As the humanitarian situation in South Sudan deteriorates, the international aid community needs to re-think the way it provides relief.
The recent stepping up of Western aid commitments to South Sudan is an ominous but predictable sign that donor governments expect the already worrying refugee crisis to deteriorate further. In the past month alone we have seen both the European Commission and the UK government increase humanitarian assistance to €40 million ($50.1 million) and £31 million ($49 million) respectively.
Much of this money will be used to provide extra emergency healthcare, food supplements, water, shelter and agricultural supplies for the additional refugees now crossing the Sudanese border to escape the violence and dislocation further north. Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) reports that it is seeing eight to ten new families arriving at its Jamam camp each day. In its appeal, MSF also states that three children are dying each day in the camp from diarrhoea and other illnesses.
However, an already difficult situation looks as though it's about to get much worse. A shut down in oil production has crippled the country's economy and the UN predicts that 2.4 million people could face food insecurity in South Sudan this year.
All of these signs are clear signals to the humanitarian community that it is time to overhaul the way it thinks about responding to humanitarian emergencies. Crises such as South Sudan and the drought in the Sahel region are predictable (if not preventable), meaning that humanitarian actors can and should act in advance to stockpile the necessary equipment and supplies they need to contain the worst effects.
Using local knowledge
One way to do this is through working more closely with local suppliers who understand the region and can act quickly and efficiently when disaster strikes. Companies such as Nairobi-based Reltex Tarpaulins are ideally placed to act due to their proximity to many of the world's potential disaster zones. The company is the only supplier of emergency plastic sheeting in Africa meaning it can move faster than international providers when it comes to getting supplies into the worst affected zones swiftly and in a sustained manner. This not only has the potential to save lives and limit damage but also saves money on transport costs (a huge amount of money is wasted on cargo planes) and reduces carbon emissions. In an age where we are right to worry about financial and climate resources, these are all important considerations.
Pre-positioning and smarter use of local supply chains are becoming essential elements of many humanitarian response strategies. But to help engineer a shift from 'humanitarian response' to 'humanitarian readiness', this kind of strategic approach needs to be taken up by the entire aid community. It will require better coordination when it comes to buying supplies - which is not always an easy thing to achieve - as well as new microfinance programmes to help local entrepreneurs to establish self-sustaining businesses and successful supply chains.
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Above all, it will require the full backing of forward-thinking donors who understand that the support they provide today may well be instrumental in preventing catastrophic loss of life and destruction of livelihoods in the future.
The humanitarian community cannot prevent crises such as those in South Sudan. But with forward planning and smarter use of suppliers it can help build a new aid delivery system which helps contain and manage them at the outset.
As the director of AidEx, Nicholas' job is to bring together members of leading NGOs, the private sector and the humanitarian aid and development community to engage in a focused conversation about more effective and efficient delivery of aid. Nicholas' background is in strategic management of aid and development events, with an emphasis on business development.
