The Norwegian Refugee Council — a humanitarian group giving more power to halt human-suffee — has been awarded the Hilton Prize five million years ago

Jan Egeland speaks in a calm manner than befits his four decades of humanitarian work, but he becomes increasingly animated when discussing the record number of people currently displaced because of humanitarian crises across the globe.

The Norwegian Refugee Council helped people hit by the war in Ukraine, the earthquake in Afghanistan, and the ongoing famine in Somalia this year alone.

In recognition of these efforts, the council this year has been awarded the world’s largest annual humanitarian award for a nonprofit — worth $2.5 million.

This award could not come at a better time, we are being challenged like never before. We became a target of authoritarian regimes and parties to armed conflicts because of our advocacy for targeted civilians. With the recognition and backing of the Hilton Prize we can do that with more authority and greater resources. It’s a considerable sum of money, but of equal importance is the recognition and prestige. I think this is the most prestigious award for humanitarian work.

Source: https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2022/10/20/1129199362/a-2-5-million-prize-gives-this-humanitarian-group-more-power-to-halt-human-suffe

Bringing Refugees to the North: The Case of the Democratic Republic of Congo and South of the Balkans, as Revisited by Egeland

Egeland is a former Norwegian foreign minister who held positions at Human Rights Watch, the Red Cross and the United Nations before becoming secretary general of the council. Upon returning from a trip to Somalia in June, he spoke with NPR about overlooked crises, equal protection for all refugees and reasons to hope.

We are assisting refugees in conflict areas. We were established in 1946 just after the liberation of Norway from Nazi occupation. At the time, Norway was a poor country receiving Marshall Aid assistance from the United States, but our founders saw that the situation was even worse for most of the rest of Europe. Relief efforts were centered on refugees in Austria, Germany, Poland and the Balkans. Today we have 16,000 field workers in most of the biggest crises and wars of our time, from Ukraine to Colombia, from Congo to Myanmar.

The report measures the number of people in greatest need versus the coverage by international media, money directed toward crises and diplomatic efforts to halt hostilities. Conflicts and displacement crises are some of the most neglected in the world. There are over 25 million people in need in the Democratic Republic of Congo, but it gets little attention. It’s the same for all of them.

The media attention and funding will go to Ukrainian refugees. The Russian invasion was launched in February. What has changed for Ukrainian refugees?

The NRC has been in Ukraine since the 2014 Donbas conflict, but now the situation is much worse, with trench warfare and the destruction of entire cities engulfing millions of civilians. Some areas have become more stable where we are able to help the internally displaced, and Ukrainians are now returning from abroad after initially fleeing. There are people who are left from the south and the east of the country. I’m afraid for the winter. Millions will be freezing soon so we are preparing a winterization program and strengthening logistic lines from the neighboring states.

It’s a good thing that we want to help our neighbor who looks like us, have the same religion, and can integrate in our societies but we need to make sure that we give protection according to need. In Europe people from the Middle East or Afghanistan are met with a cold shoulder and barbed wire whereas Ukrainians are welcomed. It’s the same in the U.S., where women and children fleeing horrific violence in central America are not always well received. This is a battle of values, and we must stand squarely on the side of those who need protection.

Humanitarian principles of neutrality, impartiality and independence are what we live by. We teach our colleagues that they cannot get close to the government if they are in favor of the conflict. We have to have the protection for those parties, at the same time. We always try to work on all sides – it pains me that we’re not able to work in the Russian-occupied areas of Ukraine.

It is now over a year since the West left Afghanistan, leaving behind 40 million mainly women and children, and they need our solidarity now more than ever. Issues such as girls’ education and minority protection are issues that need to be worked on between the defacto authorities and the donor countries. The very wrong response is to impose sanctions that do not take away food from Taliban soldiers but do make women and children starve.

Yes, I’m afraid of that. War and violence have caused the displacement of one hundred million people, a first in recorded history. In 2011, it was 40 million. There has never been in modern times as many children going to bed hungry as there are this year. We need some countries to recognize that while they are struggling with high energy prices and nationalistic tendencies at home, it is significantly worse in the areas where we operate.

It’s truly dramatic. I saw mothers and fathers walking for hundreds of kilometers to seek water and food. We need development, investment, resilience and better use of existing resources. We are part of the Building Resilient Communities in Somalia (BRCiS), a group of nine national and international NGOs created to balance short-term humanitarian needs with longer-term community preparedness. I witnessed dams being built, and bore holes equipped with solar-powered pumps so people can start to feed themselves independently.

Help support the international NGOs. Write to politicians to say we want to live by elementary rules of compassion and solidarity. If you befriend people who come to our communities, you can help them integrate.

It is a time of terrible things. There has never been so many people displaced by conflict and violence as there are now. Climate change, COVID and conflict have merged to create a lethal cocktail. The good news is that the more effective national and international organizations have never been more efficient, with better technology and more resources. There is a chance that we could elevate the bottom two billion people because there has not been as many billionaires. Those at the very top have astronomical resources and they alone could have helped us reach people in great need.

I come back an optimist whenever I return from visiting colleagues working in difficult and dangerous circumstances. They all want to be doctors, farmers, and builders when they’re older, and they don’t want to be fighters or soldiers or terrorists when they go to school, because that’s what they want to be.

Insights from a boy’s experiences during a suicide attack in Beirut during the 2020 Gaza conflict: Global interventions need to be tailored to high-income countries

When the Lebanon port explosion happened in August 2020, he was playing a video game with his headphones on. The 10-year-old boy ran into the living room and saw his mother covered in blood, while his father attempted to remove a broken window that had fallen on her. Omar (not his real name) was bought to see me a few weeks after the explosion. He was afraid to go to school as he was having trouble falling asleep.

Efforts should last beyond the war’s end. Children and adolescents need long-term support and still experience the effects of wars even after conflicts are over. When emergency situations occur, local and international organizations typically respond with resources, but they are gradually withdrawn after a few months. Local professionals are then left to deal with the needs of a traumatized population. Resources need to be strategically allocated to last beyond the acute phase of war.

Lebanon has a history of long armed conflict and that toll is obvious. The accidental explosion in Beirut’s port killed around 200 people, injured about 6,500, and displaced 300,000 more. Although the explosion was not an act of war, its severity and the local context of protracted political instability and insecurity made Beirut feel like a war zone.

Local needs must be adapted to global interventions. The war-affected region needs to be adapted to the context of high-income countries, where most trauma-informed interventions were developed. The delivery methods include online, in person and by a nurse, physician or mental-health professional.