Local Volunteers Indispensable In Disasters, But Are Undervalued: Report

Local Volunteers Indispensable In Disasters, But Are Undervalued: Report
Anadolu Agency via Getty Images

BARCELONA, Sept 24 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - In Afghan villages, committees of grandmothers have been teaching younger women about health during pregnancy and advising them to visit clinics, leading to a fall in maternal deaths and a rise in child vaccinations.

In Syria, local doctors and aid groups have been central to getting medical treatment and basic supplies to people cut off or displaced by the conflict, as insecurity makes it dangerous for international staff to work on the ground.

The importance of local volunteers, rescuers and aid workers is growing, as foreigners are increasingly targeted in some war zones and governments in emerging economies have more resources to manage disasters, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) said in a report.

Yet often local groups are undervalued, and do not receive enough funding, technical support, management training and help with security issues from the international donors and aid agencies that rely on them in troubled places like Somalia and South Sudan, the report said.

"A better balance must be struck between the two (sides)," said Mo Hamza, lead author of the World Disasters Report and professor of disaster risk management at the University of Copenhagen.

Local groups are increasingly determining the effectiveness of aid operations, and so clearer understanding and a more open dialog with them is critical, he added.

Other crises where local people have taken the lead include the Ebola outbreak in West Africa and the Nepal earthquakes this year, IFRC Secretary General Elhadj As Sy wrote in a foreword to the report.

FILE - In this Saturday, Sept. 20, 2014 file photo, A health worker volunteer talks with residents on how to prevent and identify the Ebola virus in others, and distributes bars of soap in Freetown, Sierra. Community leaders and Ebola surveillance teams are going house-to-house in neighborhoods in and around Sierra Leone’s capital to search for the sick. President Ernest Bai Koroma launched “Operation Western Area Surge” on Wednesday in a national broadcast. While infection rates appear to be stabilizing or declining in neighboring Guinea and Liberia, Sierra Leone is still seeing a surge of cases, especially the Western Area, which includes Freetown and its surroundings. (AP Photo/Michael Duff, File)
FILE - In this Saturday, Sept. 20, 2014 file photo, A health worker volunteer talks with residents on how to prevent and identify the Ebola virus in others, and distributes bars of soap in Freetown, Sierra. Community leaders and Ebola surveillance teams are going house-to-house in neighborhoods in and around Sierra Leone’s capital to search for the sick. President Ernest Bai Koroma launched “Operation Western Area Surge” on Wednesday in a national broadcast. While infection rates appear to be stabilizing or declining in neighboring Guinea and Liberia, Sierra Leone is still seeing a surge of cases, especially the Western Area, which includes Freetown and its surroundings. (AP Photo/Michael Duff, File)

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Local responders are effective not just because they are there when a disaster hits, but because they know how things work and can identify the causes of problems, he added.

"(They) are uniquely placed to find solutions that reduce underlying risks because of their understanding of local contexts - of weather patterns, of community leaders, of vulnerabilities and of sources of strength," he wrote.

That expertise can be harnessed to make communities more resilient to future threats, he said.

SLOW TO ADAPT

In a crisis, local groups are seen as more able to get aid to hard-to-reach areas and help communities rebuild once the worst of a crisis is over.

But the international humanitarian community often provides local partners with too few resources and opportunities to influence decisions, while failing to find out what they need, the report said.

In Haiti, for example, less than 10 percent of the $6.43 billion in aid spent in the two years after the January 2010 earthquake was allocated to the impoverished country's government, NGOs and companies, according to the United Nations.

Families receive toothpaste and toothbrushes as they wait in line at a clinic staffed by visiting volunteers on Isle de la Gonave, Haiti. Since the 2010 earthquake Port-au-Prince residents have fled to the island increasing it's population by 30 percent. (Photo by Alyce Henson/Rotary International/Getty Images)
Families receive toothpaste and toothbrushes as they wait in line at a clinic staffed by visiting volunteers on Isle de la Gonave, Haiti. Since the 2010 earthquake Port-au-Prince residents have fled to the island increasing it's population by 30 percent. (Photo by Alyce Henson/Rotary International/Getty Images)

Alyce Henson via Getty Images

But Hamza said it was just as important to help local groups access funding, build their skills to spend it well and cooperate on long-term programs.

"This isn't a problem you can throw money at," he said, noting how huge amounts of aid did not translate into an efficient response after the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami because there was not enough local capacity to use it properly.

In war zones and places where state systems are weak or corrupt, donors may be concerned their money will be poorly managed, or local organizations will be biased towards certain recipients, the report noted.

And in the immediate aftermath of a sudden disaster like an earthquake, international agencies may fear local responders will be overwhelmed.

But when it comes to the rising number of disasters hitting urban areas, such as floods, international aid groups must work with municipal governments, more of which are now trying to reduce risks, Hamza said.

There is still much to learn on both sides, he added, but the complex structure of the global humanitarian system means it lags behind realities in the field.

"There is a need to catch up, and catch up quickly," he said. (Reporting by Megan Rowling; editing by Alex Whiting. Please credit the Thomson Reuters Foundation, the charitable arm of Thomson Reuters, that covers humanitarian news, women's rights, trafficking, corruption and climate change. Visit www.trust.org)

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