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I met Rahi Harouna when she was making an important life decision – and getting moral support from what many may regard as a surprising source.
Rahi, a 38-year-old mother of five children, was at a health centre run by the aid agency Concern and funded by the European Commission in the village of Bambey, Niger. Read the full entry
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When at midnight on December 31st we crossed over from the old into the New Year, I prayed for kindness – of men and nature. I prayed for a better year, and a better decade.
The year we left behind was really tough. I will remember it as the first in my lifetime the world suffered two mega disasters, the earthquake in Haiti and the floods in Pakistan. 2010 wrote many entries in the record books of disasters; they claimed thousands of lives, reduced to rubble millions of livelihoods and inflicted damage worth billions of euros.
Just days into 2010, Haiti was devastated by the second most destructive earthquake in recorded history, which was later followed by cholera epidemics. An even stronger (although luckily less destructive) earthquake hit Chile. An Icelandic volcano eruption caused an unprecedented airspace closure in Europe. The United States suffered the greatest environmental catastrophe in its history after the oil rig explosion in the Mexican gulf. In Russia and Israel, forest fires burned at a scale unseen before. Droughts in Africa put millions of people in new risk of starvation. Floods swept through parts of Colombia, India and Bangladesh and covered a fifth of Pakistan’s territory. Political instability claimed victims in Kirgizstan and the Ivory Coast. Alongside these new disasters, there were dozens of protracted humanitarian crises where people kept perishing and livelihoods remained precarious in 2010 – Sudan, Congo, Yemen, Saharawi.
But 2010 also brought a very important message: despite economic hardship at home, we in Europe kept our promise to stand by those in the direst need. We mobilised rescue missions and raised money, and thus saved lives. One of the most precious memories I keep from last year is this of Laoure, a baby I met in Niger, who could have starved to death had it not been for Europe’s food assistance. There were thousands of stories like Laoure’s, in Haiti, in Pakistan, in Darfur. These stories give me hope for the future.
The New Year began – with an earthquake in Chile and floods in Australia. Luckily, neither claimed many victims. So maybe the prayer works?
Whatever the answer, I promise you to go beyond prayers. We hope for the best, but we prepare for the worst, and will stick together to face the challenges 2011 may bring.
I wish you all the best: good health, good luck, and fewer crisis stories from your humanitarian aid commissioner in 2011.
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The 1000 day battle against child malnutrition
Friday, September 24th, 2010
Science tells us that the first 1000 days of a baby’s life are critical for its future. Good nutrition during these early days makes a huge difference to a child’s mental and physical health. In my part of the world access to food and health care is a birthright, but for millions of children born in poor countries it is not. This is what the 1000 days partnership to reduce child under-nutrition aims to change.
Joining this partnership was the most important goal of my trip to New York during the United Nations General Assembly. On September 21, a high level event “1000 Days: Change a Life, Change the Future – Partnering to Reduce Child Under-nutrition” co-hosted by US Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, and the Irish Minister of Foreign Affairs, Micheál Martins, brought together more than a hundred leaders from governments, the private sector and non-governmental organizations. Read the full entry
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With desertification spreading fast because of climate change, drought is affecting millions of people. This is particularly painful for Africa – because the continent has contributed least to climate change, but suffers from it the most. It is shocking, but true: droughts in Africa account for 95% of the death toll caused by natural disasters.
I was recently in Niger, one of the poorest and driest countries in the world, situated in the region of Sahel, a large stretch of mainly arid and semi-arid land. The population there has always been vulnerable to droughts, but not to the degree we witness today. Although average rainfall levels have remained steady, the arrival of rains has become less predictable, and they often come in very short and heavy bouts, which wash away seeds and destroy crops. Read the full entry
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Together we can save the life of Laoure
Wednesday, June 9th, 2010
One day when I have the time to look back at my life, the trip through the red sands of Maradi , Niger, will be among those I will remember. It is hot, the rainy season has not started yet , and the danger of hunger is already tangible. 3 million people live in Maradi, and more than half of them are at risk of malnutrition. Without help, this risk will increase between now and November, when the lean season ends (provided there is more rain than last year so that November will bring in a good harvest). We are here to get a sense of the severity of the current food crisis and the effectiveness of the measures we have taken so far. And we do it in the best possible way – by talking to as many people as we can from all walks of life – the governor, villagers, mothers in a hospital, humanitarian workers. Read the full entry
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