Mapendo International

Mapendo Blog

Monday, January 18, 2010
How to Help in Haiti

The crisis in Haiti following last week's devastating earthquake has shocked and saddened us all. The scale of loss of life, property, and livelihoods is almost inconceivable. While Mapendo does not work directly in Haiti, we wanted to let you know that we are monitoring the crisis and are participating in advocacy efforts to help the Haitian people. Mapendo is a member of a consortium of refugee agencies called Refugee Council USA (RCUSA). Here are a few examples of the advocacy we are engaged in through RCUSA:

- Last week we succeeded in persuading the U.S. Government to grant Temporary Protected Status for Haitians who are already in the U.S. and cannot return home. Haitians are now eligible to remain in the country for 18 months, or until it is determined that Haiti is safe for return. This is estimated to benefit roughly 130,000 people.

- Through RCUSA, we are also advocating for more favorable treatment of Haitians in need of evacuation from Haiti for urgent medical care. The U.S. is allowing some to seek care in the U.S., but on a very restricted basis.

- RCUSA is engaged in contingency planning in the event of mass outflows of refugees from Haiti. Various scenarios for sheltering and caring for large numbers of refugees are being considered - including possible use of the base at Guantanamo, which has been used in the past to temporarily house refugees from Cuba and Haiti.

- Some members of RCUSA are using this new spotlight on Haiti to push for more favorable policies towards Haitian refugees generally. While the U.S. is generous in other aspects of its refugee program, it is notoriously ungenerous where Haiti is concerned. Haitians fleeing to the U.S. by boat are intercepted by the U.S. Coast Guard before they reach our shores and returned to Haiti, in order to prevent them from applying for asylum in the U.S. This is in breach of the 1951 Refugee Convention and the obligations of the U.S. as a signatory to the Convention.

Several of the member agencies of RCUSA are operating on the ground in Haiti to help alleviate the humanitarian crisis, notably the International Rescue Committee and Jesuit Refugee Services. Both of these agencies are well respected and well run, in our experience. Many people have asked us which agencies working in Haiti we would recommend donating to. The two above are among those recommended, as are Partners in Health, Appropriate Infrastructure Development Group, and Doctors Without Borders. One strong recommendation that I would make is whomever you give to, don't earmark the gift for Haiti. Give to the agency's unrestricted funds so that they can use the funds where they see the greatest needs. Earmarking money for a particular crisis can result in wasteful and ineffectual spending and also very lopsided treatment of various crises. Here's an excellent commentary (if you overlook the title) on why it's important to give unrestricted funds.

Our thoughts and prayers are with the Haitian people. Mapendo will continue to join with our Refugee Council colleagues in helping to alleviate the crisis as best we can.

Wednesday, January 06, 2010
Oxfam: Kenya threatened by new urban disaster

Nairobi

Here's a troubling report (froom 2009) from Oxfam on Nairobi's urbanization:

"The scale of urban poverty in Kenya is something that policymakers can no longer afford to ignore. Between a third and half of the country’s urban population live in poverty. The country is urbanising at such a speed that it is projected to be 50 per cent urban by 2020, and half of all Kenya’s poor will be living in urban areas. In this respect there can be no doubt that poverty itself is rapidly urbanising in Kenya.

Oxfam GB Kenya’s report highlights the mutually reinforcing dimensions of vulnerability in Nairobi’s slums, including the following:

• Urban residents are almost twice as likely to be infected with HIV as their rural counterparts.

• Children in Nairobi’s slums are among the unhealthiest in the country. Over half are likely to suffer acute respiratory infection and almost half under 5 are stunted; moreover they are less likely to be immunised than children elsewhere in Kenya and more prone to diarrhoea and fever."