Announcement: OTR to cover response to Hurricane Mitch
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**NEW FROM THE ADVOCACY PROJECT AND GUATEMALA PARTNERS**
ON THE RECORD, THE EMAIL NEWSLETTER, TO PROFILE CIVIL SOCIETY'S
RESPONSE TO HURRICANE MITCH
Series praises initiative and energy of civil society during the
crisis; sets the stage for a crucial May 25 meeting of
donors in Sweden
Hurricane Mitch -- perhaps the worst natural disaster ever to hit
Central America -- has strengthened civil society throughout the
region and positioned it to play a key role in reconstruction,
according to a new series of the email newsletter (e-letter) On the
Record.
The emergence of civil society in the wake of Mitch represents an
exciting, even "revolutionary development" in a region known for
its revolutions, reports the series. This contrasts sharply with
the images of resignation and suffering that have dominated press
coverage of the hurricane.
"Civil society made its mark during the Mitch emergency -- proving
itself indispensable and filling the gap left by inefficient
government services," concludes the first issue. "There are many
inspiring examples, from the brigadistas de salud (health brigades)
that were dusted off in Nicaragua and helped to prevent the
outbreak of disease, to the Honduran Network for Sustainable
Development (SDN-HON), which kept civil society informed by email
throughout the crisis."
This will be the eighth series of On the Record, the e-letter of
The Advocacy Project. It will start going out by email to
subscribers on Tuesday, and lead up to a crucial May 25 meeting of
donor governments in Stockholm, Sweden on the reconstruction of
Central America.
Hurricane Mitch tore into Central America at the end of October
last year, leaving over 15,000 people reported dead or missing in
Honduras alone. Yet much of the death and damage might have been
prevented, argues the series, if governments in the region and
their international donors had paid more attention to
environmentally-sound community development instead of trying to
promote agro-exports and attract unsustainable foreign investments.
In an introduction to the series, Grahame Russell from Guatemala
Partners argues that this approach has hurt the poor and that
poverty, in turn, has made the region more vulnerable to disasters
like Mitch. The poor were then the first to suffer from a disaster
that was prompted, in part, by their poverty. "This is the vicious
cycle behind every 'natural' disaster," writes Russell. Any
reconstruction plan, he says, cannot simply rebuild the old model.
It must create something different, targeted at eliminating poverty
and based on human rights.
Desperate at the loss of their homes or farms from Mitch, thousands
of Hondurans have left for the north, in the hope of finding work
in the United States. According to Father Ademar Barilli, a
missionary who runs a house for migrants in the Guatemalan town of
Tecun Uman, many migrants are beaten and robbed before being
deported. The series also profiles Honduran migrants in Mexico who
lost limbs when they tried to jump onto moving trains but fell onto
the tracks.
The series contrasts the response of civil society to Mitch with
that of the governments. In general, it finds the governments sadly
wanting although the Nicaraguan early-warning agency INETER
responded quickly. Also in Nicaragua, the series looks at
community-based efforts to rehabilitate victims of landmines
dislodged during Mitch, and at community health programs.
The series visits the Lempa river valley in El Salvador. This
low-lying area was completely flooded during the storm after an
electricity company opened the flood-gates on a reservoir higher up
the river without alerting communities downstream. In spite of
this, not a single life was lost lower down, thanks to community
mobilization.
Throughout the region, civil society groups are hoping to build on
their impressive performance during Mitch and develop a more
permanent role as critics and partners in the process of
reconstruction and development. Some 320 organizations have come
together to form the coordinadora ("coordinator") in Nicaragua. In
Honduras, 11 different networks, representing over 500 groups, have
formed a group known as interforos.
This has allowed civil society in both countries to develop their
own blueprint for reconstruction, focused on communities and social
programs. It also allows for a unified bargaining front in their
discussions with governments, donors, and other international
economic actors.
The fruits of these efforts will culminate at the end of May in
Stockholm, Sweden where donors will meet with governments from
Central America and multilateral development banks to plan for the
region's reconstruction. The meeting comes at a time when donor
efforts have largely stalled. A US package of $956 million in
emergency aid has been held up by the US Congress, and there has
been no move to ease the region's debt burden. Meanwhile,
forecasters are predicting that the next hurricane season could be
one of the worst ever. There are reports of panic attacks and
severe depression as the first rains fall in Honduras and
Nicaragua.
About 100 representatives of civil society are planning to attend
Stockholm, with help from Swedish NGOs. They hope to meet together
for three days before the main session of donors, and there is also
discussion about them attending the discussion or meeting with
donors at a "parallel" session. The conference could also be
picketed by activists from Jubilee 2000, the international
grassroots movement that is demanding that the debts of poor
nations be forgiven.
While a successful outcome at Stockholm would boost the prospects
for civil society, an inconclusive outcome or breakdown could be
disastrous. It is vital that these inspiring representatives
receive recognition and support in the next three weeks. Friends
and allies are urged to subscribe to this series, and contact the
groups directly.
The material on Honduras, El Salvador, and Guatemala was researched
and written by Iain Guest, a member of The Advocacy Project. Donna
Vukelich, a writer who lives and works in Nicaragua, contributed
articles from Nicaragua.
On the Record is produced by the Advocacy Project, an association
of professionals that has been set up to help advocates with
information. Five series of On the Record have been produced, and
two more are currently in progress on Kosovar refugees and Bosnia.
Back issues can be found on the Project's website:
<www.advocacynet.org>
Funding and encouragement for the series has been provided by
Guatemala Partners (GP), a Washington-based organization that
supports scores of community-based human rights and development
projects in Chiapas (Mexico) and Central America. GP provided
numerous small emergency grants for Mitch-related relief work in
Honduras and Guatemala. Several of these groups are profiled in
this series.
(Guatemala Partners, 1830 Connecticut Ave. NW, Washington, DC
20009; T: 202-783-1123; F: 202-483-6730; E: ma...@igc.org; w:
www.igc.org/GuatemalaPartners)
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