It is unhelpful for agencies like Goal to suggest their sudden interest will solve the food crisis in Niger, writes Maura Quinn
Food, as John O'Shea of Goal pointed out recently in his Irish Times article, is indeed at the core of the current humanitarian crisis in Niger. However, Mr O'Shea's additional remarks, that the "body charged with the responsibility of providing nutrition for the helpless in Niger - the United Nations - has once again failed to deliver", are simply untrue.
UN organisations like Unicef, the World Food Programme and the World Health Organisation have been working in collaboration with the government of Niger and our NGO partners to treat children with severe and moderate malnutrition, and to reduce the effects of food insecurity in Niger since January of this year.
Unicef, which has had a presence in Niger since 1959, other UN agencies and our partners have been issuing urgent alerts about this impending crisis since late 2004. Unicef's appeal then, and subsequent appeals in March and May, received scant attention from global donors or from the global media.
This complete lack of response meant that UN organisations and other humanitarian agencies working on the ground in Niger were unable to prevent the escalating food crisis. A far greater and quicker response from the international donor community and greater media coverage at that time could have alleviated this crisis.
All too often, it is only when an emergency seizes the attention of the media and images appear on TV screens and newspaper pages that donor funding begins to flow. Once they are made aware of an emergency, the public is mobilised to give and donor governments commit funding.
Financial support is the lifeblood of all humanitarian agencies, including UN humanitarian organisations, such as Unicef, the World Food Programme and the World Health Organisation. We depend entirely on voluntary funding from the public and donor governments to implement our programmes worldwide - especially in times of crisis.
The Asian tsunami disaster showed that people give very generously once they are informed of the situation. The enormous response demonstrated what can be achieved when the world comes together, but even then, the large influx of agencies put logistical pressure on local, district and national authorities to direct the response. For example, in Banda Aceh alone, at the height of the relief phase, there were over 250 agencies working in the water and sanitation sector alone.
Co-ordination at all levels and between all agencies is as challenging as it is essential. An increase in the number of agencies operating on the ground in a particular emergency zone does not necessarily mean more effective delivery of aid to those who need it most. No one humanitarian organisation working in Niger will solve the current crisis, or in any other country dealing with an emergency. The scale of the Niger situation is such that it requires an international response with strong donor support for agencies which have been working in Niger and crying out for resources to scale up their operations.
In the majority of cases, large organisations such as United Nations bodies working with their partner organisations at local level are able to make the most effective difference. For those who operate within the United Nations family and our partners in the field, including Irish NGOs such as Concern which have worked in Niger for many years, it is extremely unhelpful for agencies like Goal to suggest that their sudden activity and interest in Niger will solve the problem.
Unicef has an Emergency Programme Fund, which was established to strengthen our capacity to respond to crises. This fund allows us to react immediately when emergencies strike, pending receipt of donor funds. We also pre-position humanitarian supplies in our warehouses in Copenhagen and the Middle East - supplies which can be released immediately to alleviate suffering once a disaster hits.
However, the level of pre-positioned supplies is dependent on the level of funding available to us. On many occasions Unicef programmes based in non-media driven emergencies must borrow funds internally in the hope that they will be able to recoup the funds at a later stage.
A greater commitment is urgently needed from the global donor community to ensure that the most effective lifesaving mechanisms can be implemented to prevent or deal with humanitarian crises as they occur. Crucially, the UN secretary general, Kofi Annan, has acknowledged that a greater international donor response is needed in times of emergency and has put forward a proposal as part of the UN reform document which sets out the establishment of an International Emergency Fund. This will be debated in September.
UN humanitarian organisations did not wait for this crisis to happen in Niger. In January this year, through early warning preparedness, Unicef began taking proactive measures. Over 40 tonnes of therapeutic milk and 1.5 tonnes of therapeutic feeding were delivered to 31 therapeutic feeding centres. Some 614 tonnes of grain have reached 62 of the most affected villages, benefiting an estimated 198,000 people, including 40,000 children under the age of five. If greater funding had been available at the time, more children and their families could have been reached.
Away from the glare of the media spotlight, "forgotten emergencies" continue to smoulder unnoticed. In several countries, Unicef staff deliver aid despite constant threats to their personal safety. For example, Unicef has remained in Iraq, operating under very difficult circumstances and defiant to those who would see us leave - such is our commitment to the children and women of Iraq who desperately need our support.
At any given time, between one-quarter and one-third of the 157 countries in which Unicef works are affected by emergencies arising from conflict, economic crises, natural disasters or a combination of these. The majority of these emergencies don't reach the media, despite our best efforts, therefore funds are not easy to raise.
In late January 2005, Unicef appealed for more than $750 million to help millions of children struggling to survive in emergencies around the world. Among the countries included in the 2005 appeal are Somalia, Burundi, Democratic Republic of Congo, Sierra Leone, Afghanistan, Colombia and Haiti. Two-thirds of the countries are in Africa.
These are forgotten crises - for example, the ongoing conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo has claimed more than three million lives in just five years, or the situation in northern Uganda which is considered to be one of the worst emergencies facing children anywhere today.
Securing funding for these countries is a challenge and Unicef is always grateful to donors, such as the Irish Government, who fund Unicef programmes in countries where silent emergencies threaten the lives of children every day.
Unicef is committed to assisting and protecting all children everywhere, including those caught in crises which are overlooked by the media. Every day, children are facing threats to their survival and wellbeing.
As Unicef has been present for decades in most developing countries, governments in countries facing crisis often call first on Unicef's experience and expertise, secure in the knowledge that Unicef will stay, working for children, long after the emergency is over and the TV camera crews have moved on.
Maura Quinn is executive director of Unicef Ireland