IEFG BIG SERIES: Crises

- Conflict -

9 May 2022

 IEFG BIG Series Crises - The BIG series stands for 'Brains in Gear', with the aim to get IEFG members’ brains whirring about issues that affect our world, our grants and the lives of our grantees. These are an opportunity to step back and think about the big picture issues affecting our portfolios and partners. CONFLICT: War doesn't end when it leaves the Western media. What types, drivers and locations of conflict are experts predicting? What are the consequences of this: are we going to see massive displacement of populations, for example? How likely is cyber warfare? What should we, as grant makers, be doing differently? Come and join us on Monday, 9th May, 14:00 UTC for the first IEFG BIG Series session on Conflict. We have lined up three brilliant speakers: Jok Abraham Thon, whose life has been shaped by conflict and whose work at the Promise Land School in Uganda is dedicated to peace building. Heba Aly, whose experience responding to many conflicts and leadership of The New Humanitarian has given her perspective on the trends and dynamics of conflict. Maha Shuayb, whose work on Lebanon and the wider Syria region has convinced her of the need to pay attention to the macro politics of humanitarianism. The session will be moderated by Gerhard Pulfer (Porticus).

 

Audio recording 

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Quotes from the Session

‘We went back to war in South Sudan because of the high rates of illiteracy.'

'The nature of conflict is changing: it’s lasting longer, is harder to resolve, and proxy for geopolitical power struggles. Nobody can win. At the same time, we see the atomisation of conflict: wars within wars. The business model of war is evolving – taxing of humanitarian aid, interplay of drugs and banditry. And social media is spreading misinformation and hate’.

'The humanitarian space is disappearing. Humanitarian law is being ignored. Aid groups are viewed with suspicion.

‘Funders should:
- Preemptively engage more in the preventative geopolitics of war;
- Look at the end-user perspective – rice and tarpaulin are needed, but recognise their anger that they are in this situation because of how unequal and unfair the world is.
- Recognise and support resolution and response to all wars, not just the white war in Europe.
- Fund reliable information, and local organisations (don’t parachute in).
- Go to the countries you’re needed most: the hardest to work in, not the easiest to fly your Board into’. 

‘Be conscious of and diminish the fetishization of refugee-ness’

'Standardisation is not the solution: global metrics, global tracking, and global guidelines don’t work. Listen to local.'

'Be aware of the macro politics shaping sector programming: Lebanon’s education policy for Syrian refugees was driven by Europeans wanting to keep Syrians out of Europe at all costs. Syrians went to state schools that only the poorest Lebanese would send their kids to.'

'Don’t silo your projects: when education isn’t linked to other issues like child protection and nutrition it doesn’t make sense.'

'Don’t fixate on the outcome, focus on the problem. Enable.'

Resources

➡️ Bullets to Books – Jok Abraham Thon: Jok Abraham Thon, founder of Promised Land Secondary School in Juba, South Sudan, believes that human beings can "change their minds from bullets to books".  Inspired by Jok's mission, the Jüdische Kulturbund Project launched ‘Bullets to Books’ – a global transformer that relies on education and cultural exchange for peace and unity. To find out more about the initiative, or access the documentary, click here.
➡️ Localisation only pays lip service to fixing aid’s colonial legacy – Maha Shuay: ‘Localisation’ has become a ubiquitous term among humanitarians in recent years, used to refer to putting more power and funding in the hands of “local responders”. The term is simple, it feels good, and is a convenient response to increasing calls for the aid sector to decolonise. However, Maha Shuayb argues the sector is getting it wrong. In this article, Maha talks about her own identity as a Lebanese yet not a ‘local’.
➡️ Complex humanitarian emergencies: Global philanthropic giving can & should be more strategic: Conflicts drive 80 per cent of all humanitarian needs. Yet in 2019, only 4 per cent of philanthropy’s $352 million giving for disasters went to address humanitarian needs in these Complex Humanitarian Emergencies (CHEs). Why is philanthropy so far behind in its disaster giving? Can philanthropy be more strategic and effective? In this article, Alex Gray analyses what philanthropy can do in CHEs – Ukraine in particular.
➡️ Rethinking Humanitarianism - Heba Aly & Jeremy Konyndyk: This podcast series discusses the drivers of change affecting international aid, from the increasingly protracted nature of crises, to the funding environment and opportunities offered by digital. The series taps into some of the deep soul-searching that has taken place in the wake of the Black Lives Matter movement and the COVID-19 pandemic, as a basis for exploring limitations with the current aid model, sticking points that have prevented reform in the past, and bold visions for the future.