U.S. relief agencies hobbled in drive to help Iraqis
Read and comment on this story from the Boston Globe that says that U.S.-based relief agencies are mobilizing to feed and heal Iraq but their efforts have been limited so far and donations have been light. Even before the war, about 60 percent of Iraqis relied on the United Nations for food. The heavy fighting then laid waste to many public services and utilities. The delays could hamper the American campaign to display good will toward Iraq and quickly relieve suffering, which is severe for many. Read the story at:
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U.S. relief agencies hobbled in drive to help Iraqis
By Jeff Donn, Associated Press, 4/22/2003 17:45
With a strong push from the government, U.S.-based relief agencies are mobilizing to feed and heal Iraq but their efforts have been limited so far and donations have been light.
The lingering chaos of war is partly to blame, they say, but many potential donors simply have not yet recognized the need. Americans have not been galvanized by a refugee crisis, since relatively few Iraqis fled the country... XXX
''You're going to see children dying more quietly in their homes than in refugee camps, and that story is not going to get told and, if that story's not told, we probably won't raise very much money,'' said Matthew De Galan, who manages fund-raising for Mercy Corps of Portland, Ore.
On its own, his group has raised only about $300,000 in the last three weeks; that compares with $1.6 million raised over the same span to help ethnic Albanians displaced during the NATO operations in the Serbian province of Kosovo in (year).
Other groups report low levels of donation: just $34,000 from the public to Save the Chilrden USA of Westport, Conn.; and a few thousand dollars to the United Methodist Committee on Relief, based in New York.
''The membership seems to be waiting for the military phase of this to be over,'' said Paul Dirdak, head of the Methodist group.
The delays could hamper the American campaign to display good will toward Iraq and quickly relieve suffering, which is severe for many.
Even before the war, about 60 percent of Iraqis relied on the United Nations for food. The heavy fighting then laid waste to many public services and utilities. In recent days, looters have swarmed through, hungry for anything of value, ripping sinks from hospitals, control panels from power plants.
The Bush administration is counting on private domestic agencies to help raise funds to tide over Iraq's people until the country can be rebuilt. It is also giving grants to relief agencies to deliver aid, including more than $22 million from the U.S. Agency for International Development.
Yet difficulties abound:
Few American relief groups know Iraq well or maintain a contact network there, since they were largely shut out in recent years by U.S. and international sanctions.
Several have now dispatched their first few staffers into Iraq, but mainly to evaluate needs. They have hesitated to send many personnel and supplies into the lawlessness let loose by the invasion and collapse of Saddam Hussein's government.
Many agencies want the U.S. military to turn over the humanitarian effort to a civilian government agency or the United Nations. Some relief groups are shunning government funding for fear of compromising their independence and turning into a target for U.S. enemies.
While donations to private relief agencies have swelled in recent days, they are still held back by the weak American economy and absence of an Iraqi refugee crisis to galvanize journalists and donors, agency leaders say.
''You're going to see children dying more quietly in their homes than in refugee camps, and that story is not going to get told and, if that story's not told, we probably won't raise very much money,'' said Matthew De Galan, who manages fund-raising for Mercy Corps of Portland, Ore.
Mercy Corps has won a $5 million grant from the Agency for International Development but had raised only about $300,000 on its own by the beginning of this week. It had collected more than $1.6 million over the same three-week time span when the United States waged an air war with its NATO allies to protect ethnic Albanians in the Serbian province of Kosovo.
Earlier this month, Mercy Corps began focusing on Arab donors at home and abroad through an Arabic-language Web site. De Galan said the idea of appealing to Arabs came from Portland area Muslims, who weren't sure where to give to Iraqis since the Bush administration froze assets of some Islamic charities over suspected terrorist ties.
A few American groups have raised considerable resources on their own to help Iraq, according to their representatives: Boston-based Oxfam America, about $1 million from roughly 200,000 donors; New York-based International Rescue Committee, $500,000 from two mass mailings; Los Angeles-based International Medical Corps, $14 million worth of medicine, medical equipment, generators and other material, mostly from corporate contributors.
Others say donations are still light. Save the Children USA in Westport, Conn., has raised more than $34,000 from the public but hopes for $3 million, said spokesman Mike Kiernan. The United Methodist Committee on Relief has accumulated just a few thousand dollars from its congregations.
''The membership seems to be waiting for the military phase of this to be over,'' said Paul Dirdak, head of the New York-based group.
The U.S. government isn't relying on domestic efforts alone to marshal food, water, medical care, electricity, sanitation and other aid for Iraq's 23 million people. It is also working through international groups like the United Nations and Red Cross, according to spokesman Luke Zahner at the Agency for International Development. Unlike most American counterparts, these groups have worked in Iraq for years.
However, the U.S.-based groups can visibly dramatize American friendship toward Iraq's people in a way that others can't.
''If children know that someone from across the ocean from the United States has sent them a school kit, they would know that this is not a person who means them harm,'' said Michelle Heinzinger, who packs toiletry and school supply packets for at her congregational church in River Edge, N.J.
It's part of a project run by Church World Service, a Christian relief group based in New York. ''There's been great compassion for the people of Iraq,'' spokeswoman Jan Dragin said of its donors. ''
However, many Americans are giving out of more than kindness. ''We got a lot of people who said, `Can you make sure people know this came from America?''' said Adrienne Leicester Smith, a spokeswoman for Oxfam America.
Putting aside their other disagreements, many war opponents are answering the Bush administration's call to help Iraq's people. Dr. Stephen Sigler, a retired family practitioner in East Hampton, N.Y., said he gave about $300 to Oxfam America's Iraqi fund out of ''a tremendous level of guilt aroused by this invasion.''
With a mind toward accelerating the relief campaign, the Treasury Department has simplified rules for granting permission to do relief work in Iraq. ''The Bush administration is committed to moving humanitarian aid to the Iraqi people quickly,'' said Treasury spokesman Taylor Griffin. ''The U.S. government is supportive of all those who would help the Iraqi people.''
However, some groups are confused about lines of authority in Iraq and hope the U.S. State Department or United Nations not the Pentagon will supervise the campaign. ''We don't want our staff to be perceived as part of military operations. When we are controlled by the Pentagon, the lines get blurred, and it's easy for us to become targets,'' said Ahuma Adodoadji, emergency director for Atlanta-based Care USA.
Still, several relief group said they are ready to move many staffers and supplies into Iraq in coming weeks if only calm prevails in the streets. Click on a link below for more stories on PCOL
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