring trip, and the war was constantly present. The war could even be seen in areas that have not had violent conflicts. In addition to visible fights, 6.1 million internally displaced persons place a burden on the economy of more peaceful areas and on public services.
The war affects the life of every Syrian.
During my trip, I met with colleagues over breakfast in the mornings, and I listened in silence as they talked about the friend or relative in Damascus whose house had been hit by a rocket and whether anyone had been killed or injured. I was shaken by how everyday these stories sounded coming from them and how tired they are after seven years of war.
We were supposed to go to Damascus, but it is impossible at the moment. The fighting in Eastern Ghouta is at its most heated, and dozens of rockets and grenades are fired at the city every day. On my last visit in the fall of 2017, the streets were full of people in the evenings. Single projectiles did not hold people back. Now, in March, people think it best to stay at home.
The Syrian war is a shameful example of the failure of great powers
As humanitarian operators, we do not publicly take sides in politics, but I have to say that seven years of war in Syria is a shameful example of the failure of political will and decision-making on the part of great powers. In the midst of this political tug-of-war, the one to suffer most is always the human being, whichever side of the front line he or she lives.
The victim has been an entire nation, especially children. There is a whole generation of refugees in Syria’s neighbouring countries that has never lived in their native land. At Za’atari refugee camp in Jordan, 80 Syrian children are born as refugees every week. They grow up within the walls of refugee camps and in the poor quarters of a foreign land.
Seven years have left behind unimaginable destruction and human suffering. Hundreds of thousands have died, and in addition to internally displaced people, 5.6 million refugees have fled to neighbouring countries. The real number is much higher, since not everyone has been registered.
There are glimmers of light in Syria, as some get to return to their homes and are able to restart their lives. However, the overall situation for civilians is worse than ever.
69 percent live in extreme poverty. The price of food is eight times higher than before the war. 5.6 million people live in a life-threatening situation, without shelter, protection, and unable to meet fundamental rights or basic needs.
These people are in need of immediate humanitarian aid, and fast, but it cannot be easily delivered everywhere, as is the situation in Eastern Ghouta right now.
Functioning washrooms mean more pupils
Muqlos school in rural Homs in October 2017 (left) and after the rehabilitation in March 2018. Photo: Olli Pitkänen.
Finn Church Aid has supported children’s opportunities for going to school and the restoration of school buildings since 2015. Even though children’s access to school has improved in recent years, 1.7 million school-aged children, or 43 percent, are still out of school.
The need to get children to school is enormous in both Syria and neighbouring countries.
This winter, Finn Church Aid supports the restoration of 12 schools in central Syria. Classrooms, washrooms, and water stations are renovated, walls are painted, and desks are repaired.
Washroom and toilet of Muqlos school in rural Homs area in October 2017 and in march 2018. Photo: Olli Pitkänen.
We visited ten schools, and many children of internally displaced people study in each of them. At the Tartus countryside, principal of Muniat ya Mor school Hamsa Ali says with gratitude that renovating the school meant a lot to the community.
”Before, the toilets did not work and there was no water. Now they are in really good condition. The renovated school facilities have lured the children back to school,” said Ali during my visit.
Joyful colours on the classroom walls have already improved learning results. Absences have dropped, and fewer children and young people than before drop out of school. Teachers’ motivation has improved.
Teaching and learning are appreciated again!
Yusra Naser school in Safita has 361 pupils, 81 of whom the children of internally displaced people. English teacher Lucy Vitar believes there is a bright future ahead for the students.
”They are sad because of the war. Many of them are really bright, and we hope that they learn to love studying,” says Vitar regarding the significance of the renovation work.
Maintaining hope is important everywhere. The desire to believe in a brighter future makes people work for the common good. This could be felt in all the schools.
Principal of Nadim Resla school in Latakia, Fateer Barhom, summed up the effects of the seven years of war in a way I found apt. Although the war has affected everyone, adults need to be able to take responsibility for the children and create the best possible circumstances for them to study in.
Children deserve a chance to build their life in a safe environment.
Olli Pitkänen
Development Manager, Middle East, FCA
The office of principal Noura in Muqlos school in October 2017 and March 2018. The reconstruction of schools gives hope of a brighter future and motivates also the teachers. Photo: Olli Pitkänen.
In South Sudan, the price of food claims people’s lives as well as guns. Hunger staggers society, with people only focused on where to get their next meal.
When you throw a seed in the ground, it grows into a giant mango tree.
This is a saying from South Sudanese Equatoria, the breadbasket of the country. The soil is so fertile that crops grown in the region have fed millions of South Sudanese people. Practically all of South Sudan is a perfect seedbed for produce such as rice, corn, millet, sugar cane, and fruits.
However, war has driven three quarters of the region’s population out of their homes, and vast cultivated areas stand abandoned, says Marie Makweri, who worked in South Sudan for three years as Finn Church Aid’s (FCA) peace coordinator.
The dramatic consequences are seen in the availability and prices of food products. People are lucky to have even one meal a day. Anyone knows that hunger makes a person ill-tempered. Hunger makes the prolonged conflict even worse.
”People in South Sudan say that there are more weapons than food, which is a dangerous combination. A person with no food to feed oneself or one’s family thinks of all the ways in the world to get food,” says Makweri.
5 million people still on the brink of famine
In February 2017, UN declared a famine in Unity State, located in the middle of South Sudan. About 100,000 people were in danger of starving to death. The declaration was followed by an extensive humanitarian operation, during which food ration packages were dropped in the region from World Food Program (WFP) helicopters. FCA contributed to the food aid from its disaster fund.
In June, the famine was officially over, but the daily life of the South Sudanese people did not improve in any significant way. For famine to be declared, the situation has to meet clearly defined criteria. First, a fifth of households must suffer from an extreme lack of food, and a third of the population must be acutely malnourished. In addition, people die at a certain rate – the definition of famine calls for two victims per day for every 10,000 inhabitants.
Famine is equivalent to the highest category on a UN scale of 1 to 5 measuring food security. The current situation does not meet the criteria. On the other hand, 1.5 million people live in a state of emergency (stage 4) and 3.6 million in acute food shortage (stage 3). In other words, there are 5 million South Sudanese people on the brink of famine.
”When you’re there observing the situation, it makes no real difference if people are at stage 4 or 5. The food situation remains extremely difficult”, says Makweri.
Food prices increased tenfold
FCA supports peace and food security
FCA supports peace processes, education and opportunities for subsistence in South Sudan. FCA trainings teach skills such as baking and handling food and dairy products, which improves food production.
Since last fall, FCA has carried out a food security project with 100,000 euros from a disaster collection. The project involves farming training for 500 farmers, and participants in the training are provided with seeds and tools.
The South Sudan food crisis is the result of a prolonged conflict. The conflict began as a power struggle between president Salva Kiir and former vice president Riek Machar. The rivalry turned into war with ethnic battle lines. Kiir represents the Dinka tribe, the biggest tribe in South Sudan, and Machar is from the Nuer tribe, the second biggest.
The conflict is rooted in a dispute over resources after South Sudan gained independence in 2011 – land ownership, water, and oil. Kiir accused Machar of an attempted coup and dismissed him. There are other tribes in South Sudan as well, coaxed into alliance or played against each other. In the autumn of 2016, UN issued a warning of a possible genocide.
Fear has had catastrophic repercussions on food production. Farmers are too afraid to sow or harvest their crops. Food deliveries have become difficult, and prices at marketplaces have risen sky-high. After the fighting that started in July 2016, the price of a 3,5-kilo sack of maize meal in the capital Juba rose from 5,5 euros to 60 euros. The price is equivalent to a month’s average wages in South Sudan.
Even the prices of basic vegetables, such as tomatoes, have increased tenfold, and further from the capital, prices are even higher. Tea, sugar, and meat are luxury products that have become completely nonexistent.
The effects are seen on the street, says Makweri, who lived in Juba up until the turn of the year. Shopkeepers cannot afford to buy expensive food products and sell them at a profit, so many grocery stores have closed. Even bigger marketplaces have less items to sell, and fewer and fewer vendors selling them.
”Ordinary people can’t afford food,” says Makweri.
Food aid keeps people sane
In her work, Makweri has seen people’s preoccupation with food. Motivating them to participate in peace processes takes patience when their foremost concern is where to get the next meal for their family.
”People find it hard to even think about the next day, let alone the long-term effects of peace. They’re thinking about the next minute that they might as well use to get food.”
On the other hand, the food situation will not improve in any significant way until the conflict ends. South Sudan has all the prerequisites for self-sufficient food production, provided that peace can be achieved in the country. Food aid supported by the international community is keeping the negotiations alive.
”The message of the South Sudanese people is unanimous: the food aid should under no circumstances be discontinued. It keeps people alive and sane, and literally gives the strength to believe in peace.”
Text: Erik Nyström
Read more about about Finn Church Aid’s work in South Sudan here.
Organisations are trying to provide refugees from Myanmar with dignified circumstances at refugee camps filled to the brim in Bangladesh. Almost half a million children are in need of education.
”It is unbelievable how densely people have settled in the Kutupalong camp,” says Finn Church Aid education cluster coordinator Kaisa-Leena Juvonen.
Juvonen worked at Cox’s Bazar in Bangladesh in October and November. She directed a collaborative education cluster coordination with various aid organisations led by Unicef. Juvonen’s task was to ensure that as many children as possible have access to education.
The experienced aid worker colleagues with her estimated that the scale of the humanitarian catastrophe is comparable to the Haiti earthquake in 2010 or to the Southeast Asia tsunami in 2004.
”There are no roads between the dwellings built of tarpaulins in the wet, muddy and hilly terrain, so delivering aid equipment and building material is a challenge,” says Juvonen.
”The situation is difficult. Resources are small compared to the enormous needs. In addition, the cyclone season is approaching and will hit by April.”
According to the tentative results of a nutrition survey conducted in late October, severe acute malnutrition of children under 5 in the Kutupalong refugee camp has more than doubled since May 2017.
Setting up schools brings immediate relief to everyday life
There are an estimated 453,000 children between the ages of 4 and 18 in the refugee camps. Some of them are already in school. More temporary schools are being built all the time.
”The new sections of the camp will have 45 temporary classrooms built of bamboo and tarpaulin for every 14,000 people. School is attended in three shifts, with a maximum of 50 children per classroom,” says Juvonen.
FCA emergency assistance
Finn Church Aid has granted 100,000 euros to emergency assistance to the refugees in Bangladesh through the ACT Alliance. The funds will be used for food assistance, shelter, non-food items, hygiene kits, water points , latrines, health and nutrition, protection and psychosocial assistance.
”If we manage to build more school facilities later, the class size will be reduced to 35.”
Many of the children in the camps are traumatised after running from violence. Many have lost family members. The situation is especially difficult for the 23,000 children who have arrived alone.
”The children need support and the opportunity to be children, even in the difficult circumstances of the camps. Having access to a safe school environment plays an essential part.”
Expert volunteers help strengthen the preparedness in vulnerable areas.
22 volunteers across Europe came together in Prague for training for disaster risk reduction before starting their work in strengthening the capacity of local organisations working with communities in disaster-prone areas.
The volunteers learned e.g. to make Vulnerability Assessments and Emergency Response Plans, to enable them to share their knowledge with local communities. In addition to DRR, the training also included communications, security issues and getting to know their countries of destinations.
“They are a dedicated and motivated group. During October, they begin their deployments and start working along the local partners of their sending organisations” says Sabina Bergholm, volunteer coordinator for the ACT Alliance member Finn Church Aid.
Sending organisations are Finn Church Aid, Dan Church Aid, ICCO and Diaconia DECCB. The project builds on the extensive experience of ACT Alliance work.
The volunteers will share their experiences in social media and in the communications channels of their sending and receiving organisations. After their deployments, they also have visibility actions in sending countries.
The 2017-2018 project is funded by the European Commission’s Humanitarian aid and Civil Protection department (ECHO) initiative called EU Aid Volunteers, bringing together organisations from different countries and strengthening the local capacity of disaster-affected communities.
Finn Church Aid (FCA) has granted 30,000 euros to emergency assistance in Sierra Leone after mudslides and floods killed over 400 people in the capital Freetown and left more than 3 000 homeless.
Severe mudslides and floods hit Sierra Leone’s capital Freetown and it’s neighboring areas on Monday August 14th, killing at least 400 people. Razed buildings covered in mud and rubble left over 3 000 homeless.
“FCA will assist with building temporary shelter and providing food and clothing”, says FCA’s Country Director Michael Doe from Freetown.
The people who lost their homes need food, clothing, emergency shelter, blankets and basic kitchen utensils as well as health services. The death toll is expected to rise, as hundreds of people are still missing.
“The rain has stopped for now, and the data collection on surviving residents in the mudslide community continues. Surviving residents around the mudslide community have been asked to vacate the area, but it remains unclear where. A burial of over 300 bodies takes place in rural Freetown on Thursday”, reports Doe.
FCA’s Country Office cooperates with other ACT Alliance members.
More on FCA’s work in Sierra Leone
Violent attacks are increasing in the Central African Republic. The situation has thus far not affected Finn Church Aid’s work in one of the world’s poorest and most fragile countries.
United Nations (UN) humanitarian officials warned about an increasing number of violent acts in the Central Africa Republic (CAR) in July. According to the UN, the attacks are increasingly targeting children. There are concerns that humanitarian needs in CAR will escalate to levels previously reached four years ago when the conflict was at its worst.
According to FCA’s country director Katja José, the security situation has worsened especially in the northern part of the country, where armed groups have stopped humanitarian convoys twice during the past couple of weeks, robbing their aid items. Similar incidents have previously been reported from the eastern parts. Earlier this week, the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies confirmed that six of its volunteers were killed there.
Humanitarian organizations have condemned the attacks and pleaded to the government of CAR and to the UN to secure humanitarian access. An estimated 2,2 million people in CAR rely on humanitarian aid.
“Should the humanitarian assistance stop, the civilian population will be most affected. Then they are forced to survive without food aid, medicines, hygiene products or school items,” José says.
No future without education
FCA established a country office in CAR in 2013. The work is focused on renovating schools that have been damaged by the conflict, delivering school kits and training teachers in and around Bangui and the southwestern parts of the country.
“The villages of Berberati and Nola, where FCA has its sub-offices, have for now been among the safest of regions and we have been able to continue our operations as per usual. Last week we had to cancel a meeting with local officials in Bangui because of the security situation.”
Renewed fighting has forced more than 150 000 people to flee their homes in the first half of 2017.
“There are a lot of children living in the refugee camps in CAR, who have been separated from their families. Many women have lost their husbands and are now single parents.”
The need for development cooperation is dire even in the midst of the conflict.
“In conflicts, education is often overrun by other needs, but if a generation grows without the possibility of going to school and receiving education, do they have a future? Education is a human right and everyone should commit to guaranteeing children the right to education.”
José moved to CAR two months ago. She has previously worked for different NGO´s in Mozambique, Tanzania and Zambia.
“CAR is clearly poorer than countries that have enjoyed peace for a longer time. In the beginning of 2000, Zambia and Mozambique were among the poorest of countries, but now both are better off than CAR. I believe that the reason for this is that the people have been able to go to school, farm their land and go to work – and these are the things that many people can’t do in CAR because of the fighting.”