Adrianna Logalbo, director of Nothing But Nets writes to us from Dadaab, Kenya, where she is handing out insecticide treated bed nets to Somali refugees. Nothing But Nets and its partner the Union of Reform Judaism raised more than $1.2 million to provide long-lasting insecticide-treated nets to more than 273,000 refugees in four camps in Kenya before the summer’s rainy season. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) will distribute the 128,000 nets over the next few weeks. (Readers should check out this post for more on the deadly malari-refugee nexus.) Adrianna has a special message for those who have supported Nothing But Nets, including many Dispatch readers.
Here's Adrianna:
It's been a long, hot, and eye-opening day in Dadaab, Kenya with the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR). I’m witnessing firsthand the struggles that refugees, UNHCR, and the UN agency’s partners go through each and every day here. Let me set the scene for a moment:
* There are 3 refugee camps in Dadaab: Ifo, Hagadera and Dagahaley
* Ifo was established in the early 1990s
* Nearly 250,000 refugees are living in these 3 camps – 3 times the capacity
* Each month, another 5,000 Somalians enter the Dadaab camps, but with no more room, they are not given their own living space
It is hot and crowded here, but despite these conditions, Dadaab is recognizably a community. And I had the chance to see this firsthand today as we walked around the Ifo camp with community health workers, distributing nets to women and the most vulnerable. The community health workers know exactly whom to target and spend time at each home not only explaining the importance of using the net, but also going so far as to hanging it up for people. Up until now, community health workers and doctors in Dadaab have had to choose which vulnerable populations should get nets, given limited resources. But thanks to YOU, the health workers and doctors no longer have to make these choices. We have been able to fund full coverage for nets (1 net for every 2 people) in the Dadaab camps, as well as Kakuma, the refugee camp in western Kenya. That's 128,000 bed nets! The nets will go a long way in preventing malaria illness and deaths in these camps. And I can assure you, these refugees are grateful for your support.
Flickr: Random FactorSam Stein from Huffington Post got one last night to President Obama's first press conference. I could definitely have done better than Michael Fletcher from the Washington Post...who asked the President about A-Rod. Nonetheless, some journalists veered from questions on the financial crisis to ask Obama about foreign policy. The crib notes:
On Iran: We love the people of Iran but their government has been doing some bad things (financial terrorist organizations, using unsavory language, and pursuing nuclear weapons). My national security team is looking for new opportunities for engagement, which might mean a face-to-face meeting in the next few months. I've sent some good signals with the appointment of George Mitchell and my interview with al-Arabiya. Ball's in Tehran's court.
On Iraq and Afghanistan: Due to the good work of our military and Amb. Crocker, a relatively peaceful election just occurred in Iraq, signally a somewhat functioning political system. We're not yet there in Afghanistan. The central government seems "very detached" (ouch Karzai), and the bad guys are operating in the border region without a concerted effort to root them out. We're going through a review, and we're hoping for more effective coordination. (UND-In other words, I'm not sure what we're doing yet)
Full transcript of these sections after the jump. (Via CNN)
With Radovan Karadzic, the indicted political mastermind of the Serbian wars of the 1990s, sipping sodas behind bars in The Hague, Ratko Mladic, the military leader accused of carrying out Karadzic's notorious orders of ethnic cleansing and genocide, remains the most wanted criminal from Yugoslavia's destructive Milosevic era. For over a dozen years, Mladic has been believed to be still living in Serbia, at times openly, confident in his protection by the Serbian government. With the precedent of Karadzic's capture, though, and Serbia's growing interest in strengthening ties with the European Union, a stepped-up search for Mladic appears to be underway.
At least according to the information divulged on wire reports, though, it doesn't seem to have taken much to increase the lackluster efforts at apprehension that had characterized the Serbian government's history of inaction. In operations that "went smoothly," EU peacekeepers this morning searched the houses of Mladic's family members, which, while certainly proactive, seems like a step that should have been taken long ago. Yet, coupled with the confiscation of certain items for investigation, the searches, according to BBC reporter Helen Fawkes, represent a sign for optimism:
She says the last time EU peacekeepers mounted an operation like this was six months ago, when they raided the family home of the former Bosnian Serb political leader, Radovan Karadzic.
Mladic, for various reasons, may be harder to find than Karadzic was, but his arrest is sought perhaps even more urgently by many victims' families. While Mladic likely has not adopted as bizarre a disguise as the "poet-intellectual" Karadzic, rejuvenating the search with EU, NATO, and Serbian cooperation is an encouraging development for both the long-standing International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia and the prospect of achieving justice for the horrific crimes committed there.
(image from flickr user Bogomir Doringer under a Creative Commons license)
For those for whom "Reggie Bush" and "football" have no immediate connection (or who prefer Chelsea to Barcelona AC Milan), check out this video of soccer football star Didier Drogba, who in addition to a star on the pitch is also an important voice in the global fight against poverty.
As a Goodwill Ambassador for the UN Development Program (UNDP), Drogba lends his fame to UNDP's noble work rebuilding societies after conflict, promoting human rights and gender equality, and helping countries achieve the Millennium Development Goals. You'll notice that one of the specific threats that Drogba calls attention to in this video is that of cluster bombs -- the incredibly destructive munitions that over 100 countries have agreed to ban (but not, unfortunately, the United States).
The threats we face have no respect for borders. No single country, no matter how powerful, can best meet them alone. We believe that international alliances and organizations do not diminish America's power they help us advance our collective security, economic interests and values. So we will engage. We will listen. We will consult. America needs the world, just as I believe the world needs America. But we say to our friends that the alliances, treaties and international organizations we build must be credible and they must be effective. That requires a common commitment not only to live by the rules, but to enforce them.
A club for youth to exchange ideas on peace, to be established in all schools of secondary and above levels in Sudan’s strife-torn Darfur region, was launched this weekend, the African Union-United Nations joint peacekeeping operation there (UNAMID) said today.
Over 100 new members attended the opening of the first UNAMID Peace Club, sponsored by UNAMID’s Community Outreach Unit, at the Model Secondary School for Girls in El Fasher – the headquarters city for the mission.
While skeptics might characterize this step as "fluffy" -- and there's no expectation that a "peace club" will end the violence in Darfur -- the reality is that thousands of children have now grown up in sprawling displaced persons camps, relying on international humanitarian aid and unable to venture far out of the camps. And as the tumultuous case of the Kalma camp demonstrates, radicalism thrives where disillusioned and displaced young people have been clustered for years. So rather than nurse resentment, Darfuris now have an opportunity to talk about peace in an open way. It won't quell the very real dangers that a reconstituted Darfuri society will face, but at least it's a start.
And even though the club has been organized by UNAMID, it seems to me a little self-indulgent that the first meetings featured a quiz game "in which the students showed off their knowledge of UNAMID and its activities in Darfur."
(image from flickr user Samuel Stroube under a Creative Commons license)
...try providing the telecommunications infrastructure on which these humanitarian relief organizations rely, under the imperative of immediate deployment, and all while facing the same privations, complications, and dangers of operating in a conflict zone.
Here at UN Dispatch, we've provided consistentcoverage of the violence and displacement stemming from conflicts in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. We've also from time to time featured the under-heralded work of Telecoms sans Frontieres (TSF), the bold organization that fills the gaping telecommunications hole in societies, like many in eastern Congo, scrambling to recuperate from violent conflict.
The resources that TSF provides for displaced persons -- an ability to talk with worried family members, to communicate their location and maintain contact -- are as uplifting as the food, water, and shelter provided by other humanitarian organizations. What's more, though, is that these aid workers themselves rely on the technology that TSF rapidly deploys. And as this email from a TSF employee makes clear, the mandate to fulfill these crucial tasks does not free them from the harsh conditions under which humanitarian organizations must operate in places like eastern Congo:
In the Haut-Uélé [a district in northeastern Congo, on the Sudanese border, where TSF is deployed] alone, there are 135,000 displaced which are regularly facing LRA rebel attacks. In Dungu [TSF headquarters in the region], there are no landlines and the only GSM operator available in the area is not reliable due to regular power failure. There is no electricity so all aid agencies rely on generators. The working conditions are really tough. There is little food including for those working to help the population due to limited supplies linked to the security conditions.
In this edition of UN Plaza I speak with Nicolas de Torrente of Medecins sans Frontieres. We survey some of the globe's most overlooked humanitarian crises. Here's the clip in full.