CRINMAIL 142

In this issue:

TOP STORY: Appointing the next humanitarian chief - is the race over before it has begun?

The International Council of Voluntary Associations has issued the following call for transparency in the appointment process of the next UN humanitarian chief. As CRIN runs a campaign to promote open and transparent processes for filling jobs relevant to children's rights, we thought this was also an interesting position to look at.

To read more about CRIN's campaign "The future of children's rights - in whose hands?", go here.

The time has come to appoint the next UN humanitarian chief, known formally as the Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs/Emergency Relief Coordinator (ERC). Names have been circulating of people rumoured to be in the race to fill the position, following John Holmes’ announcement in late February of his departure. Recent rumours suggest that it is up to one country to decide who will fill the position, which becomes vacant in August. Reportedly, a shortlist with names of candidates from that country has been passed to the UN Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon, who may announce his decision at any moment.

The ERC position can have a great impact on making humanitarian action more effective. Jan Egeland, John Holmes’ predecessor, demonstrated that the ERC can put forward a vision of how the humanitarian community should operate. He launched a highly ambitious set of reforms, not just for the UN, but also for the broader humanitarian community. The ERC leads humanitarian response and advocates for populations caught in armed conflicts or hit by devastating disasters. S/He also appoints the UN’s most senior in-country official in charge of humanitarian coordination, the Humanitarian Coordinator (HC), and chairs international coordination mechanisms. Given the increasingly complex environment in which humanitarian response is undertaken, there is a need for a strong and effective leader to be appointed as ERC.

Opening up the appointment process

Many questions remain around the ERC appointment: Will the Secretary-General (SG) appoint the new ERC on the basis of merit or on the basis of the candidate’s passport? Is the SG interviewing the shortlisted candidates to ascertain their views and understanding of humanitarian response? Is he checking references to find out how the candidates have performed in managing humanitarian organisations?

Sadly, it seems there is a risk that, for this appointment, Ban Ki-moon might not take the necessary steps to make the recruitment process open and transparent. In the absence of such a process, and given the impact of the ERC’s position for humanitarian action, it seems appropriate for someone else to take up the gauntlet. Outside pressure from NGOs, which together are the largest operational humanitarian players, seems to be the only way to push for an appointment based on qualifications and experience.

A space for potential candidates to ‘talk back’

ICVA is offering a public forum for (potential) candidates to write about how they would take up the challenge of the ERC post by expressing their views on the position and how they foresee carrying out the job. The responses will be brought to the attention of the Secretary-General so that, with luck, he can take an informed decision. ICVA will also make all contributions publicly available as we receive them (details further below).

The challenges facing the next ERC

The response to the earthquake that hit Haiti on 12 January 2010 saw masses of organisations and other well-intentioned actors flocking to the island to assist the affected population in their struggle for survival. Coordinating such an operation is fraught with challenges and problems and even the most seasoned ERC may struggle to put the right structures and people in place on the ground. Among these challenges are not only the question of the division of labour – who will do what and where – but also how to manage relations with the government, itself largely incapacitated by the earthquake, and which may not necessarily have the confidence of its population. While Haiti may be unique because of the scale of the disaster and the numbers of agencies that arrived on the scene, these questions of a division of labour and how to manage relations with the government of the affected country are seen in many crisis situations. These are but a few of the many challenges that the new ERC will have to address.

Without wanting to give the responding potential candidates too much help, ICVA thought it would be useful to at least highlight some of the major challenges - from an NGO perspective - that the next ERC will face.

What’s different now?

At the time of the appointment of John Holmes, a number of the issues that ICVA had highlighted are still relevant today. Independent and impartial humanitarian action continues to be challenged by governments and other actors. Rising insecurity makes it difficult for humanitarian agencies to access populations in need in many countries. At the same time, political or military objectives too frequently dominate the UN’s missions, calling into doubt its motivations to also be a humanitarian player. The perception that exists in some parts of the world that humanitarian agencies are part of a Western agenda must be countered, which is why humanitarians should remain separate from other actors. Without a strong voice advocating for an independent identity, it will be increasingly difficult for humanitarian organisations to access those in need of assistance and protection.

In 2006, ICVA wrote about the future challenges facing the humanitarian community: those concerns remain equally relevant today. While some progress has been made in terms of preparing the humanitarian community for the impacts of climate change or in assisting populations affected by disasters in urban settings, for example, we have a considerable way to go. Disaster preparedness, not to mention disaster risk reduction, continue to be the orphans of the humanitarian community. Despite clear evidence that there will be a significant return on investments in these areas, it continues to be difficult to get adequate funding for disaster preparedness. National and local actors are often best placed to work on disaster preparedness and risk reduction, but funding is often difficult for these actors to access, particularly from donor governments. A much higher investment in these activities is needed if the effectiveness of humanitarian action is to increase.

Being a strong advocate and principled negotiator

The UN Security Council is a key arena in which the ERC can raise humanitarian concerns. John Holmes did so repeatedly on countries such as the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Sudan. He also continued to brief the Council on the protection of civilians, a powerful report that seeks commitments from UN Member States to do a better job in honouring their obligations under international humanitarian and human rights law.

More general humanitarian diplomacy should not be forgotten: the ERC can provide a strong voice on behalf of those affected by conflicts or disasters. Reminding all actors of the principles by which humanitarian organisations work is another area where the ERC’s voice can be useful. NGOs witness a frequent return to the sovereignty and non-interference arguments of States in times of human suffering, as we saw last year in Sudan when 13 agencies were forced to close down their operations in Darfur. In those situations, the ERC must play a leadership role in advocating for humanitarian access. The balance between maintaining good relations with governments and speaking out on humanitarian concerns is a delicate, but critical one. ICVA would like to hear from the candidates where they stand with regards to this balance.

Learning from past experience

The shift towards a merit-based appointment system, which started in 2005, should be taken up again by the UN. In that year, then Secretary-General, Kofi Annan, asked organisations, including ICVA, to provide him with the names of possible candidates for the position of UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). He set up a panel, made up of representatives of various agencies (not just UN ones) to interview the candidates for that position. He provided, in his letter to ICVA, a list of criteria for the position. In addition, he released a shortlist containing eight names. He explained that these steps were part of new internal selection procedures and noted that “[w]e need to approach the choice of leaders for international institutions in a new way,” citing the UNHCR appointment as an example for future appointments.

ICVA offered candidates for the HCR position a platform to provide their views on the position and all eight candidates on the shortlist responded to ICVA’s call, with their views published in “Talk Back” 7-2, 30 March 2005 and “Talk Back” 7-2a, 14 April 2005. This campaign in 2005 followed an earlier attempt in 2000, when ICVA also pushed for an open and transparent selection process of the UNHCR. At that time, three out of eight candidates responded. The improved UNHCR selection process in 2005 was a most welcome one and largely reflected the points that ICVA had put forward five years earlier.

Unfortunately, the 2005 example of the UNHCR recruitment was not followed when it came to the ERC appointment in 2007. ICVA tried to provide a similar open forum for candidates for the position of ERC. In early 2007, however, the appointment of Sir John Holmes to the post by Ban Ki-moon was announced following a process of “horse-trading” where the UK government did not get the top job in the UN Department for Political Affairs, but instead got the head of OCHA position. The more transparent recruiting procedures for senior UN staff that Kofi Annan started introducing towards the end of his tenure as SG seem to have fallen by the wayside since his predecessor took over.

If the shoe fits...

The post of ERC is probably one of the most unforgiving jobs in the humanitarian world.” Between advocating; coordinating a diverse, and not always willing, group of actors in humanitarian response; and leading the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), the role of ERC makes for a rather daunting task. Given the context in which humanitarian action takes place today, the job is not likely to get easier in the coming years. It can, however, be one of the most influential positions at the international level that can push for more effective humanitarian responses and that can advocate for more accountability to affected populations, instead of just to donor governments.

Candidates who feel that they are up for the task now have the opportunity to show the public - and particularly the constituency for whom they are to work: affected populations and the humanitarian community - what they could bring to the table. By providing potential candidates with an open forum to articulate how they are qualified for the position and how they will take up the challenges facing the humanitarian community, as a whole, and facing the ERC, in particular, ICVA hopes to give the UN’s Secretariat and its Member States a gentle push in the direction of a merit-based appointment.

May the best candidate win

The ERC job is up for grabs and ICVA looks forward to hearing the views of each of the candidates. Submissions from candidates will be posted on the ‘What’s New’ page of ICVA’s website as they are received. If an appointment is not made this month, ICVA may publish the responses in a further issue of “Talk Back.” With this effort, they hope that the best qualified candidate will be appointed to the job by the UN Secretary-General through an open and transparent process. ICVA also hopes that UN Member States will take seriously the call for meritocracy to be the basis of their nominations.

* Candidates interested in the Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs/Emergency Relief Coordinator position should send their submissions to [email protected] as soon as possible. Responses will be posted on the ICVA website as received: www.icva.ch/whatshot.html. Any questions should kindly be directed to the same address.

Read more here.

For more information, contact:
International Council of Voluntary Agencies
26-28 avenue Giuseppe Motta 1202 Geneva
Switzerland
Tel: +41 (0)22 950 9600; Fax: +41 (0)22 950 9609
Email: [email protected]
Website: www.icva.ch

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LATEST NEWS AND REPORTS

UN Security Council to act on children and armed conflict

At the UN Security Council's annual Open Debate on Children and Armed Conflict this month, the Council released a statement expressing its readiness to impose targeted measures against persistent violators. These measures includes imposing asset freezing, arms embargoes and travel restrictions against individuals who violate international law by recruiting, sexually abusing, or maiming and killing children in war, no matter when or where these crimes are committed. Read the full story.

Kyrgyzstan: UN Special Representative on Children and Armed Conflict, Radhika Coomaraswamy, has called for special protection for children during clashes between the country's ethnic Kyrgyz and Uzbeks:

"I am deeply concerned by reports coming from Kyrgyzstan that children are being killed, maimed, and displaced during ongoing clashes and call on all parties to show restraint and protect lives. Children are particularly vulnerable and have no place in conflict. I ask for humanitarian aid to focus on the young at risk of physical and psychological trauma and I will continue to closely monitor the situation."

Read CRIN's report on children's rights in Kyrgyzstan's Universal Periodic Review.

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Trends in armed conflict and violence

The Global Peace Index published this month reveals a drop in armed conflict, but increasing rates of homicide and violent crime across the world. The Global Peace Index, which is published annually by the Institute for Economics and Peace, is based on 23 indicators. This year, New Zealand, Iceland and Japan rank as the top three most peaceful countries. Latin America registered the sharpest increase in violence. Also view countries ranked according to their level of disrespect for human rights. Read more.

The Human Security Report Project (HSRP) has launched its new website. It can be accessed at www.hsrgroup.org.

The website includes a “miniAtlas of Human Security” - an at-a-glance illustrated guide to global and regional trends in human insecurity, the miniAtlas provides a succinct introduction to today’s most pressing security challenges. It maps political violence, the links between poverty and conflict, assaults on human rights—including the use of child soldiers—and the causes of war and peace.

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Afghanistan: Setting priorities for children affected by conflict

Watchlist on Children and Armed Conflict’s latest report, "Setting the Right Priorities: Protecting Children Affected by Armed Conflict", provides an account of the current situation facing the children in Afghanistan. In order to achieve peace, the Afghan government, the UN Security Council and the humanitarian community must prioritise child protection, and end impunity for violators of children’s rights. Download the report.

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World Refugee Day: 20th June 2010

World Refugee Day was held on 20th June. The theme of this year’s observance was “Home” to highlight the plight of the world’s 15 million refugees, more than three-quarters of them in the developing world, who have been uprooted from their homes by conflict or persecution. The reports below were issued to mark the day.

Afghanistan: The study  "Voices of Afghan Children - A study on asylum-seeking children in Sweden" aims to increase knowledge of and understanding about the problems facing Afghan unaccompanied children in countries of origin, transit and destination, as well as of “onward movers”, mainly from Iran and Pakistan, and the conditions upon arrival in Sweden.

Over a period of four months, a total of 42 unaccompanied children from Afghanistan who had sought asylum in Sweden were interviewed on why they left Afghanistan and how they came to Sweden. Download the report.

Pakistan: Since August 2008, more than two million children have been forced from their homes in north-western regions of the country by fighting between government forces and militants of the Pakistani Taliban, reports the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre. Around 800,000 children are still displaced in mid-2010. More a million have returned to their home areas, but they still face hardship because of the extensive destruction of homes, schools and other infrastructure, and risk being forced into early marriage or child labour as their families face destitution. Download the report.

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Global meeting on small arms and light weapons

From 14-18 June 2010, representatives of all UN Member States came together in New York to consider implementation of the 2001 Programme of Action on the illicit trade in small arms.
Read more.

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